Kintbury landlord of 44 years hands reins to Gordon Ramsay understudy

The Dundas Arms, in Station Road, is to be taken over by Cirrus Inns in May, which is run by former Gordon Ramsay Holdings’ (GRH) executive head chef Mark Askew.
Veteran landlord David Dalzell-Piper (pictured) joined the 18th century pub in 1967 before purchasing it from Morland Brewery in 1969 and converting it to a free house, and he said after he turned 64 in March he thought it was time to put his feet up.
“I would like to say thanks to everyone who has supported us down the years and to support the new people coming in,” he said.
“We are very excited about the future and feel the pub deserves that support and we hope it will be here for hundreds of years more.
“There is a small group coming in, we are very happy with them, we think the future of the pub is in great hands. They will have a little bit of money to spend and take over at the end of May, we are very pleased, they have impressed everyone, and they will be able to do the kind of things I can’t do on my own like opening it Sunday afternoons and things like that.”
He said he had seen many changes in the industry since he bought the pub from but the traditional nature of the Dundas Arms had helped it weather many storms.
The pub has won numerous awards in its time, including West Berkshire’s Pub of the Year in 2009 by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and regularly it features in the Good Pub Guide.
The area hasn’t seen the last of Mr Dalzell-Piper however, who said he is moving to Newbury to be closer to family and intends on enjoying his retirement as much as he can, and will still pop into the pub from time to time to keep up with the old faces.
Mr Askew left Ramsay’s restaurant empire in January to be operations director of Cirrus Inns, the pub company that he co-founded.
Askew first began working with Ramsay in the mid-1990s when he joined restaurant Aubergine as chef de partie, before quickly being promoted to sous chef. After a stint in France he returned to work alongside his old boss at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road, which opened in 1998.
He is widely regarded as a key component of GRH’s success and Mr Ramsay has at various points spoken of his admiration for his former head chef.