Lucy Britner discovers what's on the menu for Spirit's Two For One and Chef & Brewer from head of food Paul Farr
Claridges and Spirit's Two for One pubs may be worlds apart in terms of their offer and menu prices, but they have something in common: Paul Farr.
The head of food at Punch's managed arm used to be head chef at the Mayfair restaurant. Now though, he is responsible for menus at 133 Chef & Brewer sites and 98 Two for One pubs.
Paul started off in pub kitchens when he was 14 and then went to catering college. He finished his apprenticeship at Claridges in Mayfair, London, where he worked for seven years and finished as sous chef.
Paul opened Mezzo, on the site of the old Marquis Club in Soho, with John Torode and the Royal Garden with Steve Munkley. He then went back to Claridges as head chef with John Williams. Paul says: "Gordon Ramsay was looking to buy Claridges and I had to make a decision about what I wanted. I was about to become a father so I decided to go down the commercial route. I've been with Spirit for three years now."
How do you develop menus at Two for One?
We start with our "top 10" - a list of 10 core dishes that customers want, including lasagnes, pies, steaks, scampi and fish and chips. We benchmark these products across the market from retail and foodservice and ask consumers what they prefer.
We also develop ideas with suppliers. We recently set up a deal with Heinz Foodservice and serve their new steak sauce with our 10oz rodeo rib-eye steak (£12.49) and our 8oz rodeo burger (£8.99). Since launching this product, sales have gone through the roof.
A new menu has just been launched, including a range of dishes in the healthier choices section, from king prawn skewer salad (£8.49) to a Mediterranean chicken pasta (£8.29).
The Two for One menu changes twice a year as does the Chef & Brewer menu, but with added seasonal specials.
How is the new Chef & Brewer menu going?
The menu was launched in April. We have put more British and seasonal produce on the menu, but it's an educational process. For instance, British steaks have different fat marbling and look different to steaks that customers are
used to.
We looked at local sourcing as well, but the general feedback from customers is that organic and free range is good but they're not prepared to pay a premium for it. We've got to keep great value to keep our customer base. There will be specials that we can put more provenance behind.
How are you enforcing hygiene standards in sites following the company's recent fines over food safety standards?
The company standards are very, very high but unfortunately we're at the risk of the individual. All we can do is keep driving standards, keep training. We have processes and audits but, as you can imagine, to try and get into every site every day is very, very hard.
We have developed a kind of Cask Marque for kitchens, with the support of the Craft Guild of Chefs. We are currently running trials to make sure that the judging criteria is right. At present, the scheme will only run in Chef & Brewer and Chef & Brewer Voyage sites. We are calling it the Craft Guild Award of Merit. We are conducting a number of site visits and hope for results in the near future.
Tell us about Chef & Brewer Voyage.
This a premium version of Chef & Brewer and we're still trialing it. It's been going on for about a year. The concept is live in 11 sites and we want to test it further and see what happens.
How do you motivate staff in de-skilled kitchens?
In Two for One you have kitchen managers and in Chef & Brewer you have head chefs. Head chefs get their buzz from a bit more of a challenging service whereas kitchen managers get their buzz from volume and capacity. We keep Two for One simple because people might get demoralised if they can't cope with it.
In Chef & Brewer it's a little more complicated and chefs have more freedom with ingredients. Our biggest challenge as a managed operator is making sure our chefs are delivering food right. We have a very structured spec manual and the Craft Guild is involved to drive standards.
The specials board at Chef & Brewer can be used to add individuality to outlets. Some people thrive on creation but others want to be inspired, so there's a bank of the recipes, that are seasonal, and chefs can use it to drive innovation and keep an eye on costs.
Lots of outlets see the future in fast-casual dining, what do you think?
We do a lighter lunch menu for speed and for people wanting lighter dishes. Pubs have suffered against coffee shops and we need to evolve a bit. Our soft-drink range has increased and we've started to do smoothies - they will be introduced at 60 city sites in the next 12 months. Breakfasts and afternoon teas are on the agenda, but they won't be right for all sites.
Is Two for One a growth brand?
At present there are 98 sites. It's always a growth offer because it's so successful. We have pubs from the Mill House acquisition which will be suitable for Two for One sites.
Do your menus carry nutritional information?
We have nutritional info on the back of the children's menus. We have a kids' panel who choose the pictures and dishes, then we take out the additives and preservatives. Kids love dishes like chicken curry, as long as it's light. Adults are more health conscious too, but families still come to the pub for a treat.
What in your view are crimes against pub food
Very eclectic dishes that aren't pubby. My point of view is that we're a British pub - let's do that well, rather than try to re-invent the wheel. We should be proud of our pub dishes.
What do you think of the smoke ban?
It's the way forward for our pubs. In Scotland, there has been a mix of pluses and minuses. It depends on the standard of the pub - if you're serving great beer, people will still come to you. It's the same if you serve great food.