The Bull's Head — the genre-busting pub
Heavy of heart, we set off one Sunday morning last summer to complete a task every adult is likely to be asked to perform at some stage — a trip with 'junior' to Alton Towers.
A bitter pill such as this has to have some sugar applied. And so it was we discovered that the Bull's Head at Repton, Derbyshire, the pub run by BII Licensees of the Year Richard and Loren Pope, was little more than a 15-mile detour en route.
Last week, we ran a feature in which a panel of industry figures nominated the pub or restaurant concept they'd recommend having a look at. The task for the bulk of the pub industry is, of course, about evolving the offer, to punch its way out of the paper bag to offer more.
There are plenty of examples out there of what the 'Pub of the Future' might look like. But of all the pubs I went to last year, the Bull's Head is the one (if it's only to be one) that every operator should find an excuse (or an opportunity) to visit.
We arrived for Sunday roast and had a first-rate couple of hours. A few hours later, as we journeyed into deepest, darkest theme-park world, my wife realised she'd left her handbag at the Bull's Head. A return visit was needed on Monday evening. We duly arrived to find the Bull's Head even busier at 7.15pm than it was the previous lunchtime. It was to be a five-minute visit — a quick coffee and off again.
But it panned out differently. Here was a golden chance to have a bite. The Popes, I knew, had installed a £20,000 brick pizza oven in one corner of the pub — Jamie Oliver had the only other one in the UK at the time. We settled down for a delicious pizza — and then found ourselves unable to resist the quiz night, which started around 8.30pm. Three hours later than planned, some time after 10pm, the journey back to West Sussex resumed.
Magic
It was all about the magic of a great pub persuading people to stay longer (and spend more) than they planned.
The Bull's Head is a pub, but it bursts through the traditional parameters. It uses every square foot well, not least a multi-tiered beer garden. Its upstairs room has been converted into a dining area — but staff wear jeans by design to keep service informal and 'pubby'.
There's a busy bar area where drinkers and diners happily co-exist. The Bull's Head has learnt from restaurant operators about how deep branding can convey a message around quality — there are jokey and repeated uses of bull's horns everywhere, from coat hangers to burger buns.
I met the Popes at an event last week. It's been a year or so since the installation of their pizza oven. I hear it's taken hold in a way that would bring a smile to the lips of a Domino's Pizza franchisee — without cannibalising their other food trade. It's genre-busting and one more way that they've redefined the success that's possible by evolving the traditional pub offering.
