Ten years after being burnt to the ground, Britain’s oldest farm shop is embarking on its next adventure by opening the doors to its new fine-dining restaurant, The Rusty Bull.
Award-winning family business, Hinchliffe’s, based in Netherton, rose from the ashes last year after the owners embarked on a project to rebuild their state-of-the-art premises that were left in ruins after a serious fire in 2010.
The stylish eatery will showcase a menu which consists of predominantly locally sourced produce, including prime beef reared from the farm itself.
The restaurant will open to evening customers on February 12 from 6.30pm to 11pm from Wednesday to Saturday – just in time for Valentine’s Day.
The Rusty Bull is also open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch.
Partner and fourth-generation family member, Simon Hirst, said: “We are incredibly excited about the Rusty Bull and look forward to offering our customers a new and exciting culinary experience.”
For Simon and his family, the evening launch of the Rusty Bull – named after the orange-coloured South Devon cattle herd the farm became internationally known for – is the final piece in the jigsaw.
Simon said: “Before the fire, we had begun serving restaurant quality food in our adjoining tea-room.
“It is something I have always wanted to resurrect as I feel passionately about good quality, homegrown food.
“We make everything from our own bread, rear chickens to supply our eggs, cure our own ham and have won awards for our bespoke high-quality sausages and homemade pork pies. Anything we don’t produce ourselves, we work hard to source locally.
“We will even have a Yorkshire cheese board on the menu to celebrate what an amazing area we live in and the vast wealth of exciting food the county produces.”
The tempting menu features dishes such as artichoke soup topped with Hinchliffe’s reared bacon – priced at £6 – and a maple and thyme pork belly main dish costing £17.
The Rusty Bull aims to sit competitively in the gastro food market.
The business that has been in the family for more than 90 years, stemming back to 1929 and spanning across five generations, was left to face the devastating consequences when their premises were irreparably damaged after the 2010 fire engulfed their much-loved farm shop. Determined not to let the blaze destroy the business, the family moved the shop and restaurant into a temporary structure four months later.
Circumstances beyond their control delayed the process of rebuilding until last year when the multi-million-pound development saw the grand reopening of the farm shop.
Simon added: “It’s been truly humbling to see the response from our customers who love the new building and now the time is right to add the next exciting element to the business that we hope and feel sure will be a great success.”
