A WELL-KNOWN York pub has undergone a dramatic transformation with a deli and wine cave created on site.
The Old Grey Mare in Clifton Green reopened last month after a complete refurbishment of the Grade 1 listed building and now has added a delicatessen and fishmonger as well as a pizza oven by EborCibus Pizza to the former historic coaching inn.
The pub closed in July last year when former landlords Terry and Maxine Daly, who had run the business since1986, retired.
It was bought by Mark and Kasia Caulfield who set about completely redeveloping the building, adding a glazed extension and pergola with a retractable roof and sliding glass doors to the side return allowing for either covered or al fresco dining.
Mark said they started work in July last year expecting it to be open before Christmas, but it proved to be a much bigger job than they'd originally anticipated.
In the end they gave the building a complete makeover and the lounge bar has been totally renovated and the pub's car park has been kept at the rear.
"The deli and fish have been an exceptional success - we have the best fish from Hodgsons who own the quay at Hartlepool, so it's caught first thing every day and in our place by 9am," said Mark.
"We also have artisan cheeses and meat, but we are doing different things from the nearby butchers, our meat is pre-packaged, we don't want to ruffle any feathers - we are a family business and they are a family business.
"We have live music now on Friday and Saturday nights and we have a bit of York City history on the premises. We have the oldest seats in football in the glazed extension - the seats were bought when the club moved out of Bootham Crescent - they were originally made for the old Manchester City ground in 1905 and were bought by York City in 1930s.
"Our wine cave is in what would once have been a stable block and the pergola and the wine cave can be rented out as a separate space.
"It's fair to say the pizza oven has been going down a storm with locals too."
Mark said there are plans to potentially create eight bedrooms upstairs at the inn and in time open a proper restaurant.
In the meantime, the pub is open to the public from noon-11pm seven days a week with pizza served until 9pm, and the deli is open from 8am-6pm six days a week.
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