Mark Taylor talks to manager Sue Constantine and head chef Ollie Luscombe of the Dartmoor Union in Holbeton, Devon, recently named Dining Pub of the Year in the Les Routiers British Pubs and Inns 2006
Local produce
Most of our suppliers are local and we also have local fishermen who bring in freshly-caught sea bass and dived
scallops. We also have a guy who brings in lots of local game, especially pheasant and venison. He doesn't charge us for it, he just comes in for a meal occasionally. We try to keep the à la carte pretty much the same for a month at a time, but it's nice to change the daily specials according to what arrives in the kitchen. When you have local farmers and fishermen bringing produce to the door, it's great to have that flexibility.
The daily-changing menu
We change the lunch menu daily and print the date on it each day. It's a challenge but it's a good challenge because it keeps you thinking all the time and you don't get bored. It's great to keep on experimenting. We make everything here apart from the ice cream. It's the way it should be, because
people are so knowledgeable these daysthat they expect it and want to know where everything comes from. It's great for the staff, too, because most of them are local and we're supporting the local producers.
Sofas in the bar
We have a big log fire and comfortable sofas in the bar area and it's lovely for relaxation with coffee after a meal or looking at menus before dinner. Although we're getting a reputation for being a food pub, we still get a lot of the old drinkers who sit at the bar. They quite like the fact that we're a lively gastro pub, rather than a dingy old pub with no atmosphere. They chat to the other customers and they add to the buzz of the place.
The pub's own brewery
We are about to open the Dartmoor Union Brewery in a refurbished outbuilding in the courtyard. We'll be brewing two beers - Union Jacks and Union Pride - but we're still
looking for the right brewer for the job. There had been a brewery in the village, but it had closed down. When John Stevens bought the Dartmoor Union, he asked locals what they
wanted and a brewery came high on their list. We've already tried to make three batches of the beer and had to throw it all away because it wasn't quite right, but it will be worth the wait. When we do go into production, the beer will go into our cellar and we'll pull it from there.
Gold plaque on the front door
We don't have a traditional hanging sign outside the pub, just a discreet gold plaque next to the door, so people are pleasantly surprised when they come in. It's a talking point because people often can't find us! They don't expect it to be the way it is on the inside and there's a "wow" factor when they walk through the door. They just don't expect to see something like this in such a tiny village. Now it looks more like a London restaurant or bar, but it still has that pubby feel. It's certainly very different to how it was before we took it over. It used to be a dark, drinkers' pub with a big, old, smoky fire and an outside toilet.
Alfresco area
Our courtyard has about 30 covers and it's packed in the summer. On warm summer evenings we put linen tablecloths on the tables and that was really popular. It's very enclosed and it does feel like you could be anywhere in Europe. We'd like to cover it with an awning next summer, with some
heaters, so we can almost double the size of the restaurant all year round.
Location
We're close to Plymouth, Salcombe and Dartmouth, which is good because we are attracting a lot of foodies. Many people who come here are often touring the top restaurants and pubs in the region. John Burton-Race's New Angel in Dartmouth isn't far from here, and a lot of people have compared us to it. Most of the places around here tend to be restaurants or country house hotels, so we're quite unique in that we're doing high-quality food in a village pub.
Garden sculptures
We have a lot of artwork and sculptures by local artists, including a big wasp and a few chickens. They are supplied by a company called Flameworks, which deals with the
artists. They bring us different sculptures each month and they're also for sale.
Lunch menu
We're only five minutes from the beach so we get a lot of walkers and tourists and the set lunch menu is very popular. It's £14.95 for three courses, or £4.95 for a starter and £9.95 for a main course when ordered separately. The set menu is very popular with our older customers, but a lot of people mix and match, and a few go straight to the à la carte. We're in quite an affluent area so our customers are quite varied. The average spend on food is quite high and most people go for three courses.
Clotted cream
Langage Farm is a dairy farm in Plympton, about five miles from the pub. They make fantastic ice cream, but their clotted cream is the best I've ever tasted. It's the quintessential, thick Devon clotted cream and is made on the farm using only Jersey and Guernsey cream. We usually serve
it with the lemon tart and sticky toffee pudding. I'd like to get a machine and make my own ice cream, using their clotted cream. It's also available by post via the website www.langagefarm.com