Publican staff go back to the floor in Somerset

The George Inn, five miles south of Bath, Somerset, has been an inn for more than 600 years and is reputed to be one of the oldest in the country.

It boasts a dramatic history and appears to have been built to accommodate travellers and merchants coming to nearby fairs in the early 1500s. The George, now owned by Wadworth¹s, has boasted famous visitors such as the celebrated diarist Samuel Pepys.

The pub is now renowned for its resident ghost, salubrious surroundings and excellent menu ­ definitely a venue that the Publican team could consider a bit too classy for our latest Back to the Floor exercise.

Nevertheless, it gave a chance for The Publican's features editor Phil Mellows, food editor John Porter and features writer Nick Yates to show us what they are made of.

Each of them took themselves back to an area of the pub to work for the evening ­ and boy, did they have to work. Nick was pouring pints and sourcing the right wines while chatting up the ladies at the bar, John was slaving away in the kitchen and Phil was acting as waiter, ensuring all the diners received the right meals at the right time.

Considering that the features team spend their time advising licensees on how best to run their business, it seemed about time they had to do it themselves.

Many thanks to Wadworth's for letting the team run riot in one of their best destination food venues. Let's see how they did...

Nick Yates, features writer ​

"Don¹t look so nervous," the customer said to me, as I hovered uncertainly behind the bar.

It was true, the few hours I spent manning the George Inn¹s bar were anxious ones. No matter how I tried to hide it, drinkers kept uttering the words:

"First night, is it?"

It being around six years since I last found myself pouring, rather than sipping, drinks in a pub, I had a vague recollection of what's what.

I could pull a frothy pint in the correct glass and had a fairly good idea from which bottle to pour when asked for a dry white. But it was the till that made me really nervous.

A seemingly never-ending array of buttons, many with hastily scribbled improvised labels, were spread across a contraption that I was convinced had seen service over many of the 600 years the pub had been open. If I had had a week to familiarise myself with it, rather than the one night I was working behind the bar, I¹m still sure that would not have been enough.

Cock-ups with large orders were not my most embarrassing moments, however.

These came when asked to replenish the ice bucket from the dispense point located just off the George¹s courtyard. It was fortunate the weather wasn't pleasant, otherwise scores of punters would have seen me fumble with the door, causing the slushy ice left in the bucket to explode across the cobbles and the scoop to be dropped into a drain.

It's enough to make me respect bartenders all the more. You're doing a tough job admirably well. So don't look so nervous.

John Porter, food editor ​

"Have you worked in a kitchen before?" It was a fair question, posed by Pete Taylor, chef at the George when presented with his new kitchen hand.

"Once or twice," I replied honestly, if a little vaguely. I had a fair idea that the type of mucking about in the kitchen I normally indulge in, at product launches, cookery demonstrations and the like, is different to the experience of a busy pub kitchen.

Pete, I suspect, was quite rightly less than totally convinced by my response. He started me off with an order for a couple of lasagnes, which were already portioned and waiting in the fridge.

Surely, sprinkling grated cheese ready for the grill was the kind of task no one-could cock up? Not so, judging by the amount of cheese on the work surface and floor after I'd finished.

Once commis chef Fiona Fielding reported for duty, Pete was happy to hand over the task of line-managing the new boy. Our job was to prep dishes from the fridge for cooking, and to add the finishing touches.

As well as the aforementioned cheese topping, that meant preparing salads and vegetables as side orders, decanting soup and slicing various breads. It became a personal challenge to try to reel off the accompaniments once a dish was called.

After what seemed like a fairly manic few hours, I was relieved of duty with the words "it's a shame we haven't been very busy". Busy enough for me, thanks ­ I really didn¹t need convincing that kitchen staff have a tough job, but this confirmed it.

Phil Mellows, features editor ​

I have always believed I should have been born rich, and my experience at the George has only deepened that belief.

I am not meant to wait on tables. I am meant to sit down at tables and stuff myself. It just doesn¹t feel right the other way around.

During my stint in the George's restaurant I did find out why waiters are called waiters. The first hour was spent waiting for customers to turn up.

Waiters do not wait idly, however. For one thing, there are candles to light. As well as being a rich man imprisoned in a poor man's body, I am useless with matches. If only my parents had allowed me to play with them as a child, I might have gained some skills.

For a while there was an extreme danger that, after surviving 600 years, one of the most treasured historical gems in the pub industry would be reduced to ashes in my first five minutes working there.

Miraculously, though, it came through and diners began to arrive.

They were a nice bunch. Not at all difficult. I took their orders, posted them in the kitchen, and kept a copy for the bill. I brought out the food, hoped they would enjoy it, and collected the plates at the end. Sensibly, I wasn¹t allowed to handle any money.

Surprisingly, the most satisfying part was the plate scraping. I had imagined there must be an employee even more lowly than me who would do this, but there wasn't. And when it came to it there was hardly anything to scrape. The plates were apparently licked clean.

Somehow it made me feel I had contributed to customer satisfaction.

I still wished, though, that I had been the one doing the eating.

The verdict​

The George Inn manager David Satchell gives his verdict on whether The Publican team was up to the test:

Nick​

Nick was excellent. He probably drew the short straw because we were actually quite busy in the bar that evening. He certainly did more than everyone else and I would have taken him on tomorrow.

9 out of 10​

John​

John obviously knew an awful lot about food to start with, so that probably helped him out a great deal. He knew what was going on and was aware of the importance of everything we trained him in. I would definitely give him a job.

9 out of 10​

Phil​

Phil did very well. I think he was out of his element more than the other guys. It was quieter in the restaurant so he didn¹t have as much going on around him as they did. I would employ him, I certainly couldn¹t fault him for effort.

8.5 out of 10​