News

After a marvellous year for the Church Inn team, from receiving National recognition to the success of ‘Pub in the Park’……we are delighted to announce that the Church Inn has been recognised in the Good Beer Guide 2020, for the first time since the pub was rescued from closure back in 2013 by Tim and Mary our owners!

To get in the Good Beer Guide is the ‘perfect match’ to the Church Inn also being confirmed in the Michelin Guide 2020 for our food, all in the same month! Good news for the Kitchen team and good news for the Bar team too.

Siobhan our general manager at the Church Inn said “We are naturally very proud indeed of this recognition from two very thorough publications…who have visited on numerous occasions to ensure we are to a high standard, consistently. The whole team play a part and work very hard indeed to deliver great food and drink. We are proud to use very local suppliers for all ale and our food too and they too must share in this recognition..Cheshire and Manchester Ales at their finest and great farms, bakers and butchers across the same region, local and proud togther”

This year we are honoured to have, not just one, but two pubs at Tom Kerridge’s Pub in the Park! The Cholmondeley Arms have joined the Church Inn this year and both teams will cook side by side. Not quite ‘when two tribes go to war’ but there will certainly be some friendly competition for sure.

hurch Inn Head chef Richard….Pub Chef of the Year, of course, is leading his team versus Andy, our Cholmondeley Arms Head chef… they are joined by other chefs from our pubs with landlords Simon and Tim of course. Jess will be trying to keep them all under control and Dan is back to help both camps keep up with prep and washing up!

The photo shows every one with Tom Kerridge just before the big opening at the Lambing Shed in Knutsford!

We look forward to a great weekend! See you all soon!

Step aside Manchester City! At the BAFTA theatre in London’s Piccadilly last night the Church Inn came and conquered once more. It was the Pub and Bar Magazine’s annual awards.

This time there was even more recognition, with our Head Chef Richard winning Pub Chef of the Year! On winning Richard said “this is for my entire kitchen team! They work tirelessly with me to bring both classic and seasonal dishes to our guests table. It’s a proud moment for all of us!”

Following the presentation of Richard’s award it was time to see if the Church Inn, having already won ‘Pub of the Year for Cheshire’, could reclaim it’s Northwest crown…up against the likes of the Oast House in Manchester, the Church Inn was announced as the winner of the Northwest region for the second year running!

So with great excitement Simon and Richard went on stage to accept the award from none other than Jay Raynor, the Observer food critic! No one could have dreamt of what happened next! After very close scoring between the top three pubs the Church Inn came out on top and took the UK crown…! Yippee! Big cheers went up as Simon and Richard returned to the stage to pick up the ‘treble’!! Simon was asked by Jay Raynor how it felt to win…Simon replied “this is for our all our team and our very loyal guests….we are delighted!”

So another great night at BAFTA! Well done we are all very proud.

Simon and Richard arrive at BAFTA

The Best in the Northwest is announced!

Pub Chef of the Year Richard our very proud Head Chef

Simon and Richard joyfully accept the Best in the Northwest Award for the second year running

Simon and Richard posing with the trophies with Pub and Bar Magazine Editor Tristan and Food Critic Jay Raynor.

The writing is on the trophy!

Best in the UK! What a great feeling

The Best of the Best 2019

Richard and Simon chat with Jay Raynor after winning the top prize

Tim, Mary Richard and Simon with a trophy or two on after the event at BAFTA

Simon and Richard enjoy the sweet taste of Champagne as Tim and Mary treat them to supper at the Wolseley on Piccadilly!

THE Church Inn at Mobberley is celebrating its third success in the National Pub & Bar Awards.

A total of 94 pubs and bars across the country were named the best venues in their respective counties, with The Church Inn being chosen as the top in Cheshire.

Church Inn owner Mary McLaughlin said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this award for the third time.

“It’s a true reflection of all the hard work and dedication from our manager, Simon, head chef Richard and all the team – a great achievement for them all.”

From left, head chef Richard Williams, Deputy Manager Rebecca Winskill, Asst Manager Matt Ward, Junior Sous Chef Ged Bethell

We are very excited to announce that Cheshire Cat Pubs and Bars have been nominated for three very prestigious awards at the 2019 Casual Dining Awards, taking place in London on Wednesday 27th February. We feel very honoured to be nominated for two such special awards as ‘Employer of the Year’ and ‘Multi-Site Operator of the Year’ and are also very proud of our sister pub, the Cholmondeley Arms, for being nominated for ‘Pub of the Year’. Our owners, Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin, are heading off to the Big Smoke as guests of our excellent wine suppliers, Boutinot, to attend the awards ceremony, and we will keep you posted on the results of our nominations.

