Host Spring 2012

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host
spring 2012
Hairy Bikers Interview

Stella Tenants

Everybody Out

Olympian Proﬁts
for the independent licensee
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Follow us on twitter @BabickaBrothers
or fnd out more at www.babickavodka.com
20 Men And Motors
Stephen Milton meets and chats with The
Hairy Bikers
22 Shaken And Stirred
Nigel Huddlestone recommends increasing
your spirit sales by serving cocktails
28 Ending A Meal
The history of post dinner liquers
30 Heading South
Pete Brown recommends his favourite
breweries in London and the south east
38 Everybody Out
Tips to boost your profts in the great
outdoors
44 A Dead Cert
Why don’t we hold secular funerals in
public houses?
48 Olympian Profts
Be a winner and cash in on the upcoming
olympics
49 Eat
John Porter looks at barbecues, seafood
dishes and the perfect cheeseboard
5 My Shout
Martyn Cornell on his most troublesome
customers
7 Upfronts
Tips, people, advice and myths
13 Trade Opinion
Nick Bish talks about ALMR’s Outlook
Campaign
14 Inn Stock
Ben Newman recommends his spring and
summer must haves
16 Pulling Power
Ben Newmans favourite beers and
breweries
66 The Corker
Jamie Goode on the lighter side of wines
contents
features
regulars
P20
host
host / spring 2012 / 3
P22
P50
spring 12
68 Six Of The Best
Kitchen blenders
70 Bar Essentials
The latest and best products and services
75 The Biz
Graeme Cushion answers your legal questions
89 Legal Q and A
Taking on a tenancy, human resources and pub
proﬁle
90 Celebrity Questionnaire
Celebrity chef James Martin is put in the hot seat.
contents
regulars
Editor: Ben Newman
Contributing Editor: Richard Berndes
Editorial Assistant: Carol Kenyon
Advertisement Manager: Tim Morris
Sales Executives: Lee Morgan, Mellisa Hayes
Art Direction: onelittlestudio.com
Accounts: Julie Hewitt
Contributors: Jamie Goode, Phil Mellows, John Porter, Martyn
Cornell, Pete Brown, Sonya Hook and Nigel Huddlestone
Host is published quarterly by
Plum Publications Limited

27 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1 3XX
tel: 0845 604 6331
email: [email protected]
web: www.thehostmagazine.co.uk

