Striking service

Richard Fox looks to Spain for service tips

The football season is well and truly underway, and if the first few weeks are anything to go by, it looks set to have more than its fair share of thrills. Traditionally, footie, food, and quality service have never sat comfortably at the same table. However, a quick glance south of the Pyrenees can be quite inspiring if you want to convert the latter hostile trio into best buddies.

While Drake and his crew may have had a huge axe to grind with our Castilian neighbours, our contemporary heroes have taken them very much to heart. Rather than do battle on the high seas, our homeboys are out embracing their Spanish team-mates week in, week out, in the unfettered environment of the Bernabéu (far more civilised and sunny than the open sea). That's all very well, but while Becks and co were cutting a healthy slice of Spanish sunshine (not so different from LA) and dancing the Lambada in Madrid, we were still doing the conga and singing in the blooming rain, wishing very much that our lives were a little more Raul, and a little less Rooney.

But there's nothing like good footie to lift the spirits - and there's nothing like good food to lift those spirits directly into the local pub, particularly when we introduce a bit of Continental service into the equation.

Here lies Spanish service lesson number one: enter any Spanish bar and there's as much passion and excitement around food and its service as around the football - and the Spanish have more than their fair share of passion for the beautiful game. So those of us who find ourselves in Barnsley rather than Barcelona, or Manchester instead of Madrid, should borrow as many ideas as we can to maximise the Spanish experience.

Joyous experience

Bring on the tapa - literally translated as "snack". And if ever there was food designed for footie and quality service style, tapa is it. The method of presentation and the opportunity for flexibility is the catalyst for turning those rainy, wintry football afternoons into a joyous experience for all the family.

And it couldn't be more straightforward: just take a selection of your favourite foods, miniaturise them, stick them in a vessel small enough to hold in the same hand as a pint, and then eat with your fingers. Olé! By this definition, such food knows no boundaries. Virtually anything you choose will have a Spanish feel about it. Take sausage and mash - use chipolata-sized sausages, or slice a regular sausage to allow for finger or fork-only eating. Obviously, if you want to be totally authentic, it has to be chorizo. But even this Spanish staple can be anglicised to suit your more traditional customers' palates: chop it up and serve in an omelette with mushrooms; mix with mash potato, make into a pattie and pan-fry for a great twist on sausage and mash, or simply serve on toasted baguette for a "Spanglish" bruschetta. Either way, a sausage-based tapa should contain ingredients costing no more than 50p, and with a £3.50 to £4 price tag, tapas clearly provides a healthy profit.

British favourites such as fish and chips take on a whole new meaning when they receive the tapa treatment: breaded or battered goujons of plaice or lemon sole are perfect finger food with a difference. Serve with a few fries and a little dish of tartare sauce for the full experience. Squid rings and paprika-roasted potatoes smothered with melted cheese are just a couple more examples of what amounts to football designer food. The potato-based tapa undoubtedly has the greatest mark-up. At just a few pence per portion, they end up as a deliciously tasty snack that can easily carry a £2.50 price per portion. Lemon sole will probably be the most expensive dish to produce, at about £1 to £1.50 per portion, but it's certainly attracts attention. Try using plaice, rather than lemon sole, to lower the cost per portion.

Marketing magic

When it comes to marketing tapas, we can follow the Spanish example of the counter-top refrigerated cabinet. While this expense may seem unnecessary, it should pay for itself 10 times over. You may find it's a great boost to normal lunch-time trade, and can be removed easily to accommodate drinking-only Friday and Saturday nights. It's a simple marketing fact that we eat with our eyes: arrange a tempting display of meatballs in their own tomato sauce, or hefty slabs of potato and egg tortilla, and pan-fried mushrooms in a cream sauce or tomato salsa. What used to be a steady stream of pre-match crisp sales transforms into a stampede of stadium proportions.

Breaking the traditional moulds in this way has a defining effect on the perceived quality of service. Raising the bar, on any level, conveys a fundamental message of caring about the customer - smiles become broader and more frequent; witty, friendly exchanges between staff and customer are more likely to become the norm, rather than the exception- and before you can say "Man Utd 2 - Chelsea 0", footie, food and service have bonded as one, big happy family. ?