Pub in the Park is taking place this year across eight locations nationwide, including the Lambing Shed at Knutsford from June 7 to 9. Hitting eight foodie destinations with almost 30 pubs taking part, revellers can expect top class pub grub with local flavour, with special appearances from celebrity chefs. The other pubs set to appear at the Lambing Shed are The Hardwick, The Star Inn, Our ‘sister pub’ The Cholmondeley Arms and Café Muran. Tom Kerridge will be bringing his chef mates to the party for a relaxed and intimate gathering, supporting and celebrating local talent, as well as presenting some of the biggest names in food and music, with music acts to be announced later this month. We look forward to seeing all our customers there!

The Team at Pub in the Park 2018 with Tom Kerridge

Tom Kerridge’s Pub in the Park arrived in Knutsford in September and the Church Inn was invited to take part. It was a true honour for Mary and Tim and the teams from the Church Inn and our other pubs. All the head chefs from our Northern Pubs took part during the three day festive ensuring the Church Inn itself wasn’t too disrupted by the team being busy at the Food, Drink and Music Festival.

The event was held on the land of the popular Lambing Shed farm shop who supply our pubs in and around Knutsford with local produce. We celebrated our close association with them by using their lamb for our famous Lamb and Anglesey Feta Cheese Croquette with pea puree and crème fraiche. This proved to be a real hit with the festival goers. We had to prepare three smaller plates for the festival with a Vegetarian Root Vegetable ‘Chilli’ being another dish and finally a ‘Spirit Of George’ Gin Cured Seatrout with Beetroot and Horseradish featuring Mobberley’s award winning Gin, whose distillery is now at the Church Inn in Mobberley.

It proved to be a brilliant weekend for the Church Inn and we want to thank everyone who worked so hard to ensure we delivered a hugely successful occasion for all who ate with us at the event.

Tom Kerridge was on hand to give great encouragement to all the teams that were cooking their three dishes for the public to enjoy. It was an honour to rub shoulders with a number of Michelin star pubs such as Kerridge’s own Hand and Flowers Pub from Marlow and the Star Inn from Harome in North Yorkshire as well as the Pipe and Glass also from North Yorkshire and the Pony and Trap from down south. In fact the Church Inn was the only non- starred pub to take part….which gave the Kitchen team a great deal of satisfaction.

All in all a great event!

Following a great year for the Church Inn, to be listed in the Times Top 30 Pubs was the icing on the cake. Earlier in the year Pub and Bar magazine chose the Church Inn as their ‘Best Pub in Cheshire and then at the final in the BAFTA theatre in London the Church Inn picked up ‘Best in the Northwest’.

This was followed by us being chosen to be at Tom Kerridge’s ‘Pub in the Park’ in Knutsford in September. This was a great weekend for the Church Inn as our chefs cooked for thousands of people attending the event of exceptional food and drink with some live music thrown in. A proud moment for us all and we were the only non-Michelin Star pub in the show but received great plaudits for our three dishes….particularly our Lamb Croquette! The Times clearly picked up on our achievements and listed us. We are naturally all very proud indeed.

Ben Kaberry and Dave Clayton of Mobberley have opened their Big Hill Distillery at the Church Inn in Mobberley. They have been distilling the award winning ‘Spirit of George Gin’ for nearly a year with great success and needed bigger premises to meet demand for their premium craft Gin.

The Gin pays homage to Mobberley’s famous mountaineer George Mallory who lost his life in 1924 on the ‘Big Hill’ ……Mount Everest. He lost his life with climbing partner Sandy Irvine who’s nephew Peter Summers attended the grand opening (see picture). The opening ceremony was attended by all the people who helped get the distillery open on time from painters to plumbers as well as friends and family. MP Esther McVey was there with Cllr. Peter Coan to cut the ribbon and chat with guests as well. Of course, to raising a glass to the ‘Spirit of George’.

Big Hill Distillers Ben Kaberry and David Clayton are joined by Tatton MP Esther McVey and Cllr. Peter Coan who cut the ribbon as the distillery opens at the Church Inn in Mobberley.

The Big Hill Distillery is now fully operative with the award winning 'Spirit of George Gin' being produced in larger quantities to meet demand.

Ben Kaberry (left) and David Clayton (right) enjoy a 'Spirit of George Gin' and tonic with Peter Summers, the nephew of Sandy Irvine who was George Mallory's climbing partner on the fateful day they lost their lives together on Everest.