The editor and publishers do not necessarily agree with the views expressed by
contributors nor do they accept responsibility for any errors in the transmission of the
subject matter in this publication. In all matters the editors decision is ﬁnal.
P49
4 / spring 2012 / host
PLEASE QUOTE SPACE
ORDER NUMBER ON
PROOFS AND INVOICE
Client
Description
Type Area
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April 2012
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host / spring 2012 / 5
e
my shout
Customers – can’t be doing without them, can’t be doing with them. Martyn
Cornell lists his least favourite punters.
Life would be
far easier if
it were only
possible to
make a living
without any
customers at
all
Even the most customer-friendly of operations, the
bar most dedicated to making the punters feel happy
and welcome, sometimes feels that life would be far
easier if it were only possible to make a living without
any customers at all. Here’s a list, put together from
conversations around the industry, of those customers
you hate the most.
The ones who can’t handle their entertainment.
Even the best-run establishment gets them, people
who have imbibed too deeply at the well of merriment:
and generally, to make it worse, the scene of their
imbibing too deeply has been somewhere else earlier
in the evening, meaning the place where they cause
trouble is not the place where they spent all their
money.
The ones who snap their fngers/whistle/call out/
bang the bar to get your attention. They’ll be served
in order. And that applies to their friends. “Why do
some people, in a crowded bar, after paying for their
own order, ask, ‘Can you serve my mate next, please?’
Do they think you really want to hack off the half-
dozen or more people who should rightfully be served
before their pal gets his?”
The ones who don’t place the whole order at once.
Especially the ones who order two pints of Guinness
right at the end, or six different shots. OK, they’re not
to know you have a preferred sequence of making up
a round that cuts down on the time it takes to serve
and the amount of moving around you have to do, but
surely they have enough short-term memory to be able
to rattle out the whole list of drinks they want to buy
in one go.
The ones who answer their phone while placing
their order. No, no, it’s fne, your server and the rest
of the bar are happy to wait while that important
conversation gets fnished.
The ones who think it’s the bar staff’s fault because
the pub doesn’t stock the brand they want. And
slag the bar staff off over it. “In a blind tasting, they
wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the
brand they want and the one the pub stocks anyway.”
The ones who can’t control their functions. If you
had wanted a job where you had to clear up bodily
wastes inappropriately deposited, you’d have gone into
nursing. Enough said.
The ones who don’t have their money ready when
the order has been completed. The ones who want
to pay for one drink with a credit card. The ones who
order a big round and then ask to pay for each drink
separately. “And the ones who ask to start a tab, hand
over a credit card, then at the end of the evening either
say, ‘It’s the blue one’– just give your name, dummy –
or disappear leaving their card behind – they’ll be back
– or turn out not to have enough money on their card
to pay the bill. It’s surprising how often they manage
to fnd a way of paying somehow.”
The ones who try to tell barstaff how to pour/
serve a drink and what drinks the pub ought to be
stocking that it doesn’t have. “If they’re the expert,
why aren’t they running their own pub?”
The bores. Generally in their late 50s, taken early
retirement, the wife has thrown them out of the house,
it’s sit in the public library or the pub, and they can talk
in the pub – and how they can talk. If talking were an
Olympic sport, they’d be carrying the Union Jack round
the track at the opening ceremony. Bar staff pray for
more customers to come in, in order to be able to
wrench themselves away from the bore.
The ones who want a discount because “I’m a
regular/I’ll be bringing all my mates in/I’m a
member of (insert organisation here).”
The ones who steal everything that isn’t nailed
down. As someone said, “it’s a pub, not a self-service
souvenir shop.”
The ones who won’t leave. The old landlord’s “last
orders” cry, “Ain’t you got no homes to go to?”, appears
to be true with this bunch, judging by their reluctance
to depart the premises: you could stack the chairs
around them, throw towels over all the pumps, spray
the tables with cleaner, even turn out the lights, and
they still don’t make a move for the door. Do they hang
around their own workplaces long after everyone else
has gone? Maybe they do – but why do they expect
you to?
6 / spring 2012 / host
Ice Hand - HOST.indd 1 18/04/2012 10:59
host / spring 2012 / 7
Russia Detergent
The average Russian is said
to chug between 50 and 90
half-litre bottles of vodka a
year, but many also slake their
thirst for liquor by glugging
on perfume, disinfectant or
brake ﬂuid. A bottle of vodka
costs around 60 roubles in
the shops (£1.36), whereas
Esculape disinfectant, say -
made from 90 per cent proof
alcohol - comes in at a price
- busting 30 roubles. the real
cost of this initiative swigging
is high, however. in july 2001,
a small woodcutters’ party
in the Siberian forest ended
when ten people died from
swallowing an explosive
concoction of 90 per cent
