Our client Chef Aiden Byrne, the youngest ever winner of a Michelin star, during lockdown had reinvented his Church Green pub in the Cheshire village of Lymm to adapt to lockdown restrictions, with his new deli on the site becoming a huge success through lockdown.
With his freshly-made cakes, croissants, pies, sausage rolls and sandwiches as well as a full range of charcuterie, fine wines and fresh fruit and vegetables, it has become an essential foodie destination for those in the area.
And, in the months of the 2021 lockdown, queues would snake all the way down to the Dam as walkers lined up for hot coffee, cakes and ice cream at the deli takeaway after their daily exercise in the village, near Altrincham.
Aiden, famously the former chef at Manchester House, and wife Sarah have had the Church Green pub for the past 13 years.But it took a lockdown for them realise what a gem they already had.
Aiden says: “Lockdown changed everything for us in a really positive way. We’ve been overwhelmed with the support that the people of Lymm gave us before we even opened the deli, but now, one year on the support continues – it’s just incredible, we have people coming from far and wide!
It was during the first full lockdown in March 2020, with the pub forced to shut, that Aiden decided to start working on his pie-making skills at home in Lymm. And, having made too many for his family of five to eat for themselves, he messaged their street’s WhatsApp group to see if anyone would like one. Aiden laughs: “Suddenly everyone on the street wanted a pie. And as they say the rest is history – one whole year of it!
So even in what has been the hardest 18 months for the hospitality industry, these guys with ‘out of the box’ thinking , relentless work ethic have proved along with their wonderful team that , ‘when the going gets tough , the tough get going’ what an achievement. We couldn’t let it pass without commissioning our favourite artist Stef Woof to create us a little gift for them ( Sarah holding it )
