Kesgrave Kitchen owners Chris and Emma Sciortino take over Black Tiles pub, in Martlesham

A Suffolk family have described how eager they are to be taking over a much-missed village pub – but feel they have a ‘huge task ahead of them’.

On February 7, Chris and Emma Sciortino bought The Black Tiles, in Martlesham, and are now gearing up for a top-to-bottom refit.

The couple, who live in Kesgrave and own Kesgrave Kitchen, used to take their children Hugo and Olivia to the pub before it shut in February last year.

Looking for his next challenge, Chris revealed he had his eye on the site for some time and jumped at the chance to bring it under his wing.

Chris said: “We have a huge task ahead of us and it’s a bit daunting. The Black Tiles is a very big property and we’re doing a full renovation, but the response we’ve had from the community has justified doing it.

“We’re hoping to get to work this week but it’s currently hard to say when we’ll reopen, but we hope to take advantage of the summer weather.

“We want to offer a cozy vibe, with the same atmosphere throughout, and create a family-friendly foodie pub where people can bring friends, have a meeting – a place for everyone.”

Inside, Chris said, they need to rip out the current toilets and replace them, while suites need modernising, which will be the first work the team undertakes.

The restaurant, bar and garden areas will also be put to good use, with the hope of hosting barbecues and live music during the summer.

While the family do not have a menu set yet, they were thinking of offering standard pub grub and will look to hire a ‘really good’ head chef to run the kitchen.

Chris said he would be at the pub much of the time, while day-to-day running of the pub would fall to Richie Warren.

Nicola Calvert, who manages Kesgrave Kitchen, will also help out, he said.

Chris added: “The news that we’re taking the pub over has been getting good traction on social media and we hope it’ll become a well-used social space – a community hub. The pub has a lovely pond, garden and play area.

“People in the community really seemed to have missed The Black Tiles since it shut, so it would be lovely to bring it back into use.”