That’s the NEW name for the former Bar Six on Dutton’s Hill! The contemporary drinking and dining venue has been extensively remodelled, refurbished and expanded onto TWO floors at number 6, Wilford Road.
Work is now complete on the first phase of the new look bar and restaurant – which opened on schedule on Friday night (2nd March) despite challenges caused by the snow. As part of the major redesign a new access has been made from within the downstairs bar to a staircase serving the upstairs room (which was formerly home to Bloomin’ Dementia). This bar, in turn, will lead out into “The Apothecary Garden” – a rooftop area which is to be created in the second phase of the exciting rebrand and relaunch plans revealed to RUDDINGTON.info. This is an all new, south-facing rooftop terrace which is due to be ready in time for the summer…
This fresh vision for the village venue comes from Jack Robson – who originally worked for McArtney’s Catering before buying out the successful business from sisters Rosie and Nancy McArtney in October 2015. By this time, the lease of their Bistro (launched in 2013 – pictured right) had been taken over by John Noble and Lucy Would from The Three Crowns who turned it into “Bar Six”. But, in November last year, Jack jumped at the chance of also acquiring the retail area of the property when John and Lucy decided to move on to other projects. (That decision led to the departure of Jasper’s Café – who were trading in there during the daytimes but wished to keep their brand – so are now relocating to new premises on High Street.)
Jack and his partner Jamie Sheppard have spared no effort nor expense to make Apotheka rather more ‘characterful’ than its predecessor – with a chic new bar and bespoke ‘rustic’ furniture. Mood lighting includes some colourful neon whilst there’s new spray artistry on the walls. Six to eight staff will soon be recruited, including two chefs, to help run the relaunched business – morning, noon and night. It’s planned to offer a changing menu during the day – with a full restaurant option in the evenings. The drinks focus is on cocktails, gins, wines and Carlsberg beers – and there’s even a specialist “white spirits bar” in the first floor lounge.
Jack says: “We wanted to create something unique for the village and hope we have done that with Apotheka. It now has a far more cosy feel with the new booth seating. There is a great new menu to be sampled including new beer, new cocktails and new wine. We can’t can’t wait to launch our new food menu in the comings weeks and then create The Apothecary Garden to be enjoyed in summer.”
Apotheka is open Tuesdays to Sundays with a view to extending the trading hours alongside the new menus very soon. We’ll keep you posted on developments @RUDDINGTON_info!
