Chef Focus - Local Hero

What food concepts or restaurants most inspire you?​

I got into the whole River Café ethos pretty early on in my career, love a bit of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Skye Gyngell and what they all stand for. On a more technical level, l’m very much into the home-grown talent of Simon Rogan and the gastro punk spirit of Ben Spalding and I absolutely love the Nordic styles of Magnus Nilsson and René Redzepi. 

What food events should pubs get involved with?​

We are very lucky in our area. We have Hampshire Fare that does awesome work all year, but in July puts on the Hampshire Food Festival. This is a great platform for local businesses to show off. This year we are teaming up with Sunnyfields organic farm by putting on A Taste of Hampshire, where we will have pop-up restaurants and bars serving small plates of the best of what Hampshire has to offer.

Are you doing anything food-related for the World Cup?​

Apart from putting the telly on for the locals, not a great deal. We will of course be offering an oasis of calm for the non-footy lovers in the dining areas of our sites.

What is the biggest crime against pub food?​

Dishes not delivered in the fashion described on the menu — this makes me angry! I dined in a two-rosette seafood restaurant and when my main course arrived, rather than being greeted by plump and juicy local cockles, all I had were some very sad looking tiny bits of chewy frozen clams. I left very disappointed!

What is the key to keeping kitchen staff motivated?​

Succession planning is really important and keeps the chefs focused by offering a very real chance of progression. It is a very rewarding part of my job. We have had some real success stories — 16-year-old kitchen assistants to chef de parties, commis to sous chefs and sous chefs to head chefs.

What is the best thing you have introduced this year?​

Splitting our menus into sandwiches, small plates and pub classics. This changes every quarter to drive GPs, and provide a consistent seasonal and on-trend casual dining element to the menus across the group. This enables the head chefs more time and freedom to get creative with their bespoke monthly changing dining room section. Regular menu development sessions are provided by me, with local supplier trips and masterclasses.

What suppliers do you recommend and why?​

We don’t use any nationwide suppliers. We have local catering suppliers for meat, fish, dairy and dry goods and work direct with artisan producers to keep menus interesting.

What would be your ‘desert island’ pub dishes?​

Local ale battered fish finger sandwich with pickled cucumber and tartare sauce would be one. The owner of Ideal Collection thought I was crazy putting this on the White Star’s menu six years ago, but it’s still there. Hampshire steak burger is another — quality locally-sourced beef for the patties, in a brioche bap that I developed over the years with our local baker. It will never go out of fashion.

What do customers in 2014 want?​

Quality assurance and traceability. Guests want to know exactly what we are putting on their plates and trust that we will deliver it in a way that meets their expectations. Get that right and they will keep coming
back regardless.    

What is your idea of a perfect pub menu?​

We are constantly striving for this. But as Winston Churchill said “to improve is to change, so to be perfect is to change often”. Our current format is six starters, six mains, four pub classics, three main salads, six puddings and cheese. This evolves every month. At the end of summer we will lose the salad section and up the pub classic section with a bit of comfort food.

What is the best dish you have eaten in a pub recently?​

Getting out can be tricky with the hours I work and being a father of four! The last amazing meal out was at Roganic, just before it closed. Other great meals in recent times have been at the Pig in the New Forest and the Black Rat in Winchester. Failing that
an awesome wood-fired pizza from the end of my road in Bournemouth! 

Recommended food apps and websites​

■ Twitter (@collectionchef) has been huge for me over the years, made some great contacts, found out about new places to eat, food events, and, most importantly, learned so much about my massive passion for foraging!

■ Instagram (@collectionchef) again following some very inspirational foodies and foragers.

■ www.chefsteps.com​ is also great for learning new techniques from some hipsters from over the pond.

■ www.nordicfoodlab.org​ is a similar place for food geeks to hang out and a bit closer to home.

Chef CV​

Name​: Jim Hayward

Company​: Ideal Collection

Role​: group development chef

Career highlights: ​Started washing up in my local New Forest pub when I was 14 and I have never looked back!

Classically trained by a Spanish head chef in a two-rosette fine-dining restaurant in Sway, Dorset. I worked my way through the ranks from chef de partie to head chef, in and around Dorset. I took on Ideal Collection’s first gastro pub the White Star Tavern in Southampton, where I gained two rosettes at the end of my first year.

I was then asked to look after the Bugle in Hamble, Hampshire, where we also gained a rosette. We then opened two more sites, No.5 Bridge Street in Winchester and the White Horse in Otterbourne, both in Hampshire. It was then I became group executive chef, overseeing the group’s food operation. Since then we have opened two more sites bringing our portfolio to seven.

At the beginning of the year it was decided I would become the group development chef. This allows me to focus on what I do best, being creative, evolving our food direction and looking after our people.