Alison Baker looks at more business-boosting ideas
German-style beer festival
Where: the Bavarian Beerhouse,
London EC1V
The idea: Oktoberfest German beer festival comes to London. The Bavarian Beerhouse is a German/Bavarian eatery, offering a wide selection of original German beers, Bavarian food and entertainment in a rustic beer-cellar environment. Established in January 2006, it has quickly become popular with locals and tourists alike who enjoy the authentic ambience and table service, provided by waitresses in traditional Bavarian dirndl dress. To bring one of Germany's traditional celebrations to such
a venue was an obvious move and one
that has met with great success. "It's great to bring a little piece of Bavaria to the
city of London and after the success of last year's event, tickets sold fast," Bavarian Beerhouse general manager Diana
Lehmann explains.
How it works: Oktoberfest officially opens with the time-honoured cry of "Ozapft is!" ("it's tapped") as the first beer begins to flow. Commencing towards the end of September and running for six consecutive weekends, customers are entertained with a programme of live music, yodelling and traditional Bavarian dancing. Oompah musicians add to the atmosphere and guests are encouraged to join in with schuhplattel (Bavarian folk dancing). Highlights of the specially devised Oktoberfest menu include Leberkäs (Bavarian-style meatloaf); Münchner Schweinshaxen (roasted pork shank
served with sauerkraut and potato dumplings) and a wide selection of sausages
such as Bratwurst, Nürnberger and Kaseknacker, served with sweet German mustard and freshly-baked pretzels, together with original German beer.
Business benefit: At £12.50 each, tickets for the Oktoberfest celebrations sold fast, entitling customers to one stein (equivalent to two pints of beer), pretzels and live entertainment. Customers also took full advantage of the traditional food and drink on offer; during Oktoberfest 2006,
the beerhouse served 6,500 steins of
beer, 8,000 schnapps shots and 7,000 sausages within three weeks. For those wishing to really enter into the spirit of things, traditional dirndl together with Oktoberfest hats and aprons are also sold via the Beerhouse's shop at a special promotional price.
Top tip on making the idea work: Keep it as authentic as possible to add to the charm.
World Tour dishes
Where: the Red Lion, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire redlionhinxton.co.uk
The idea: Keen to build on the specials-board interest amongst repeat customers at his pub, owner Alex Clarke and his chefs came up with the idea of introducing a world tour. "The idea was to offer something different that changed more regularly than our à la carte menu. Customers are inspired by the offerings on our specials board," says Alex.
How it works: Each month a different country is featured, with a starter, main course and pudding, offered all week except for Sunday lunch. Customers selecting all three courses get a 15% discount. Starting in August, customers packed their bags and had a final English dinner of warm Fenland potato, bacon and watercress salad, pot-roasted rabbit and trifle, followed in September by a visit to Italy with a warm salad of prosciutto di parma, parmigiano-reggiano cheese and poached egg, tagliatelle with vine tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and tiramisu. Future destinations include Greece and Morocco.
Business benefit: Alex anticipates that his repeat customers will return more frequently to try a country's menu before it is replaced by the next. Diners are tempted to try a third course, partly to experience the full complement from the featured country and partly to receive the special price. "The promotion has stirred a lot of interest and we are getting good feedback," Alex reports.
Top tip on making the idea work:
Let customers suggest destinations and dishes. As Alex explains, "Customers seem to like the idea of contributing to future menus. Most are pretty well-travelled and have suggested countries they would like featured -
a good challenge for our chefs."
English wine by the glass
Where: the Ginger Pig, Hove, East Sussex
gingermanrestaurants.com
The idea: The Ginger Pig prides itself on using ingredients sourced from high-quality suppliers. The menu offers traditional food with a modern twist and it is, therefore, no surprise that English wines are a feature of the gastropub's wine offering.
How it works: For £6 a glass, customers
can order an English sparkling wine from
the award-winning RidgeView wine estate whose vineyards are situated on the South Downs, near the pub. Available in either white or pink, the wine is made using traditional Champagne varieties and methods and was served for Her Majesty the Queen's 80th birthday as part of the Great British Menu.
Business benefit: Promoted on boards in the pub, the local provenance of this wine is a real attraction for the Ginger Pig's customers.
Top tip on making the idea work:
Allowing customers to buy top-quality
wines by the glass makes them more affordable.
Sweets for sale
Where: Larwood & Voce, Nottingham
The idea: When the newly-founded Moleface Pub Company opened its first pub in June, the vision
of its directors was to create an original take on a London gastropub. Chef/director John Molnar and his business partners did their homework; five or six trips down to London gave them plenty of ideas to bring back to Nottingham, one of which was to sell sweets from behind the bar. "I saw it in one of the pubs in London and thought it looked cool," John explains.
How it works: Retro sweets such as pear drops, cough candy twists and flying saucers are displayed in old-style sweet-shop jars behind the bar and are available to buy for £1 a bag. Served in the traditional brown paper variety, the old-fashioned school sweets can be bought either separately or mixed. The Punch-leased gastropub also offers homemade pork scratchings and
chilli-roast nuts and John plans to introduce hand-made root vegetable crisps for the winter.
Business benefit: "The sweets and homemade snacks give the bar a feature that customers talk about," John explains. "We're a family-friendly place so we sell a lot to the children that come in, but the sweets are also popular with adults too; a lot of the girls order a cocktail and a mixed bag of sweets," he adds.
Top tip on making the idea work: Stick to traditional sweets and try to accommodate particular customer requests; we stock flying saucers because a customer specifically asked for them.