Dave Wall: Leading The Unruly Pig to the top of the gastropub scene

The honour of being recognised as the best gastropub in the country is something The Unruly Pig do not take for granted.

For the third time in four years, the 16th-century Suffolk inn claimed the number one spot in the prestigious Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs list back in January.

Headed up by chef patron Dave Wall, The Unruly Pig, which also holds three AA rosettes, has now been open for a decade and is the brainchild of solicitor-turned-restaurateur Brendan Padfield.

Dave grew up in Suffolk – his first job in a kitchen coming at a local McDonald’s as a teenager – before backpacking through Asia, Australia and Canada.

Upon returning to England, he got a job back in his home county, under Carl Shillingford at The Anchor, before heading off to London.

Spells with the Gordon Ramsay Group (Boxwood Café), Claridge’s and Bibendum followed, ahead of a return to Ipswich, spending four years at Le Talbooth, after which Dave was keen to take the next step, which came about after a somewhat unorthodox selection process.

“I had this ambition that I wanted to be a head chef by the time I was 30, so that was on the horizon,” Dave explained.

“I came across this job for a new independent start up. The advert sounded good. There was going to be some open fire cookery and a few other things.

“So I put my application in and my interview was set up. It was quite strange because the address on the interview was a residential address.

“So I came along, sat down and had my interview with Brendan Padfield, who didn't actually have the keys to the place yet. He was in the middle of purchasing the British Larder.

“I sat down with Brendan for three-and-a-half hours in his front room while he picked out as much information as he possibly could.

“I was impressed because he presented his business plan to me and there was a lot of detail. He clearly had done a lot of research.”

After making it to the final two, Dave progressed to the next stage – a cook-off at Brendan’s house.

“I had to go back and cook for him, his wife in their kitchen and they got a little judging panel together with two other people that did have industry experience,” Dave said.

“That was how I ended up at The Unruly Pig.”

Building a Brand: The Rise of The Unruly Pig

While he was excited by the job, there was one thing Dave was not sold on.

“The name The Unruly Pig, I actually hated it when I first heard it,” Dave admitted.

“Brendan got it through a marketing agency. They had this emblem that they come up with, this angry looking pig. I said, ‘Brendan I think it's a bit aggressive and I don't know about that’. He said, ‘no it’s provocative, Dave, and it's memorable and it’s different. There are different type of pig up and down the country but you're never going to get another Unruly Pig.’

“And he said it's something that people will be able to connect with. He couldn't have been more right. It's just stuck and it's become a great brand in its own right.”

Fire, Rebuild, and Reset: Overcoming Early Setbacks

It has been quite the ride since, not least when a fire damaged the property just months after opening.

“We’d been rocking and rolling for three months or so,” Dave said.

“It's quite hard getting a new business off the ground. It was a learning curve, a first head chef job for me, Brendan's first venture into hospitality.

“Things were running relatively smoothly in context, then we had a huge, devastating fire. It happened in the middle of the night when nobody was here, fortunately, but it was pretty devastating.

“It burnt down quite large amounts of the roof. When they put out a fire, the water damage and the smoke damage that then permeates through the building, that does the real damage and that is not quick to overcome.

“It was a pretty painful experience.

“We rebuilt and it was a good opportunity to reset, look at what had gone right and what had gone wrong in those first three months, make some really critical adjustments and get ourselves locked and loaded to go again.”

Six months later, The Unruly Pig reopened, with what proved to be a “critical appointment” in Karl Green, who is now Dave’s right-hand man and operates as head chef.

Dave describes The Unruly Pig’s food offering as “Britalian”, with staple dishes such as arancini, liver parfait, and vanilla panna cotta.

“It is British food, but has got an Italian lean on the style of some of the dishes and certainly an Italian lean on the influence in how we think about food,” Dave explained.

“So flavour first, seasonality first and not over tamper with those ingredients. If we've got a great piece of beef, we want to cook it simply and let it shine on the plate.

“That's really at the heart of how we approach our dishes.”

Three-Time Champion: What Winning the Top 50 Gastropubs Means

The Unruly Pig is open seven days a week, operating with 10 front of house per busy service and a rotation of 10 chefs.

And their efforts have been recognised, notably in the Estrella Damm list.

Dave said: “That has been a real privilege and pleasure. Each time we've won it has been quite a different experience. The first year was the most blown away because we never thought we would top that list.

“When you're sat hearing that list count down and your name still hasn't been called you think, have they forgotten about us? Did they mean to invite us? And then when you finally heard number one, it was it was quite an emotional moment.

“I'm not the most emotional chap always, but that one broke me down a little bit and it was just such a privilege for all of the team and a real honour.”

He added: “It definitely put more pressure on the team. There was all of a sudden a lot of people booking in and coming to see us and coming to check out what we're doing.

“Whilst I'm sure they were all good-natured, just wanted to see what it was about. In the back of your mind, you have this fear and doubt. Are they coming to check whether we're good enough? Are they coming to see whether we’ve fluked this?

“But actually, it really helped us. It made us really hone in on the fact that every cover counts. Some people might have travelled 50 miles or 75 miles to come and eat with us. We owe it to that guest to make sure we live up to them making that journey.

“It's remained a treat and an honour and we would never assume that we would ever win it again.

“But we'll just keep plugging away and trying to do what we'll do.”

The Tom Kerridge of Suffolk?

In terms of the future, Dave is keen to follow the lead of another well-known chef who specialises in standout pubs.

“I would like in the future, potentially, to open a second site, something a bit more casual and laid back,” he explained.

“I can have a look at Tom Kerridge as an icon for that.

“Going to Marlow is Tom Kerridge town. He never intended for The Coach to have a star he says, and you can tell that when you go in to an extent. It is Michelin worthy, but it's so cool and laid back and casual and such a fun, great experience sitting at the counter and chatting to Sarah (Hayward, head chef).

“I love the juxtaposition of that and the Hand & Flowers there. They’re a stone’s throw from one another, but how good and different the offering is, now with the Butcher’s Tap & Grill and he’s got the accommodation there. What an empire.

“I do look at what he's done in Marlow and think that's pretty cool. I wouldn’t mind, maybe not on that scale, but having a little bit of a similar thing going on around here.”