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Laine Pub Company takes on original Battersea Jongleurs site

Published:  13 October, 2014

The site of the original Jongleurs comedy club in Battersea, south London, where the likes of Graham Norton, Bill Bailey and Phil Jupitus first made their name, has been transformed in to a major pub operation.

Four thievesLaine Pub Company takes on the original Jongleurs site in BatterseaThe Four Thieves in Battersea is Laine Pub Company’s 47th site.

The Four Thieves is the latest venture from the growing Laine Pub Company and will include its own craft brewery and craft spirits distilling operation on so that it can produce its own ales and gins.

It will also keep alive its comedy roots by hosting special comedy nights as well as featuring different weekly DJs.

The Four Thieves is named after a legendary story from 650 years ago when lavender, from nearby Lavender Hill, helped save the lives of the Four Thieves - or Black Death corpse robbers - by making them immune to the plague.

Gavin George, chief executive of Laine Pub Company, said of the new venture:  "At Laine's we view a great pub as the third place outside the home and workplace that flourishes with a similar emotional, creative and loyal investment. To achieve that our pubs need to be individual, inviting and inspirational and we reckon that with its history, fantastic location and all of the amazing offerings going on inside, The Four Thieves will be all these and more."

The pub will be made up of a main bar, split over two levels, the Boat House, which will host the comedy and music nights, and its own "gin yard" with a roof made out of lavender which will be used to make the house gin.

There is also a separate private dining room that can seat up to 12.

The pub's décor includes many artefacts and furnishings collected  throughout the pub's history, which also used to be a Victorian music hall. 

The on-site brewery will be able to produce up to 40 casks a week - the equivalent of 1,440 pints - with a changing range of craft beers managed by Liane Brewing's London head brewer, Jim Wilson, who also produces beer for the group's other brew pubs, The People's Park Tavern and The Aeronaut.

The Four Thieves will also serve its own Czech style pilsner straight into the glass from the brewery tanks.

The pub promises to be a showcase for gin for as well as its own craft gin still it will feature a range of 45 other gins, plus different tonics allowing it to offer up to 260 different gin and tonic options.

"We are really excited to be able to challenge most people's perceptions of what a gin and tonic actually tastes like," said The Four Thieves' manager Dan Luker. "With so many different gin and tonic combinations we will be able to create a flavour experience tailored to the individual customers taste."

The pub's food offer will range from  British pub classics to street style food, European and pan Asian cuisine with dishes ranging from braised BBQ ribs to ceviche of yellowfin tuna with spiced peppers and pea shoots; from kimchi and pulled pork, to a Laines beer battered haddock and chips.

Regular comedians, Simon Munnery, Jarred Christmas and Patrick Monahan, will headline Wednesday comedy nights and there will also set themed nights for dance classes, live music and DJs.

The Laine Pub Company now has 47 pubs, 40 of which are in Brighton. 

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