Lancashire hot pub
Kath and Chris Bell tell Amanda Wragg about the trade secrets of Enterprise's White Bull, in Ribchester, Lancashire
Our background
Chris: I started with Michael Deane in Belfast, then worked with Paul Rankin for 18 months. In 2002 I won the Gordon Ramsay Scholarship, and Northern Ireland Chef of the Year in 2004. I worked in London at Aurora at the Great Eastern Hotel, and then in Dubai. I started working for Paul Heathcote at Longridge in 2005 - Kath and I met there. I became head chef, then this place came up in December 2006 and we decided to go for it.
Kath: I started as assistant manager at Longridge 10 years ago, then became general manager, but I'd never pulled a pint in my life until we took on this place. Now I've become an expert at keeping beer. I borrowed books out of the library and I'm learning on the job.
Business potential
Longridge is just down the road, but neither of us knew this pub was here. Its exterior is beautiful, and we thought it had loads of character inside. This is a lovely village; we decided that we'd embrace the whole rural thing, and that the pub would match our ambitions.
Renovations
We spent a lot of time and £17,000 refurbishing the three bedrooms. Now they're a high standard, and we installed a new kitchen. The large back garden has been landscaped - as it's enclosed, so it's child-friendly. The bar's beautiful brass foot-rail was in a skip in the yard, so we salvaged it and returned it to its rightful place. We want to keep the White Bull looking like a locals' pub, and create something different at the same time.
Menu philosophy
I'm trying to keep our menu as simple, fresh and local as possible. I cook dishes people recognise, done properly, such as bangers and mash, or fish and chips, and dishes people know but might not often see, such as omelette Arnold Bennett, haggis, neeps and tatties, and toad-in-the-hole. I want to exceed people's expectations of pub grub - no foams, no reductions, no jus - well, we do jus, but it's called gravy.
We like people to come for a drink, read the menu and stay to eat. It's not pretentious. We don't want to be a restaurant, brasserie or bistro - just the village pub that serves good food.
Everything's as local as possible - we've just had a delivery of organic lamb and pork from a mile up the road. Ducks and chicken come from Reg Johnson at Goosnargh, and the fish comes from Fleetwood, via Bolton.
Produce from the Ribble Valley is up there with anywhere else in Britain; you're not going to get lamb bred a mile from the middle of London, are you? It's all about good farming.
We're part of the Ribble Valley Food Trail - a tourist board and local council initiative to make the area a food destination. Pubs, retailers, restaurants and suppliers are included.
Best-selling dishes
Fish and chips, a different pie every day, the haggis goes down well, poached haddock and egg, sausage and mash. We have loyal regulars who enjoy trying something different each time they come, so they must trust us. We keep our menu pretty stable, with five or six daily specials, though now and again I'll do something off the top of my head.
Things are easier now than in the first three months - we didn't know what to cook, as old customers were mixing with new ones. In the end we decided to do what we do best, and hope most people like it.
Best investment in the past year
The bedrooms, kitchen and garden, in that order. The garden is likely to come into its own this summer.
How do you market the pub?
We engaged a PR company for two months at first, which proved quite successful, though we can't afford PR all year round. The local press have been really good to us - we got 10 out of 10 from the Lancashire Telegraph. It was the first one they'd given, so that was great for us. The pub was packed that weekend.
Plans for the next 12 months
Giving people the option of eating as a group at a table rather than ordering from the menu. Six or eight people have a dinner party, eating out in the pub instead of at home. Customers order their choices of dishes in advance - for example, a side of salmon to start, then a large leg of lamb with all the vegetables - and they help themselves.
Fergus Henderson's doing it at St Johns, in London's Smithfield. He calls it a feasting menu - that's a great idea I might nick.
How do you want customers to describe their visit?
Welcoming; satisfying; value for money.
Trade secrets
Be confident in what you do, and do what you're confident in. Chasing accolades makes you lose focus. I'd rather have 60 people in every night than a mention in a guide, although that's welcome. Do what you're good at and be proud of it. Hopefully everything will fall into place.
Pub facts
Leasehold: Enterprise Inns
Covers a week: 500
Turnover: £6,000 to £12,000 a week
On the menu: Smoked mackerel pâté, cucumber, toast and rocket (£4.50), bangers and mash (£7.50), beer-battered fish and chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce (£8.50), whole roast sea bass, new potatoes, vegetables and basil pesto (£13), grilled plaice, parsley potatoes, fine beans, Hollandaise sauce (£14).
Behind the bar: Bowland Brewery beers, Timothy Taylor's Landlord
