Celeb gastropub owner James Tanner launches pre-made dessert for pubs

James Tanner, who owns Kent gastropub the Kentish Hare with his brother Chris, created the dessert – a chocolate pavé – with the supplier over several months of development.

He said: “I’m very excited about it. It was a lot of work in the making. This is a bought-in product but it's a high-quality bought-in product.

'Further upsold'

“Kitchens are businesses so offering them something that is already premium, created using the finest ingredients, that can be be further upsold with the addition of a few simple but well thought out ingredients, is key.”

The pavé is made with Callebaut Ecuadorian chocolate and will be available in packs of 36 portions. Tanner said it was designed to offer operators a GP of 60%-70%, depending on how it is served and garnished.

Paul Whitely, brand and communications manager at Aryzta, said: “We decided we were going to get back in touch with the chef community.

“What we have unfortunately done, which most businesses are guilty of doing, is to have lost connection with the right people in the industry over the past five years.

'Young chefs'

“We wanted to look at how we could re-engage – it’s about understanding each other’s realms. We really engaged with young chefs in our industry. There’s no point in being in foodservice if your products aren’t relevant.”

The new dessert will roll out to foodservice operators over the summer, and will feature on the menu at the Kentish Hare and the Tanner brother’s Plymouth restaurant, Barbican Kitchen.

The Tanner brothers opened the Kentish Hare in 2014. It quickly garnered serious critical acclaim and was named Newcomer of the Year at 2016’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs.