The Baltic Fleet, Wapping, Liverpool

Dec 15 2007 by Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

FOR all the unfinished building work and continual civic cock-ups, the Pub Column is becoming positively up-beat about the city’s prospects in the run-up to 2008 and this Capital of Culture malarkey.

We’ve never had so much happening on the A&E front. That’s Arts and Entertainment and not Accident and Emergency (hmmmmm, although, now you come to think of it . . . )

Anyway, A&E most definitely covers Merseyside pubs, which are at the heart of our culture and will have a pivotal role to play with so many visitors expected next year.

Mindful of their potential, some of our finest alehouses have decided to speculate to accumulate. Forget about the bean counters, the curse of the modern age who continually cut jobs in the name of short-term profit for shareholders – and then start crying when sales, morale and quality plummet in tandem.

You make money by investment, which is precisely what alehouses such as one of our finest – the Baltic Fleet – is doing.

The Baltic was featured less than 12 months ago – but no apologies for that. Then it was having an unusually hard time because of the redevelopment going on behind – or lack of it. It lent it an unappealing backdrop usually associated with post-apocalyptic sci-fi movies. Consequently, passing trade dropped off because of the mistaken belief that it had closed.

Far from it, but it was a tough tide for the Fleet to weather.

But that’s now turned, especially as a couple of suit men were actually seen inspecting the adjacent eyesore site last week with a view to resuming building work.

Also, Ifan James – formerly of the Augustus John, and a real ale man par excellence – is at the manager’s tiller with Trevor Williams as his assistant. Head brewer Stan Shaw is continuing to pull metaphorical rabbits out of his hat from the award-winning Wapping micro-brewery which is based there. The latest is Albion beer, commissioned after the crew of the HMS assault vessel of the same name sampled some Wapping and got suitably whopped.

And the Baltic’s owner, Simon Holt, with Stan, has taken on board Ian Fielding to revive the pub’s food side. Ian’s a Liverpool lad, a former Blue Coat head boy and Army captain who became involved in banking before ploughing his savings into forming a gourmet barbecue business, Fydle’s.

Initially a service where the chefs turn up on your doorstep and cook to order, Ian thought the Fleet would be the perfect place to drop anchor and showcase what was on offer. So occasional Pub Column posse members The Tyke, Neil the Bitter and Twisted Bluenose, Echo Paddy and Lady Penelope joined Yours Truly in tasting their wares last week.

And mighty fine it was, too, especially when washed down with the full-bodied Wapping Smoked Porter, a suitable lubricant for a cold winter’s night down by the Mersey.

A perfect pan of Scouse and Pea Wack soup, representing the culinary home team, were quickly mopped up, as were the more exotic dishes. These included Santa Barbara tri-tip skewers – strips of barbecued prime Californian sirloin – char-grilled spatchcock chicken and red snapper and crayfish cooked in banana leaves.

Yummeee!

As Ian’s wife, Susanne, is a vegetarian, there is also a full roster of veggie goodies on the menu, too.

As a perfect platform for all this, the pub’s first floor is to be imminently converted into a lounge/ bar room bistro offering super scoff and real ale with fantastic views across the waterfront as the piece de resistance.

It will make the Fleet one more reason to be cheerful during our big year.

All hands prepare to board.