The Eight team
Winners of BBC2 show The Restaurant, Jane and Jeremy Hooper talk pubs, Peach and passion with Lucy Britner
Raymond Blanc calls it a pub. Peach Pub Company founder Hamish Stoddart says it's a bar with a nice restaurant, and Jane and Jeremy, the newly appointed proprietors of Eight at the Thatch in Thame, Oxfordshire, call it a restaurant with a nice bar.
"We don't reserve any tables in the bar area, so people can come in for a drink or a bite to eat, but the rest of the place is laid up for lunch and dinner, like a restaurant," says Jane.
Jane and Jeremy won the chance to go into business with Raymond Blanc and Peach Pub Company after fending off stiff competition from nine other couples in BBC2 programme The Restaurant screened last autumn.
Jeremy took a sabbatical from his position as a cook in the Royal Marines and the pair upped sticks from Devon to give their dream-restaurant concept, Eight in the Country, a go on national TV. After a gruelling film schedule and a series of challenges from Raymond and his team of inspectors - including Peach's Lee Cash - the pair won the chance to move to Thame and open Eight at the Thatch.
Jeremy says: "Just over a year ago, I was in Afghanistan. I miss the camaraderie of the Marines and at least in Afghanistan I knew what I was doing. Running a restaurant is the hardest thing I've ever done."
The series saw Raymond and his judges setting challenges for the restaurateur wannabes. Some scenes ended with Jane crying in the car outside. Jane laughs about it now and says customers often ask her if she's going to burst into tears again.
"We took the programme very seriously and are very passionate about our ideas. I didn't actually cry that much, but the camera was always there when I did," says Jane, who was a trainee teacher. One challenge saw the pair scrambling around the countryside looking for seasonal, local produce.
"Only a few weeks before that, I was cooking in Afghanistan - I had no idea what was in season here," says Jeremy.
The pair openly admit they are amateurs when it comes to running a restaurant, but also know this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
The Thatch opened for business in the middle of November and by January was taking nearly £20,000 a week, so the couple must be doing something right.
"It's a complicated triangle, involving Raymond, Peach and ourselves," says Jane. "Everyone has to be consulted before a decision is made but everyone wants it to work, and the combination of experience, food knowledge and business acumen is second-to-none."
Situated in the heart of the rustic market town of Thame, Eight at the Thatch is half grade II-listed cottage and half light, airy extension.
Raymond helps Jeremy decide what to put on the menu and Peach's signature deli-board concept is also featured.
The menu largely consists of Brasserie Blanc-style dishes but Jeremy does have two of his own on there, such as the onion soup he cooked on The Restaurant (£4.50).
"Raymond is always on the end of the phone if we need him," adds Jane.
Since the Thatch opened, Peach front-of-house manager Natalie Langman has been showing Jane the ropes. Chef-mentor Christian Cilia works with Jeremy in the kitchen.
The couple's original concept, Eight in the Country, was based on having a small restaurant for 20 to 30 covers, with customers sitting down together to enjoy an eight-course menu.
"We never thought about running a pub - it wasn't something we wanted," says Jeremy. "But the programme taught us about creating sustainable businesses and listening to customers."
Now the couple have 70-plus covers to think about, and a gastropub-style menu that is conducive to turning tables. "Turning tables is a contentious issue," says Jane. "It's about staff training. It's important customers know they can't have a table all night, if they arrive for the early sitting."
The eight-course concept hasn't quite made it to Thame yet, but Jane and Jeremy aren't ruling it out.
"We might introduce it in a couple of months, but we can see the reasoning in the simplicity of the menu," says Jeremy.
Jeremy's tips for first-time foodies include working out the elements of a dish and how many steps are needed to put it together - ideally keeping all of these to a minimum.
He has also learned how to keep up gross profits in the kitchen and to include only the essential elements in dishes, sparing the cost of unnecessary extras.
Chef recruitment has been one of the biggest challenges. "My advice would be to employ hard-working, reliable people who are willing to learn, rather than looking for someone who is already a good chef."
The Hoopers know the PR wave won't last forever. With Jeremy's option to return to the Marines for a year and collect his half-pension for 12 years' service looming over them, the future isn't certain at the Thatch. The deal with Peach and Raymond lasts until November, when the couple can sign up for more or walk away.
"The next series is about to start and we know we'll be yesterday's news," says Jane. "But we have already started thinking about a marketing strategy."
Jane, who is eight months pregnant, hopes Jeremy won't return to the Marines, but nothing is set in stone at the moment.
A couple of fans - of the programme and the food - wait to meet Jeremy and Jane by the door. Jane smiles when they ask about the crying and ensures they have enjoyed themselves and will return.
The Hoopers might be new to hospitality, but it's not hard to see why they're winners.
Eight at The Thatch,
Lower High Street,
Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 2AA
Tel: 01844 214340
www.thethatchthame.co.uk
Thatch facts
Tenure: The freehold is owned by a restaurant-focused property developer called Warrant. The 25-year lease is owned by MC401, the company that is the partnership between Jeremy and Jane Hooper and Raymond Blanc.
Covers: 74 including the bar area;
20 to 25 in the garden.
Average covers per week: 850
Average spend per head: £27
Turnover: £19,000 a week in January and February; £21,000 a week over Christmas.
Average hours a day at work: 19, five days a week, then half a day on Sunday.
Best-selling dishes: Jeremy's creamy onion soup with home-made croûtons (£4.50); Jeremy's Aberdeenshire fillet medallions, wild mushrooms, red wine jus, horseradish mash (£15.50).
On the menu:
At the bar: Newitts honeysuckle ham, home-made pickles, rustic bread (£6); roasted autumn vegetable and lamb stew (£9.50).
In the restaurant: Starter: Celeriac salad, poached egg, pancetta, mustard dressing (£6). Main: Jimmy Butler's pork belly, roasted apple, braised cabbage (£12). Dessert: Cox's tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream (£5.50).
