The Dragon at Willington has a woman at the helm who has cooked for former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and rubbed shoulders with royalty at the State Opening of Parliament.
IF you should detect an unmistakable touch of class about the stylishly revamped Dragon at Willington, it's not surprising.
After all, owner Heidi Taylor did hone her considerable catering and hospitality skills at no less a place than Britain's centre of power, the Houses of Parliament.
When Heidi, a Derbyshire lass from the village of Stanton-by-Bridge, near Melbourne, invited me to see the new-look pub and restaurant for myself, she told me about her background in the hospitality industry. It turns out to be a fascinating story. For after gaining qualifications at High Peak catering college in Buxton, Heidi was soon working as a waitress, then later as a chef, at the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
"I was only 18 when during the mid-1980s I got my first job as a waitress at the National Liberal Club in Whitehall.
"Then I landed a job at the House of Commons serving MPs and cabinet ministers in the members' dining room. I regularly served meals to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and to Norman Tebbit, who was an extremely nice man.
"Mrs Thatcher was a super lady, very polite and often had time for a chat. She was always very grateful for the work we did."
Later Heidi moved on to the House of Lords, where she worked as a commis chef. "I think my most memorable moment was lining up with my colleagues in our chefs' whites at the State Opening of Parliament. I stood within touching distance of the Queen and Charles and Diana. Princess Diana was wearing a tiara and looked stunning. It was a glittering moment."
These amazing experiences in Heidi's early career, along with her later ten-year career in interior design, have all contributed to the way she has stylishly recreated The Dragon at Willington, which is now making a considerable mark on the pub-restaurant scene in South Derbyshire.
This historic pub is attractively set on The Green at Willington, overlooking the picturesque Trent and Mersey canal, with its array of colourful boats. What's more, the pub has already won two major awards – Best Out of Town Pub in the 2012 Derby Food and Drink Awards and Best Traditional Pub in the Derbyshire Food and Drink Awards this year. Heidi, 47, has overseen recent renovations and extensions, having acquired the pub from a national brewery chain four years ago, when it was known as The Green Dragon.
"It was run down and we decided to not only renovate and extend it, but also to change its name to The Dragon, which helps to reduce confusion with the Green Man pub which is nearby."
The Dragon's restaurant and bar are now much enlarged and its food is winning awards for being fresh, tasty and home-made with many ingredients sourced locally, including from a nearby allotment. Heidi took on the venture with business associate and co-director Alan Shepherd, who used to work for Marston's Brewery. "He is extremely knowledgeable about the pub trade and I have brought my expertise in food and interior design to the project. It has been a massive team effort, also including my partner and my children Abigail and Robert.
"Robert works here full time as a chef and Abigail helps out at the bar when she's on vacation from her chartered surveyor's degree course at Nottingham Trent University."
The Dragon is a perfect place for all-year-round dining and socialising but is particularly magical in summer, as there is plenty of attractive outdoor space for warm, sunny days. A large lawned garden at the rear of the pub overlooks the canal, while there is a lovely secluded paved courtyard for dining and drinking at the front.
A wonderful sun trap, this courtyard has been created from the garden of the cottage next door which Heidi bought to enlarge the pub-restaurant. The elegant pots of home-grown herbs which the chefs use in the kitchen, are an especially nice feature of the courtyard.
The Dragon now has a large new kitchen, where head chef Chris Blincoe, 31, leads a team of 14 specialising in modern English cuisine.
Staffordshire-born Chris came to The Dragon from its sister establishment, Harpur's at Melbourne. "Our style here is fresh, tasty food that's full of flavour and has some quirky presentation," he explains.
His kitchen is a hive of industry as food is served throughout the day, starting with breakfast at 8am (popular with the boating community), finishing with last orders at 9pm.
With beams, stripped wooden floors, natural brick and lots of design detail, The Dragon's restaurant is elegant and spacious. There are some imaginative contemporary touches, including original oil paintings by Teresa Withington, girlfriend of Heidi's son Robert.
"My aim was to make the place traditional and stylish without being pretentious," Heidi explains.
The restaurant's evening menu is a big attraction, with Chris Blincoe's signature dishes including The Dragon's own-recipe sausages served with leek and onion mash, gravy and red onion marmalade at £9.95.
His Thai red curry salmon with jasmine rice and crab noodle salad is a big hit at £12.95, while his celebration of locally-sourced produce, a dish comprising Packington pork belly, Glebe Farm lamb rump and beef shin, with curried parsnip and baby vegetables, also goes down a storm with food lovers. Another favourite is his Dragon burger served with root vegetable coleslaw, home-made ketchup and fries, at £9.95.
Vegetarians love his globe artichoke and sun blushed tomato risotto, served with courgette and aubergine salad and black olive crumble. One diner recently described it as 'divine'.
Starters include smoked haddock and sweetcorn chowder with warm bread and chive crème fraiche at £4.95. Curried crab ravioli with heritage tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, purple basil and bisque dressing, also goes down a treat at £6.25.
As for puddings, the choice is mouth-watering, from homemade Turkish delight crème brulee to blueberry cheesecake sundae with homemade ice cream, marshmallow, cream, biscuit granola and blueberry vodka sauce.
The Dragon serves a summer garden menu throughout the day, which includes sandwiches, salads and main courses. It is also planning to offer Champagne afternoon teas, courtesy of excellent pastry chef Fiona Bailey.
In addition to its food, The Dragon is renowned for its big range of traditional real ales sourced locally from micro breweries like Burton Bridge, Dancing Duck, Blue Monkey and Derby Brewing Company. There is also a wide choice of ciders, fine wines, spirits and soft drinks.
