A PUB landlord who was known for his humour, love of food and never-ceasing work ethic has died at the age of 76.
Chef Otto Kreft ran the Bridge Inn, Stapleton, on the outskirts of Darlington, with his wife Ann for about 15 years, until he retired due to his health in 2015. He died on Monday.
Their son Warren, who now runs the business, said he would be placing the keys to the Bridge in his coffin as a tribute to the dedicated publican, who he described as his rock and mentor.
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Mrs Kreft said: “He was a character. We would be doing 250 covers a night and he would be singing ‘Just one Cornetto’. Nothing phased him. We would be stressing and he would be laughing at us
“He loved a challenge but what a worker he was. He never stopped.
“He would be on the beach and he would be there with recipes and menus and design plans, or calling the UK to put in a fish order. If he could have he would still have been in the kitchen.”
Describing her husband as “mischievous”, Mrs Kreft added: “He was very proud but he was generous. He was very kind. He always looked out for the underdog.”
She added: “He’s left us with a lot of memories.”
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Originally from the Italian town of Codroipo, near Venice, he moved to the UK at the age of eight.
He ran night clubs in London, including the Leicester Square Ballroom, before moving to the North East when his contract was bought by a business in the region.
He lived in Norton, where he met Ann in 1978, who was promoting a club at the time.
He taught her the ropes of the hospitality industry, and after marrying the couple took on various venues , including in South Shields and Leeds.
The family then moved to Marbella for about four years, where Mr Kreft ran two restaurants, but returned to England to run The Bridge Inn.
Mrs Kreft said: “We flew over and had a look at it and thought ‘what do we do? Do we come back?’ We decided to give it five years and we were there for 15. It had been closed for six months and was boarded up so we had to start again. We invested a lot of money in doing up and it boomed.”
Mr Kreft, who was a grandfather of two, had suffered ill health for a number of years, almost dying in 2014 when he spent several months in a coma following a back operation.
As a result, Warren took over the business in 2015 and now has a number of pubs under the Kreft Holdings banner, including The Pennyweight and Hole in the Wall, both in Darlington town centre.
He said: “I started my career at The Bridge with my dad shouting and screaming at me. He said I had to experience other places so I went to London and other places. He made me. He did everything to get me out of hospitality but its distilled in my blood.
“I’ll continue his legacy. I won’t let it go. It was what he loved.”
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His funeral is due to be held on Thursday, February 24 at Darlington Crematorium at 11am and will be followed by a wake at The Bridge at 12.30pm.
In a tribute on social media, staff at the pub said: “Otto was the heart and soul of the The Bridge. In 2010 he survived the unimaginable where he could no longer work and Warren took the reins of Otto’s dream to ensure his legacy continued.
“Today we think about all the good times, the laughs and memories we have had with him and still today staff that worked alongside him remain loyal to Warren, and continue his legacy within the Bridge Inn.
“Otto will remain in our hearts forever and his place within The Bridge will remain! We will continue his legacy, his dream & his love for hospitality!”
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