IT’S farewell to the curry club deals, and goodbye to £2.99 fry-up breakfasts in Highgate village, after gastropub operators confirmed they have bought one of Camden’s oldest pubs from the JD Wetherspoon chain.

The Gatehouse has been snapped up by the Urban Pubs and Bars company, who also run the Lord Wargrave in Marylebone and the Old Ship in Hackney, both of which have received glowing reviews after refurbishment work,

Nick Pring, the company’s co-founder, said: “We are not going to make a lot of changes to the building. We love its village feel and the wood panelling. The main difference will be the food offer. We’ll be bringing in new chefs and looking at a gastropub offer. The prices will be higher – a Sunday roast will be around the £15 mark – but the quality will improve. It will be a completely different food offer to what Wetherspoons do.”

He said the Upstairs At The Gatehouse theatre would continue above the bar, and that the pub would not see a change of name.

“I know that some people hear the word gastropub and think, oh it must be exclusive,” said Mr Pring. “But it’s not like that. It’s not going to be poncey. We are pub people and there will be people who will come in and just have a drink, and that’s fine.”

The Gatehouse is often seen as one of the last places to have a cheaper pint in the village. 

Mr Pring added: “It will be a little more expensive, but the quality will be there. We’ve got the rent to pay and by bringing in talented chefs we have to pay more.”

He said the twin offer of good food and a theatre upstairs would also help the pub become a “destination venue”, adding: “I don’t want to make assumptions but I’m not sure the theatregoers come for the Wetherspoons food. I’m sure they will welcome the chance to have a nice meal downstairs. It won’t be a pub knocking out £2.99 breakfasts.”

A pub has stood on the site for centuries, with some estimates going back to 1334 and a tavern next to a toll gate for people entering and leaving London. The mock-Tudor timber frames were only added in 1905, but the Gatehouse was functioning long before. Legend has it that Mother Marnes, a murdered widow, has haunted past landlords, although the affectionate joke among some Gatehouse regulars that she must have had some of the Thursday night tikka masala is understood not to go down well with the Wetherspoons area managers. The chain bought the bar 22 years ago, but it is now one of a series of venues to be sold as part of a re-organisation which has seen it open a new venture – the Mossy Well – in Muswell Hill.

A Wetherspoon spokesman said: “We appreciate that customers will be disappointed. We have taken a commercial decision to dispose of a small number of pubs within our estate.” 

The pub will officially change hands on February 22 and is likely to be closed for up to three weeks while alterations are made inside.

The Zizzi pizza chain has closed its branch next to the Gatehouse pub to be replaced by a new Italian restaurant whose plans for a new roof terrace are being considered by Town Hall planners.