Pub operator and brewer Brakspear has taken its managed estate up to 10 sites with the reopening of the Dog & Duck in Wokingham, which has undergone a major refurbishment, transforming it into a stylish and welcoming pub offering drinks and dining to local residents.
The refurbishment has been carried out by Brakspear’s in-house design team, with the aim of retaining the heritage of the pub, which dates back to the 1850s, while also updating it. Traditional features, such as the oak beams, sash windows and antique prints, are combined with more modern elements including three large light wells over the 130-cover dining space, bi-fold doors leading onto the garden, and a large screen showing live sport.
The menu offers seasonal British pub classics such as steaks and fish & chips, as well as grills, salads and sour dough or spelt base pizzas from the kitchen’s wood-fired oven. A lunch express menu offers open sandwiches and other quick options for diners in a hurry, while children have their own menu. A Carvery menu is operating on Sundays.
The drinks list features classic cocktails; a range of 10 speciality gins such as Hawthorn’s, Silent Pool and Tarquin’s Cornish and a wide selection of wines including champagne and prosecco. Craft beers including Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada and Goose Island, sit alongside Brakspear cask ales and a range of world beers and ciders.
Brakspear chief executive Tom Davies said, “We are delighted to be reopening the Dog & Duck as our 10th managed pub.
“We are basing the pub’s offer on the Retreat at Staines, which we opened a year ago; high quality food and drink in an informal, welcoming setting with broad local appeal. While we want all our managed pubs to have their own individual character, as we expand the managed division there are also benefits from rolling out the best elements into new sites.
“We are confident the Dog & Duck will quickly become one of Wokingham’s most popular pubs for drinking, dining and relaxing with friends and family.”
The Dog & Duck transferred from Brakspear’s tenanted and leased estate in September this year, along with the Little Angel in Henley-on-Thames. Brakspear’s other managed pubs are: the Bull on Bell Street, Henley; Porch House and the Sheep on Sheep Street, both in Stow-on-the-Wold; George Townhouse in Shipston-on-Stour; Townhouse in Stratford on Avon; Chequers in Marlow; Running Horses in Mickleham, Surrey and the Retreat in Staines.
