Having noted an increased demand for good food in an informal setting, the Greenstocks set about transforming the Howards Arms. Mark Taylor reports
Ask Rob Greenstock for the secret of running the Good Pub Guide's UK Dining Pub of The Year 2005, and the answer is a modest "It's just called hard work, isn't it?"
Since taking over the Howard Arms, in the Warwickshire village of Ilmington, in 1999, Greenstock and his wife Gill have scooped several awards for their food, as well as for the pub's three bedrooms a profitable side of the business enjoying an 80% occupancy all year round.
The Greenstocks have been involved in the hospitality business since the mid 1970s, when they ran Lower Brook House in Blockley, Gloucestershire, a Good Food Guide-listed restaurant with rooms.
After Lower Brook House, the couple spent six years running holiday cottages in the Cotswolds before taking over Cotswold House in Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire. It was during their time at the hotel they stayed there for just under a decade that they began to notice significant changes in people's eating habits.
"I suppose what we are doing at the Howard Arms started when we were running Cotswold House," says Greenstock. "Brasseries were just starting to take off in the mid-80s, so we decided to turn the hotel's bar into an all-day eatery and it took off like a rocket.
"The hotel also had a fine dining restaurant with two AA rosettes, but we found it was getting harder and harder to maintain the number of covers."
Sabbatical, then pub searching
Noticing an increased demand for good food in an informal setting, the Greenstocks sold the hotel, took a sabbatical and started looking for a pub.
Five years later, they spotted the Howard Arms and fell in love with it. They set about remodelling the pub, parts of which date back to the 1600s. "Part of the appeal was that it had seating capacity and it had a kitchen about three times the size of the pubs we'd looked at," says Greenstock.
"It had this cavernous dining room where nobody wanted to eat. It was so grim, you almost had to pay people to get them through the door. We knocked down one wall and remodelled the ground floor without losing the character."
Now employing 40 staff, the Greenstocks are as proud of their team as they are of the awards gained for the food. Greenstock says: "For a successful pub, you've got to have a good food offering, a good drink offering and you've got to have a team of people providing what the customers want people who want to be here for the right reasons.
"We're very fortunate in having such a team and we have very little staff turnover. Some of the people have been with us since we came here."
The owners pride themselves on their "enthusiastic leadership", and are happy to reward their staff. "We like demonstrating to the staff that not only are we interested in the business, but we're interested in them. Obviously, we've got to meet our financial commitments, but once those are all met, I'm a clear believer in paying what's left in the kitty to the staff; for the past couple of years they've had two good annual bonuses."
Seasonal food supplied locally
The food side of the Howard Arms has grown considerably over the years. The menus are created by Gill and the pub's head chef, Ray Boreham. They change from week to week and follow the seasons, with a strong emphasis on local suppliers, many of which are listed on blackboards in the dining area.
Unlike many top gastro pubs, the Howard Arms insists that all food orders are taken at the bar.
"You order at the bar because that's our definition of a pub," he says. "If you're a restaurant, you have your order taken at the table and you get the full service.
"Our way doesn't suit everybody. A fortnight ago, we had a large group in for dinner and although they enjoyed the food, one chap said he thought it was appaling that we didn't give proper' service. I told him that it was all reflected in the price but he thought the prices we were charging were restaurant prices. Some gastro pubs charge £20 for main courses that's what I call restaurant prices. We won't go over £15 for a main course.
"There's no reason to charge those prices in a pub if you keep it fresh and keep it moving. By constantly changing your menu, you actually sell out of things on a day-to-day basis so it's not that usual restaurant situation where if somethinghasn't been selling, it goes in the bin."
Smoke ban with no loss of trade
Another controversial move was the recent decision to make the pub entirely non-smoking.
"We did a survey of our customers and 78% said they wanted non-smoking so we made the decision on 1 January and let customers know before going non-smoking on 1 March.
"It was received better than we thought and, amazingly, a lot of the old smokers still come here. It hasn't had an effect on business at all."
Facts and figures
Food accounts for 67% of sales at the Howard Arms, a figure that has remained virtually static for the past three years. With a seating capacity of 90, the pub now serves 1,000 covers per week. The lunchtime average spend for food and drink is about £17 per head, rising to £25 in the evening. Head chef Ray Boreham works to a healthy GP of 72%.
Fab four dishes are firm favourites at pub
Rob Greenstock says: "There are four dishes that we're not allowed to take off the menu due to customer demand: oak-smoked organic salmon with warm potato cake, sour cream and chives (£7), beef, ale and mustard pie (£9.50), pan-fried calves' liver, buttered onions, crisp bacon, balsamic dressing (£13.50) and Mrs G's toffee meringue (£5.50), which is Gill's own creation she's the only person allowed to make it and nobody else has the recipe."
On the menu at the Howard Arms
Starters
Roast shallot, Parma ham, avocado and rocket salad £6
Hot mackerel and potato salad, mustard dill dressing £5.50
Spicy deep-fried mushrooms, curry mayonnaise £5.50
Main courses
Pan-roasted pigeon breasts, Puy lentils and smoked bacon, red wine jus £13.50
Pan-fried fillets of wild sea bass, risotto nero, parsley pesto £14.50
Chargrilled Old Spot pork chop, organic sausage and apple stuffing, grain mustard sauce £11.50
Desserts
Chocolate cappuccino mousse, almond biscotti £5
Steamed spotted Dick with custard £4.50
Orange pannacotta, lemon gin jelly, cinnamon sugar biscuit £5