George Pell’s enthusiasm for Suffolk is infectious. His face lights up as he talks about locals’ generosity of spirit, the ease with which bonds and connections have been made, and the vast beauty of the place he’s come to call home.
Living in a cottage a stone’s throw from the river Alde, life is very different post-pandemic for the restaurateur and hotelier – a far cry from the urban soundscape of Brixton. And George loves it – which he says is hilarious as he’d barely heard of the county before Covid reared its ugly head.
The owner of soon-to-open boutique Aldeburgh hotel, The Suffolk, and its restaurant, L’Escargot Sur Mer, arrived in the seaside town in the spring of 2020 with several members (“we were like a merry band of bandits”) of his L’Escargot team in tow. They sought an escape from the London culinary landscape, where restaurants without outdoor seating were struggling to survive.
Founded in 1927 by the French Gaudin family, L’Escargot, in the heart of Soho, is one of the grand dames of London’s dining scene – the oldest French restaurant in the city. Frequented by celebrities and royals, if walls could talk, the Greek Street building would have plenty to divulge.
George, who was previously at the Arts Club in Mayfair, and Home House in Marylebone, joined the business in 2014 when it was “on the brink of going”, taken on by private investors.
“It was definitely a passion project. As is The Suffolk,” he says. “I think, with these properties, we’re just custodians of the fabulous buildings.”
With no idea, early in 2020, what the future would hold for restaurants and hospitality as a whole, George was keen to get away. Maybe somewhere on the coast. Lyme Regis was touted as a possibility.
As fate would have it, two of L’Escargot’s investors owned 152 High Street, Aldeburgh, and thought George, with his visions of a pop-up restaurant, could be onto something.
On a whim, he packed a transit van with booze, tables and chairs, with the ambition of running a seaside version of L’Escargot for a month, taking four front of house and four kitchen staff with him.
“We met up at Liverpool Street that first day. Six of the team didn’t know where Aldeburgh even was! It was like a magical mystery tour,” George laughs. “We arrived with our backpacks and suitcases with no clue what was to come.”
Just being by the coast proved respite from what was going on at large around the world, he adds.
“After being curtailed with what we could do thanks to Covid, there was a sense of a lack of joy in London. This was something to look forward to. Something wild and a bit crazy.
“We wrote the menu on the train,” he adds.
One month turned into two months, then three. George, and many of those who’d followed him to Suffolk, didn’t want to leave.
And then the entire building became available. George met with local investors, and had soon garnered enough support to make something truly exciting happen in Aldeburgh – transforming 152 into a permanent restaurant, lounge, and six-bedroom hotel.
“It was in the process of getting the freehold that all the brilliant history of the building revealed itself,” he says. “It was the Commercial Inn, an old coaching house dating back to the 17th century. I became slightly obsessive about the restoration project, I have to say.
“I want to return this place to glory. The building, as it was, had been knocked about a bit and the rooms, upstairs particularly, had lost their romantic sparkle.”
George has been heavily involved in the transformation of the property, with local firm ESH carrying out works based on plans by East Anglian architect Charles Curry-Hyde.
He gives me a tour of the hotel, where the final stages of the build are being carried out. Downstairs, on the high street-facing side of the property, will be a Mid Century-style lounge, complete with hand-built bar.
“I was sent photos of the original building plans,” says George. “What we’ve done, without realising it, is turned this part back into a lounge/wine bar. It gives us somewhere a bit less formal where we can serve bar snacks and small plates – things that celebrate regional food. The best oysters from Pinney’s...plates of Dingley Dell charcuterie. We'll do fun bits and pieces like cod cheek nuggets with curry tartare, and oyster katsu sandos.”
The cocktail list has a hint of the sea about it, offering tipples such as Sur Mertini (gin, oyster liquor, Martini Bianco and lemon bitters), The Coral Spritz (rose wine, rhubarb syrup, blackberry puree, sage and club soda), and The Suffolk Sailor (gold rum, gooseberry, peach, plums and lime juice).
Currently blocked off from the main restaurant by a partition wall, once the lounge is completed, it will flow into the dining area.
Sets of charming higgledy-piggledy stairs lead upwards to two floors of accommodation, all set to be high-spec double ensuites – some with town-facing views, others offering a vista of the shingle beach and sea beyond.
