Cosmopolitan Cardiff

IF GROUPS of customers at Cardiff's newest pub have the feeling they're being watched, it may be with good reason.

Visiting the Grape & Olive with Philip Lay, retail director of Welsh brewer SA Brain, and Brain's head of catering Julian Hunt, it's clear that both are taking careful note of who is using the pub. Women-only groups, business customers, couples and students are all assessed.

Like much of Great Britain, Wales didn't get much of a summer. More or less coinciding with the implementation of the smoking ban by the Welsh Assembly on April 2, the heavens opened and thousands of newly refurbished pub gardens became little more than wildlife habitats for ducks.

Whatever the impact this has had on the pub trade in general, the Grape & Olive is an attempt to bring a little touch of the Mediterranean to Cardiff. The managed pub has been developed by Brains on a former Whitbread site, initially acquired by the pubco as a defensive move.

"We have half a dozen pubs in the area, all trading reasonably well," says Philip. "A rival operator could have bought the pub and taken trade off any or all of them.

"The challenge for us was to come up with a concept that could win new trade without having an impact on our other businesses in the area."

Diverse mix​

Like any capital city, Cardiff has a cosmopolitan population mix, and Philip strongly believed there was a gap towards the upper end of the casual dining market.

"There are plenty of young professionals in the area, couples and groups," he says. "I wanted something that would appeal to them."

The result is the Grape & Olive, a bright, contemporary design, with a varied mix of seating areas designed for everything from a meal for two to after-work groups and extended families enjoying Sunday brunch.

As the name implies, food is as integral to the mix as drinks, and Julian was tasked with building a menu very different to anything else in the estate.

"Philip and I had a great many conversations throughout the development of the menu," says Julian. "It was a question of deciding whether something was appropriate, as well as identifying suppliers who could meet our needs."

It's clear Julian has tested the resources of Wales' food industry, with one feature of the menu being antipasto, offering a wide mix of delicacies including chorizo, buffalo mozzarella, organic olives, borlotti bean and mint salad, and roasted garlic.

There are fresh pastas, stone-baked pizzas, and meat dishes including a £35 chateaubriand for two featuring Welsh Celtic Pride beef. "That's really popular on Sundays," says Julian.

The menu has seen further tweaks in the summer as trade has grown, with sharing dishes proving a big hit and likely to be extended further.

The Grape and Olive has a large function area and an upmarket outdoor terrace - although the latter hasn't seen that much action across the disappointing summer. There is also a marketing suite, with two-way mirrors and the chance to run focus groups for product launches and similar research.

"There isn't anything else like this in Wales," says Philip proudly.

That could be said for the pub generally, but given its success, it would be a safe bet that the Grape & Olive formula will be repeated soon.