Restaurant decor for a courageous return

When it comes to restaurant decor, The Unruly Pig leaps to mind as a shining example of bold character and style. Imagine opening a restaurant that, in less than twelve weeks, got recommended by The Sunday Times, Financial Times and then …..your restaurant burns down in a catastrophic fire.
That’s exactly what happened to The Unruly Pig in Bromeswell in June 2015 and here’s owner, Brendan Padfield’s account of his turbulent journey.
“There were moments when I questioned whether The Unruly Pig was really meant to be. But then we were inundated with good wishes and encouragement from our customers to get back on our trotters as soon as possible. And then we heard that we were a new entry in The Good Food Guide with the best rating in the area. This news really enabled us to turn a corner: The veritable shot in the arm at the right time….and so we concluded maybe we were doing something right after all.
The next step was to turn this enormous hurdle into a positive by taking the opportunity to make some changes and refresh the look so we could reopen with gusto.
We put in a brand new extended kitchen. The private dining room was rebuilt. We took down some walls to merge the bar with the first part of the restaurant and we lowered a ceiling to make another room more cosy and intimate. The fire did us one favour by exposing more medieval roof beams which we then shot blasted. Furthermore, we  introduced some panelling as well as a bold new colour scheme: Farrow and Ball’s Brinjal, St Giles Blue  and Railings colours now abound.

Our beloved artwork was all restored by expert hands in Birmingham (including our pop art photography) and new pieces were also commissioned including a large bronze sculpture of a pig’s head, with Unruly earrings, sculpted by local artist Alice Andrea -Ewing.
And the result is ……. Thankfully we are very busy and so very grateful to our wonderful customers who have returned to dine with us. Farrow and Ball needs a medal as everyone loves our new look. And we are just delighted to be back on our trotters. So come and see us for yourself and try some of the best food in the area.”

Brendan’s quick fire questions

The most essential thing for any kitchen
Wonderful chefs who have passion and love for great food. Simple as that. All bar one of our team returned to The Unruly Pig when we reopened after our fire  …..and I will never forget their loyalty and understanding.
The kitchen item at the top of your wish list
With a brand new state of the art kitchen, honestly nothing for now.
A kitchen gadget or tool that you can’t live without
Our wonderful Inka grill which is a closed door charcoal grill which cooks an incredible 400 degrees plus. It enables us to cook meat and fish in one-third of the time enhancing both flavour and succulence and infuses a wonderful chargrilled taste. We love our Inka!