The Bees Knees in Cirencester has reopened its doors after a fresh lick of paint and a small refurb. The Arkell’s Brewery pub, in the towns Watermoor area, has also had a menu facelift thanks to new tenants, Neil Johnson and Julie Godley.
Neil comes from a cheffing background, having worked at Bibury Court, Graze and Voodoo Q in Bristol. It was here he found his love of smoke house food and barbeque. “The menu has a real emphasis on live fire cooking of meat and fish as well as vegetables,” the keen chef explained.
He continued: “We smoke all of our produce ourselves; we have three large smokers out the back of the pub in our very own smoke shack, that Arkell’s have kindly built for us. We make all of our own sauces, seasonings and rubs. We use hardwoods for the smoking process, maple, hickory and fruitwoods.”
During the pandemic and subsequent lockdown Neil set up his own smokehouse take away, originally using The Bees Knees kitchen, delivering his now famous smoked half rack of baby back ribs all around the town and surrounding area.
When the Bees Knees became available Neil and Julie jumped at the chance to run the bar as well. New landlady Julie said: “We want to make this a real community pub, there will still be darts and skittles teams welcome here and we will be adding in some live music and are hoping to make more of our outdoor space.”
George Arkell of Arkell’s Brewery added: “It is great to have Neil and Julie taking over the Bees Knees. We can’t wait to try out his new smoke house cooking and we’re wishing them all the best in their new venture.”
To book a dining table or for more information please call 01285 644142 or email: cheekyswinebbq@gmail.com.
