Hooking the Chelsea masses

Gus Evans has had to appeal to a wide variety of customers since he took the bold step of converting the Butcher's Hook, opposite Chelsea Football Club, into a gastro pub. JOHN HARRINGTON meets him

Traditionally, football pubs and gastro pubs sit at opposite ends of the spectrum. The former can be lager dens frequented by boisterous males; the latter, modern, more sophisticated eateries. But this didn't stop experienced gastro operator Gus Evans marrying the two when he took over the Butcher's Hook, a stone's throw from Chelsea Football Club in west London, back in January, with business partner Mark Winstone.

The move is especially interesting because Evans whisper it actually supports Chelsea's rivals, Arsenal. His pubco, Greene King, actually found Evans a site near Arsenal's ground, but he decided it wasn't for him. The Butcher's Hook is cemented in football folklore as the birthplace of the current Premiership champions Chelsea FC was created on a handshake in the building 100 years ago. The pub hosted Chelsea's centenary party earlier this year, with top names from the club in tow.

With its combination of football fans and well-to-do west Londoners, you would be hard pushed to find a pub with a more varied customer base.

'There's an eclectic mix of ladies-who-lunch during the week, then you've got your young professionals, and there's lots of Aussies, lots of French people around here, explains Evans.

'There's lots of drinkers on the weekends. All the workers from Chelsea Football Club come and drink here. And there's the people who come during football games.

To cater for this varied bunch, Evans and his French head chef, Jacky Lelievre, created no fewer than four menus. The overall theme is British with a rustic French twist. Examples include, from the lunchtime menu: Croquette of butternut squash with goat's cheese salad (£4.50) and poached smoked haddock, crushed potatoes, haricot vert and beurre blanc (£9.25). The dinner menu has: chargrilled marlin skewers, cherry tomatoes and salsa verde (£5.50) and sauteed calf's liver, mash, lardons, horseradish and beetroot relish (£12.95). The blackboard menu (served from 11am to 10.30pm) includes a pint of prawns with aioli (£4.75) and duck, pigeon and foie gras terrine with onion marmalade (£7.95).

The food is simple but done well

'Lelievre has responded very well to the menu structure I want to put in place, says Evans. 'His food is very rustic so it has accents of French in there. We wanted to go back to something that's very simple but done very well.

Menus change twice daily and local suppliers, such as bakers and butchers, are used as much as possible. 'There is a sense of community, I think, says Evans. 'We all recommend each other.

A separate menu is offered for match days, with prices from around £6 to £10. 'We do a delicious home-made pork pie and mash, bangers and mash, fish and chips good old classics. And we sell burgers outside if people don't have time and they are just passing through.

'It's about finding the balance, I suppose. The menu is more accessible because of the masses who come in here on match day.

The varied customer base also influences the drinks offer. To satisfy the football fans, mainstream lagers and ales are given prominence at the bar Evans says match days are predominately lager driven. This is coupled with a list of 22 wines, which are popular with diners.

Evans explains that the decision to take a 15-year lease with Greene King, rather than go for the tenanted option, suited their drinks needs. He wanted greater flexibility with wine, and as a lessee he is tied for beer but not wine. Even when it's not match day, drinkers make up a sizeable proportion of the pub's trade. It's interesting that for a self-proclaimed gastro-style venue, the Butcher's Hook has a wet/dry split of 55:45. The split is nearer 70:30, in favour of wet, on match days.

'On a Friday night, we'll get after-work drinkers, then we'll get early-evening drinkers, and people who come in and eat.

'Then we'll get another set of drinkers, particularly later in the week. We call them the purple heads, because they go to the Purple nightclub over the road. I think it's quite expensive so they come in here to have their Jack Daniel's, their cocktails and the rest of it. We are a food place, people understand that. But we haven't alienated drinkers.

The gentrification of football

In fact, the gentrification of football particularly for glamour sides such as Chelsea has helped bridge the gap between the lager-swilling supporters and aspirational young professionals.

Although match days are lively, Evans notes that many of the supporters will return for a full meal after the final whistle has been blown.

'They will come in for the match and then gravitate towards the eating area. People come in, have two or three courses then go to the football. If they didn't finish their cheese plate they would come back afterwards.

To cope with the influx on match days, the pub closes for an hour after the football fans leave.

Looking ahead, Evans says they plan to develop the upstairs function room for corporate events.

But for someone with an impressive CV such as Evans', one pub is never going to be enough.

Among other things, the licensee spent three years as operations director for Robinson Restaurants, where he helped create the Bollo in Chiswick and oversaw the running of the Chiswick restaurant in Salthouse.

Evans explains that his and Winstone's original plan was to open five sites in five years, although he says it will probably be more like three.

Evans says he has been looking at other sites in London, but he wouldn't rule out taking a pub elsewhere. 'It's much easier to operate places that are in a close vicinity. But there seems to be a saturation of gastro pubs [in London]. There's a lot of copycat places that are fairly average.

'I did speak to Greene King about Brighton and they said there's people queuing around the block. It would be perfect.

Evans on:

A smoking ban: It's inevitable. I think pubs that will be hit the most will be wet-led operators. If they ban us from smoking then every one is in the same category and it won't stop people from going out. This is probably the first place where we haven't noticed smoking at all. We are fortunate to have great air- conditioning throughout. Smoking is banned in the pub's restaurant section.

Later opening: The pub has applied for a straight conversion of its licence under the new Licensing Act. We have a supper hours certificate, which means we can open until midnight. I don't think we are the sort of place that wants to open later than that because we are more the sort of place where people come to eat. I don't really want to lead from the front and open until 3am. We would just get a couple of hours of people who are probably drunk already. Having said that, there are a lot of Europeans around here who eat quite late.

Chelsea's prospects in this year's Premiership: I think they will steal it. It's their centenary year. They will do all they can, so that's good for us. Arsenal will be fighting there will be a good fight this year. I'm actually an Arsenal supporter, but for the purposes of this business I'm an ardent Chelsea fan!

Facts and stats

Average covers per week: 250 at lunch; 450 in the evening

Number of staff: 15 all full time

Number of seats: 75 inside; 25 outside

Capacity: 150 to 200 standing

Most popular dishes include: Cate de boeuf (£14.95); gravlax (£8.95); and hot chocolate pudding with coconut ice cream (£4.75)