Diners, drinkers and guests will have access to the first-floor roof terrace, set to be open year-round (with blankets and heaters in the cooler months).
Back downstairs, and the restaurant (styled by local interior designer Kate Fulford) is, says George the ‘whacky aunt’ to L’Escargot’s ‘crazy uncle’ vibe.
Much like the menus, which are pared back, simple, and understated, Kate has drawn inspiration from the eastern shores to give Sur-Mer a sense of place that doesn’t steer into kitsch seaside cliches.
“For me this is a sweet, sweet spot,” says George proudly. “It’s wrapped with windows so it’s super light, and it’s not stuffy at all. We kind of, in the design, let the space tell us what to do.
“Everything goes back to that clean, elegant style. We wanted it to feel coastal, but without going overboard or being too grand.”
Rather than being overly idiosyncratic in an effort to ‘stick out’, Sur-Mer has been put together in a way that makes it feel rather calm and soothing, decorated in gentle blues, with warmth coming from the hand built wooden tables, and a nod to Maggie Hambling’s beach sculpture echoed in the scalloped banquettes.
George and head chef James Jay (formerly of The Grundisburgh Dog, The Anchor in Woodbridge and The Easton White Horse) have gone to great lengths to introduce the kitchen team to the superb produce that’s (in some cases) literally on the doorstep. They’ve been out to Fen Farm, at sea with Bill Pinney, and over to see Mark Hayward at Dingley Dell.
Fish is sourced from Wightmans in Lowestoft and from Mike Warner of A Passion For Seafood. There’s native shellfish from Pinney’s. Gerard across the road at Salter & King is dry aging “incredible” Suffolk beef...the list goes on.
“But it’s all about keeping it super simple,” George reiterates.
“We want to celebrate the main protein on the plate,” adds James. “It’s about making that the star.”
“Good food doesn’t have to be outrageous,” says George. ”Take our cote du boeuf for two. It's cooked to perfection in the charcoal oven, served with our own chips and a bit of bearnaise. Heavenly. What more could you want? And people are travelling for our lobster with garlic butter. Again, so simple, but done well. We do all the work for you – splitting the shell, and breaking it down, giving that level of refinement that makes it more pleasurable to eat.”
James picks out a few of his favourite dishes from what’s a refreshingly concise line-up.
“The bisque starter is a classic. For me, it’s the sea in a bowl. It's so delicious, with a kick of heat from the booze.
“Our hand-dived scallops are superb. As is the barbecued monkfish tail. We put that with a really nice samphire butter.
“And I’d say our dressed crab is the best around. It breaks the rules and it’s not dressed as you’d expect it. We take white crab meat from the Devon Crab Company, which is simply some of the best you can get, and we layer it up, with a quenelle of brown meat and an avocado puree on top.”
“It has all the elements of a dressed crab,” adds George, “but this is, we think, a nicer way to eat it.”
Pudding is unfussy, offering lemon tart, crème brulee, a take on Eton mess made with local strawberries and Fen Farm mascarpone, or a Pump Street chocolate delice.
Or round things off with a game chip topped with whipped Baron Bigod and chutney.
“Everything’s made here,” George points out, adding that doesn’t include bread (currently sourced from Harvey & Co at Rendlesham) but their own loaves will make an appearance soon.
Wine is close to the restauranteur’s heart, and he can’t wait to showcase more unusual, unique bottles at Sur-Mer in collaboration with long-time supplier Hallgarten, and WPJ – who are able to get hold of some “really cool bottles you just won’t find in the supermarket or on the high street”.
“We, absolutely, have the French staples which work brilliantly with seafood – I love a white Burgundy,” says George. “But we’re going off-piste too.”
He pulls out a couple of current favourites. Eggo is a Malbec made in specially created concrete eggs and aged in the famed Mendoza wine region, in a modern taken on the ancient amphora process. And he calls Franklin River’s Syrah from western Australia “incredible”.
Fizz is largely from Laurent Perrier, with George soon to be adding English sparkling wine to the list – and he’s certain to be popping corks once the hotel and restaurant are finally open in unison.
“The people here have been lovely. So welcoming. So generous with their time, reaching out to me and my staff, inviting them to parties. Living here has been brilliant. We can’t wait to get the doors fully open now!”
Sur-Mer is currently open for dinner from Tuesday to Sunday, and lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Visit the-suffolk.co.uk for bookings and to find out more.
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