New beer, barbecue, and smokehouse
York used to be known as the place with the pubs. One for every day of the year, went the legend – although no one has ever tried a daily drink in each to prove it. Now though, the city is becoming equally well known for a modern crop of cafe bars, swish and sociable and serving up artisanal food and drink.
Pavement Vaults is at the forefront of this trend. It opened in late 2015, transforming an empty shop on a busy corner into something much more convivial. Unlike some bars, this was not an upgrade imposed by a London-based corporation, but a labour of love by the Pivovar Group, a local business which runs two other pubs: Pivni, on Patrick Pool, and the York Tap, at the railway station.
Info
Address 2 Piccadilly, York YO1 9NU, +44 (0)1904 670777, www.pavementvaults.co.uk, info@pavementvaults.co.uk | Public Transport 3-minute walk from Piccadilly car park. Closest bus stop: Piccadilly | Tip Similar buzzing bars include Pairings (28 Castlegate), run by two sisters, and Sutlers (55 Fossgate), a new bar with an interwar period feel.
Described as a “progressive beer, smoke & barbeque canteen,” Pavement Vaults nods to the past – its name is taken from a pub that closed in 1963 – and looks to the future. As well as selling an impressive range of cask ales and cocktails, the Vaults was the first pub in York to specialise in barbecue food. Overseen by a chef who not only has cooked for the Sultan of Brunei but also catered the Queen’s 80th birthday party at Balmoral, the menu brings three key elements together: high-quality meat, butchery, and craft beer. As well as the lively first-floor bar, there’s a moodily lit underground lounge that features specially built horseshoe-shaped booths.
The Pavement Vaults was one part of a project to bring life back to the White Swan Hotel building on Piccadilly. It was a thriving hotel not once but twice, the 1912 version built to replace a demolished 18th-century coaching inn. But the updated Swan closed in 1982, and the building stood empty from 1990. Finally, after the city council managed to unravel the red tape surrounding ownership of the building, refurbishment began in 2013, with 18 affordable flats created on the upper floors, and this fab bar beneath.
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