New craft beer bar and smokehouse restaurant for York - Bar boss & BBQ champion team up

Jamie Hawksworth, the owner of York Tap at the station and Pivní in Patrick Pool, wants to open a new venue next door to the new Sainsbury's store on the corner of Piccadilly and Coppergate.

He said it would sell some of the best beers in the world, and said the food side would be driven by Andy Annat, a three-time UK barbecue champion and world champion finalist.

The Pavement Vaults is planned next to Sainsbury's

The venue will be on the ground floor and basement and will be called The Pavement Vaults, resurrecting the name of a pub that once stood in nearby Pavement in the building now occupied by Gregg's the baker.

Mr Hawksworth, who also owns bars in Harrogate, Leeds and London and a brewery and pub at Sheffield, said the new business would be the company's first foray into food.

He said his company would be spending around £330,000 on the building, on top of that already spent in its restoration, and said his plans would create around 30 jobs.

As well as the bar and restaurant, he plans an in-house butchery, with three professionally-trained butchers among the recruits.

Mr Hawksworth's first venue, Pivní, opened in 2007

He said: "We have sold beer and we have made beer - now we are pairing food with the beers. We have two very good sites in York Tap and Pivní; we do not need to prove ourselves on the beer level. This is an expansion for us, and shows we are growing up a little as a business."

He said York's dining scene had improved in recent years but said many of the new openings were by national chains.

"York is getting a lot better but also worse, because there are so many chains here. You could be in Milton Keynes or anywhere. There are very few independently-owned restaurant bars left, but we have the perfect site for it. It's great; the development of Piccadilly has allowed us to influence the architecture."

The original Pavement Vaults, in Pavement, closed in the 1960s

The White Swan Hotel was empty for around 30 years and increasingly derelict, before City of York Council reached an agreement with its owners in 2013, since when the building has been restored. Flats have been created in the upper floors, and Sainsbury's opened in part of the ground floor in March.

>>> New Sainsbury's opens

>>> White Swan breakthrough after many years

The planning permission granted by City of York Council in 2013 permits Mr Hawksworth's proposed bar and restaurant use, but he will submit an application on the precise design detail within days, and has already submitted a licensing application to cover the alcohol sales. He hopes to open from 8am to midnight daily.

He said he wanted to pre-empt any possible concerns about another pub or bar opening in the city-centre, saying The Pavement Vaults would be unique, combining the butchery, restaurant and bar.

Mr Hawksworth, who is based in Elvington, opened Pivní in Patrick Pool in 2007 and has since added Euston Tap, Sheffield Tap, York Tap, Harrogate Tap and Tapped Leeds.