For the past eight years, Yorkshireman Graham Lane has been providing quality British comestibles through his English Corner Shop in Onehunga, supplying food and drink from the old country to shops, supermarkets and the general public down here and now he is opening a pub. The new pub – under the name Spitting Feathers – will be on Wyndham Street in Auckland, right in the heart of the city and it promises to offer something different. “I was tired of not being able to get the beer I wanted and I was tired of the cost of a beer here, so I thought it was something I could do,” he says. “I’ve never run a pub before, but I’ve been in a few in my time and I know what people like.” He has an experienced manager to help with the running of the pub and he is confident his formula will work. Initially he will be offering British tap beers like Carling lager, Marston’s Pedigree Bitter and Strongbow cider on tap, along with guest cask ales to tempt in the beer lovers. Keeping a lid on prices will be another selling point, with an Imperial pint of imported beer going for around $8. There is no chiller in the pub, so the barrels will be underneath the bar, cooled by a glycol system and ensuring a short pour for the beers, meaning a fresher beer in the glass. Food is also on the menu, but it will definitely not be restaurant-style dining. “We’ll eb doing fish and chips and scampi and Sunday roasts – good, honest pub food, rather than trying to do restaurant food in a pub. I don’t like that idea; I think restaurants are for dining and pubs are fir drinking in, I’m a bit old-fashioned like that.”The pub will offer wooden floors, exposed beams and will aim for the 30-something market. There will be no gaming machines or thumping music, rather a few video screens showing music videos and sport. The English Corner Shop currently supplies 80 supermarkets around the country as well as importing a wide range of bottled beers and ciders from the UK and Lane says the expansion into the pub game is a natural one. “We’re looking at it like the Wetherspoons chain of pubs in England. We want to offer good beer, some tasty food for those who want it and a changing range of guest ales all at a reasonable price.”