French connection
With the Lydden Bell little more than 20 miles from France, it's not just Kentish fare making up the locally-sourced rustic menu. NIGEL HUDDLESTON reports
When Mark Iverson buys local produce, it sometimes means it's not even coming from the same country.
Iverson is head chef at the Lydden Bell, just outside Dover in Kent, a mere 21 miles from the French coast, and he has a travelling supplier who brings over brie, lemon juice, streaky smoked bacon, garlic, mayonnaise and ravioli.
They're just a few of the ingredients he and fellow chef conjure into a rustic but exotic menu at the pub, which is a Punch lease, co-owned by Francis Goram and Catherine Woodward.
The kitchen also takes local meat and fish, plus game from a local gamekeeper. 'He bring us rabbits and pheasants, says Iverson, 'and if we ever get them in, we can't keep them in the fridge long enough. He used to bring in squirrel. There was a bit of friendly debate with the environmental health officer over whether it was vermin or game. We pot-roasted it and it went really well we did get known for doing squirrel.
Awards cement reputation
Winning the local EHO's White Cliffs Clean Food Award confirmed more than just the official status of the squirrel. Being named as Pubmaster Destination Pub of the year for the UK in 2003 cemented the Lydden Bell's reputation for quality, and another accolade followed this year with a special mention in the Morning Advertiser's sister magazine PubChef's Pub Sandwich of the Year competition, for a warm crab and mozzarella ciabatta.
But while other pubs preach simplicity and accessibility from behind linen serviettes and bone china tableware, the Lydden Bell remains very much a pub in looks and atmosphere, albeit one with an 80:20 dry:wet sales ratio, and 200 covers a week going through its 40-capacity bar.
Special gourmet nights see 35 people pre-booking for a £30-a-head set menu, while Mother's Day brought in 180 people over three sittings, paying £16.95 each.
The pub has a special-price three-course dinner on Mondays and a steak night on Tuesdays to keep the early part of the week bubbling, and makes a feature of fresh fish on Fridays.
'We used to do a lot of theme nights, says Iverson, 'with Mexican and Creole, but the owners have now moved all that down to their other pub, the Railway Bell in River, (Dover), and we concentrate on the more upmarket dining.
Iverson studied at Folkestone college, then worked at the Ramada Hotel in nearby Whitfield for 13 years. He came to the Lydden Bell three years ago.
'It's changed enormously, he says, 'mainly towards a more seasonal menu. We used to do really complicated dishes that looked good, but it's moving towards a more rustic feel. The stuff that we do less of, so to speak, sells more. Our best-sellers are just nice dishes with four or five simple ingredients presented well on the plate, and they just fly out.
Flexibility helps improve sales
The pub sticks to a blackboard menu for flexibility, although desserts are printed on card menus, and this has helped improve sales, says Iverson. 'If we have a main on that doesn't sell as well as we thought it might we can just change it to something else, he adds. 'It's not that we have to keep them on just because it's on a printed menu.
'We used to have quite long explanations of everything but we've moved to a bullet-point title with a short description, which seems to have gone down better.
There's a lunchtime bar food board, all at well under £10, and a table d'hote three-course lunch for £11.95. It tends to be popular among business or older people who have longer to sit and talk.
A lot of the dishes on the menu start out life on the gourmet night line-up. Iverson explains: 'We work on new ideas for the gourmet menu and see how they go and then transfer some of the most popular to the main menu.
'We just try to experiment with flavours, mixing and matching. We go a bit wilder on the gourmet menu sometimes, but we might bring it down a bit for everyday purposes, because there's lot of work goes into those nights.
Local business with racing bonus
Clientele is drawn from local residents and businesses and having a race track virtually on the doorstep is a bonus.
'If there are track days or races, a lot of people come down from the circuit. There are also a lot of B&Bs around and about, in the old Kent barns, and they've all got our cards and send people down. Every 10 they send in, we give them a free meal.
'There's also the village hall nearby and they have football up there, and fencing on a Thursday night which brings people in.
Despite working in the hotel trade for so long, Iverson says he has been pleasantly surprised by the rewards of working in a pub kitchen.
'I'd never have thought about pubs before, he says, 'but seeing how we are here and how much business there is, I'd like to give it a go with my own place but probably not too close to here.
'At the hotel we were totally reliant on functions and coach parties because it wasn't really known as a restaurant. Coming down here was a bit of a culture shock. I went from a huge kitchen with walk-in fridges and freezers and it was a real adjustment.
'But now I find the kitchen easy to work because everything's to hand. There are only two of us and we know how each other work and we never have any major issues.
Going local for wine
With the pub tied through its Punch lease on beer and spirits, it's the wine list that best gives the Lydden Bell its point of difference on the drinks side.
This year, the pub has gone with a new venture for all its wines: Mark Presland's Manor Wines, based at Adisham, near Canterbury. 'They are very good, says manager Alison Ditchman. 'We used to be supplied by a huge company, but we've got a good selection from Mark.
'Even though our beer prices are relatively high, we don't make much money on real ale, so the wine does generate profit.
To get things started, Presland brought some wines for the team to taste. Ditchman says: 'We had a wine tasting which went on for three or four hours, and he went through everything with us.
'We've ended up with some very good quality house wines, but we also sell a lot of Spanish wine, a lot of Rioja and a couple of whites. And we do well with Chianti and Pinot Grigio from Italy.
Banishing smoking has boosted business
The Lydden Bell became non-smoking in January and, if anything, it's had a positive effect on business, contrary to contemporary wisdom on the issue.
'We are getting more people who just come in for a drink since then, said Iverson. 'A lot of locals come here because it's non-smoking especially if they're eating. Even smokers don't seem to mind because we've got benches and patio heaters out the back where they can sit and have a cigarette. Nobody's moaned about it.
Ditchman adds: 'We are more of a food pub than a drinking pub, but on a Friday and Saturday night we get lots more people in drinking than we've had before.
