CHEF Iain Wilkie has spent a six figure sum transforming The Crown Hotel in Marlborough into a sleek new wine bar called The Piano Lounge.
He wants the business in The Parade to lose any reputation it previously had and has completely renovated the interior, putting his own stamp on it to give it a new identity.
“We took the building back to literally bare brick,” said Mr Wilkie, 37, who lives in London and also runs The Swan in Great Shefford, near Hungerford.
“It has taken about four months and it has been a long slog but I wanted to do it right – I am a perfectionist.”
The ceiling has been covered with vinyl records, inspired by a pub he visited in Luxembourg, the bar area has moved, brickwork and wooden beams have been exposed to to enhance the building’s period features and a piano takes pride of place in the corner.
A new upstairs wine bar, which is still in the middle of being finished, is also going to be decorated with mirrors and chandeliers from the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
“It is not a traditional pub in any shape or form, it is not even a pub,” the father-of-two and grandfather-to-three added.
“It is a wine bar that sells ales and lagers.
“There is still more to be done and I will be even happier when my restaurant is open.”
Mr Wilkie, who originally comes from Inverness, has owned seven gastro pubs in London, a restaurant in Wimbledon and worked as a chef in Paris, Italy and Switzerland.
He initially began renovating the pub with a business partner in August but has now gone solo, and despite welcoming music lovers as one of the venues for the Marlborough International Jazz Festival earlier this year, The Piano Lounge only officially opened last month.
The restaurant is set to be ready by February and in the meantime Mr Wilkie is serving tapas.
They also have a resident singer-songwriter every Friday, as well as tribute acts and they are looking for budding musicians to play during the evenings too.
“Marlborough is a non-brainer, it has got lots and lots of pubs but it does not have this,” Mr Wilke added.
“The reaction since we have been open has been awesome.”
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