Eastbourne pub owner proud to have been praised nationally by celebrity

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An Eastbourne pub owner has spoken about the ‘feel-good moment’ of being praised by a celebrity in a national newspaper.

Owner Phil Cameron, who took over the pub in May 2019, said: “It was amazing. I knew the Sunday Times were doing an article but I didn’t know it was him [Mr Coles]. When the Sunday Times contacted me it was a real feel-good moment.”

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In the article Mr Coles praised the pub’s ‘excellent food sourced locally’.

Eight Bells owner Phil CameronEight Bells owner Phil Cameron
Eight Bells owner Phil Cameron

He said in The Times’ article: "It has everything I like about pubs – open fire, no racket, dog-friendly – and best of all a daily choice of pies. This could be anything from cottage pie, to smoked fish with leeks, to squash and spinach – all delicious – and they do a fantastic Scotch egg.”

Mr Cameron added: “Local is very, very important. We are very lucky that Sussex is the new garden of England. We source all of our niche vegetables, all of our beetroots, edible leaves and flowers, all that niche stuff locally. We only list Sussex cheeses, we only list Sussex sparkling wines and almost all of our beers are from Sussex as well. Also, we feel that local is essential. It is not even important, it is essential. But we are also very lucky because it is easy to get hold of it.”

The owner also spoke about getting to know Mr Coles during his visits.

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Mr Cameron said: “We have got to know him over the last few months and it is great that somebody that is as worldly and discerning as him rates what we are doing here.

The Eight Bells pub in Jevington (Pic by Jon Rigby)The Eight Bells pub in Jevington (Pic by Jon Rigby)
The Eight Bells pub in Jevington (Pic by Jon Rigby)

“We aim to be the best pub around and it is a local pub. He likes a pub, a lot of people like a pub. We don’t just want to be a pub that serves pub grub, we are trying to be a pub that embraces everybody.”

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