The pub with Sax appeal

Ewan Turney reports on a search for perfection in what was once a run-down pub in Poole, Dorset

Luckily for Dave Sax, joint owner of the Cow pub in Poole, things have worked out rather well. "I really put my balls on the line with this project. Every penny I have went into this pub," he says.

Sax, a financial consultant who sold his own business to Zurich, and property developer pal Russell Bourton, were standing in a rather dreary pub one afternoon when they boldly decided that they could do a far better job and actually quite fancied the idea of running a pub.

There is nothing new in those thoughts and most of the drinking population of Britain must have entertained such thoughts at one time or another. But for Sax and Bourton it became more than a project, it became an obsession to create the perfect gastro pub.

They bought the pub from Eldridge Pope in August 2003 and reopened nine months later, having transformed the place into a stylish, intimate venue. It now has three distinct areas ­ the pub, complete with cosy open fires and stripped wood floors, the bistro and the Thienot Gallery, which is available for private parties and business meetings.

However, the early romanticism of running their own pub soon gave way to harsh reality. "We had no idea how to run a pub and it took us ages to realise what we were doing," says Sax, who took advice from industry experts and eventually started to grasp the basics.

"I learnt on the job. I've helped the chef in the kitchen, worked the bar and have got to know the suppliers. I am still learning all the time. I could now go and open another pub next week if you asked me to and would save thousands of pounds learning from the mistakes made here."

Originally, the Cow's menu began as a fine-dining experience spearheaded by a Michelin-starred chef, but they are now bringing it back to a more pub classics range.

As Sax explains: "We never wanted to be a fine dining place, it crept up on us, but got to the point where our customers didn't know what foie gras was and, although it was great food, it had limited market appeal.

"People would come and drink in our pub five days a week and, with the £10 they had left, they would go and get a take-away curry, but now they will eat here."

Forced back to traditional food

So, the menu was forced back into the arena of more traditional pub food such as toad in the hole and fish and chips, but not at the expense of quality. "If we are going to do cod and chips, it will be the best cod and chips. We will look all over the place to get the perfect cod and chips." Sax uses a lot of local produce, including a host of cheeses and mushrooms, but would never sacrifice quality for a belief in using only local produce.

English tastes, he says, are fairly predictable. "I can tell you that if you have prawn cocktail and steak and chips on the menu on a Saturday night ­ they will be the biggest sellers," he says confidently. "If Beef Wellington is on ­ it will sell out."

The pub also has a specials board which helps to provide a great deal of variety to the menu, which itself changes season to season.

The Cow is definitely a winter pub and Sax jokes that he prays for bad weather all year round. And it seems his prayers may have been answered last year, given the awful summer experienced in this country.

"On a Sunday," he says, "we do a choice of two roasts, but one has to be beef. We will do 90 covers every Sunday in a 60-cover room." However, roasts are taken off the menu in the summer in preference of lighter options.

One particularly successful project at the Cow was an autumn food festival. Head chef of the award winning Hotel Du Vin, Eddie Gray, appeared as guest chef on the bistro classics evening. He cooked customers a four-course set dinner from the Hotel Du Vin menu. The next event saw Master Somelier Vincent Gasnier visit for a Bordeaux wine evening. And the final project was a beer-and-food evening hosted by beer chef Richard Fox.

All three events were sell-outs, but Sax, perhaps with his finance hat back on, has a rather cynical take on it all. "These events are only profitable when you can get suppliers involved and when you can maximise what you can get for free," he says.

The beer and food evening, sponsored by Interbrew, was a particular success, but Sax remains unconvinced that the concept will take off. "To be brutally honest, it is not for me. For me it is a marketing tool, as we get people in who have never been to the Cow before."

For Sax, though, the main interest was provided by the wine evening. "I am a wine man," he explains. "For me the main event is red wine. It is my passion." And it is a passion that is borne out in the Cow's extensive wine list of 110 bottles, with prices ranging from £11 to £650.

Turnover rise is phenomenal

Things are rosy at the Cow with turnover for the last trading year standing at just over £900,000 ­ a figure that Sax says they will "smash" this year. "We can look back, year on year and the business has kept going, and now industry professionals cannot believe the turnover and the money we are making. The rise month on month from last year is phenomenal."

What of the future? Perhaps another pub? Not likely at present. Sax is a perfectionist and he won't be happy until he gets the Cow just right. "It drives me mad as I get one thing perfect and then another lets me down.

"It could be I get the kitchen right but then the front of house lets us down. I don't believe we have got this one just right yet, and we are still searching for perfection. Until we get it right, we will not do anything else."

The Cow, menu

Starters

Bowl of steamed rope-grown mussels with white wine and parsley £5.95

South-coast crab cake with a fine bean and shallot salad £6.95

Assiette of fresh smoked salmon, lemon crème fraîche £7.50

Mains

Oven confit of duckling with mustard onions and "smoked" dauphinoise potato £13.50

Dutch calves liver, grilled streaky bacon and red wine mash £14.75

Rump of Dorset lamb with potato pithivier served with a black-onion-seed jus £15.25

Desserts

Hot chocolate fondant and chocolate sauce

Vanilla crème brûlée with home-made shortbread

Upside-down pineapple pudding and vanilla ice cream