Ryan Frost, landlord at the Lion Inn, in Earls Colne, talks about his pub

laughs Ryan, now the landlord at the Lion Inn, in Earls Colne.

“I think I was one of the worst pot washers you could have, but thankfully the owners of the pub I was working in gave me the chance to go front of house and wait tables instead. I was good at that.”

The 24-year-old started his career in pubs aged just 15 but quickly moved up the ranks, finding he was better at facing customers than soapy water and dirty dishes.

Working for the Saint Arnold Group, run by Darran and Caroline Lingley, who also own the Griffin and the Five Bells in the Colnes, Ryan moved on from waiting tables to bar work the day after his 18th birthday.

These days he has more time to chat to regulars, sit down with diners and join in their conversations. Pub life is in his blood.

Ryan says: “It’s a funny feeling, walking around a pub you run and seeing all the people around you having a drink and enjoying themselves, seeing all the tables full of diners. It’s brilliant.”

“I love the social aspect of running a pub. I also live in house which is good in some ways but not so great in others!

To be honest who else has a wine cellar and a pizza oven downstairs?”

The Saint Arnold Group took over the Lion, in High Street, in 2012 and set to work on restoring the building, parts of which are thought to date back to late 14th century.

Ryan took over as landlord six months ago and has helped to build business and the pub’s offering to local drinkers and diners alike.

Describing the pub as “quirky”, the pub itself revolves around a large woodfired pizza oven, which tops temperatures of 500C.

Pizzas take just three minutes to cook in the oven, which is also where most of the other dishes on the menu are cooked.

”This is the reason we don’t serve chips,” says Ryan.

“The number of people who ask but we just can’t facilitate it in that oven. But we do serve dauphinoise potatoes. All the veg are steamed and then put in the oven. It’s the heart of our pub.

“One time we cooked a ham hock in there when the temperature reduced to about 140C, left it in there all night just turned every three hours.

By morning the han was falling off the bone. It was delicious.”

As well as pizza and steak the Lion, which is very much focussed on its food and wine offering, also serves up a range of other dishes and on Sundays, presents its roast dinners on sharing platters for everyone to dig in.

Then there is the wine cellar.

Ryan says: “When Darran and Caroline took over the wine cellar was the back bar. It was converted and now customers can go in there and see what we have to offer. It’s all priced up, with notes and information, and customers can get a discount if they are buying to take away.

“But the great thing about this pub is the mix of people who use it.

“We could have a couple in their seventies sitting down and enjoying a bottle of wine, at the same time there is a group of 23-year-olds drinking rum and coke at the bar.

“The environment is relaxed enough for everyone to feel welcome and comfortable.”

On Sundays the pub hosts two musicians who perform to customers, something which has become popular and aims to be a more regular occurence.

Ryan says: “I would also like to do a casino night and a hog roast. I have plans to create an outside griddle pan, like a barbecue, where we can cook chunks of lamb and have proper kebabs served in home made flatbreads.

“Then there is our summer cocktail list which we have just released, and our jugs of Pimms and sangria, which are always popular.”

He adds: “I have worked in many roles within pubs but the further along I get the more I enjoy it.

“Running a pub is a new challenge and it’s brilliant.”