Welcome to The Harlequin!

Phew! Apologies for the silence (I know no-one really noticed...) - our first couple of months in the pub have been a bit of a whirlwind to say the least. And seeing as I appear to have grabbed a rare 5 minutes of solitude, with the added rare treat of internet access, I thought it'd be worth offering a highs-and-lows reflection of the last few weeks. In no particular order (because there's been very little order to anything recently!):

• We're in, and we're open! That's a definite high. Despite the best efforts of our estate agents, we did manage to sign on the dotted line and take over from 1st March.
• We still have a great range of craft ales, and we're building a reputation for ourselves with our ever increasing range of real ciders and perries (although I've discovered I'm addicted to buying all of the above, and have turned the former office into a temporary cider store...hmmm, given the choice between cider and filing systems, I know what I'd rather have!).
• Certain companies - who shall remain nameless, but who really should know better - have made the take over as difficult as they possibly could. Communications, refuse collection and energy contracts have all been a bit of a nightmare to say the least, despite us being assured that things were taken care of well in advance. And the pub's website was hacked, so we've had to migrate to a wordpress site - with no means of letting people who rely on the website know what was happening!
• For every bad company experience, though, there's been something to balance it out. Particularly our locally based independent wholesalers who provide fresh produce to the pub on a regular basis, and who can't do enough to help. And our new refuse company rep drove all the way from Leeds to Sheffield with a contract for us to sign when he realised how urgent our situation was. Top marks so far!
• From day 1, everything in the pub seemed to be breaking - starting with the cellar cooling equipment and going via various other essential bits of equipment (front doors, fridges, that sort of thing) finally culminating in the kitchen plumbing during Easter week. Bizarrely, there have been some positives coming out of that though - as we've not been in a position to offer the previous menu, it's given me a bit of headspace to sit back and think about what we actually want to provide rather than feeling bound to the choice that was there before. So it's come a few weeks earlier than intended (and brought several grumbles from some of our less understanding customers) but we're due to relaunch the menu from 1st May with a focus on fresh, seasonal, home made food. The kitchen plumbing debacle also means that we've decided to get a dishwasher installed sooner rather than later - another expense we could do without, but an event I'm way too excited about!
• Linked to the above, we're making tracks with our aims to be a greener pub (ooo, get us!). For example, we're recycling a lot more now, and the shift to fresh produce means that we're able to reduce our energy consumption (eg, going from 6 freezers to just 1), support local producers on a regular basis, and ensure welfare standards for the meats that we use.

So are there any regrets? Bizarrely, not one - it's a crazy lifestyle, and I've forgotten what sleep/sit down meals are like, but I wouldn't swap it for the world. We've got some fantastic customers (and some who we should probably not even mention) and despite everything that gets thrown at you, you only need 1 "thank you" to make it all worth while. Stay tuned to see if I still feel that way in a few week's time :)