proof alcohol diluted with
brake ﬂuid.
O
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The longest recorded champagne cork
ﬂight, four feet from the ground at
Woodbury Vineyards in New York State.
up front
Number Crunching
177’ & 17”
Not everyone that
drinks is a poet.
Some of us drink
because we’re not
poets.
Dudley Moore
host / spring 2012 / 7
Man with
a van
During the mid 2000’s the phenomena that is
‘pop up’ restaurants began. These were a new
way to eat food that was good and economi-
cal but the twist was it was usually based in
someone’s home. It even spawned a TV show
genre that included Come Dine With Me and
Dinner Dates.
Where food is, drink is not far behind and the
pop up bar is now being witnessed around the
country and the leading light in the ﬁeld is ‘Mr Frothy.’
As the name suggests it’s homage to the 1970’s ice cream van
that kids chased for a summer time treat. But this time, form an
orderly queue and the team behind the Fiat 850 van in which
the bar is based will happily supply you with a ﬁne bevies’ or
three. But just because it’s a retro looking vehicle don’t ask for
a can of Long Life or a Hofmeister. It’s manned by the people
from the award winning North Bar in Leeds. They only provide
top quality drinks and they stake their reputation on that.
So next time you’re at a garden fete and looking for something
refreshing that is not a cup of tea, that ice cream van bell you
hear across the ﬁeld might not be stocking 99’s!
Drinking red
wine is good
for you
True. According to danish researcher
dr. Morton Gronbaek, ‘’Wine drinkers
experience a lower all-cause mortal-
ity.’’ red wine in particular is high
in antoxidants, which have been
proven to play a role in the preven-
tion of heart disease.
Pub
myths
Ice Hand - HOST.indd 1 18/04/2012 10:59
8 / spring 2012 / host
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host / spring 2012 / 9
up front
Actor
Any guy who gets kicked out of
prep school as a teenager for
patronizing a cathouse can’t
be half bad. In the years that
followed, Barrymore chased
women about as much as he
chased the bottle, and was
unapologetic for either vice.
During one night’s festivities,
he drunkenly wandered into a ladies’ toilet, substituted
a potted plant for the missing urinal. When a female re-
minded him it was “for ladies only,” he whipped around
-- while still whipped out -- and answered: “So, madam,
is this. But every now and again, I’m compelled to run a
little water through it.”
In addition to such impromptu performances, his
professional career spanned decades with dozens of
ﬁlms and hundreds of stage performances. Friends; Errol
Flynn and Raoul Walsh went out drinking to remem-
ber Barrymore, Walsh slipped away from the crowd,
liberated Barrymore’s body from the funeral home and
propped it in a chair in Flynn’s living room.
Great drinkers
of the past
John Barrymore
Cherry B was one
of those drinks
from the 1960’s
and 1970’s that
was supposed to
tell people that
the drinker was a
person of class and
sophistication.
It was a small
beautifully
designed bottle of
‘cherry wine’ and
it came in at an
eye watering 11.5
alcohol volume. Its sweet, desert like
taste meant that it was drunk rather
quickly and with the obvious affects that
something of that potency would have.
The ﬁve inch high stubby bottle, is a
typical olde worlde type bottle, being
that it is simple green glass with a few
knobbles on it and with a foil around the
neck.
The taste, well it certainly smells of
cherries and that hits you as soon as you
manage to remove the top. The colour
as you might expect is a very dark red or
could even be describes as dark cherry.
If you have sweet tooth then this is the
drink for you. I mean what would you
expect from a cherry wine?
Today it’s a rarity in shops, but recently
there were lots of internet rumours
about the brand being seen and sold on
the shelves of Asda and Morrison’s.
Some authors have suggested that Aunt Sally goes back at
least as far as the 17th Century. The vague assertion is that
it may have been introduced by Royalist soldiers during the
English Civil. An alternative theory ascribes Aunt Sally as
a development of a game which was essentially a humane
version of a barbaric blood sport called “throwing at cocks”.
In this horrible pastime a cock was tied by one leg to a
stake in the ground and the participants would then pay
for a turn at throwing a “cok-steles” (small club) at the
bird. Joseph Strutt noted in 1801 that humane versions of
this had been seen as fairground amusements wherein the
cock was replaced by a wooden replica and people paid a
small sum to attempt to hit it.
What is known for sure is that Aunt Sally rose to general
popularity in Victorian times as a vulgar misogynist fair-
ground pursuit. The doll used to be dressed up to resemble
an old maid and no doubt it was thought to be an amusing
to chuck sticks at the ugly looking Aunt Sally doll. The
ﬁgure was painted black - the game was both mysogynist
and racist.
Pub Games
Aunt Sally
In wine there is
wisdom. In beer there
is freedom. In water
there is bacteria.
Benjamin Franklin
Whatever happened to....
Cherry B
10 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 11
If you are looking for the
ultimate male night out then
head off in the direction of
New Jersey and ask for the Ba
da Big Bar.
It’s a roomy establishment with
a central bar in the middle
and instead of optics behind
the bartenders head you see
a dance ﬂoor, some poles and
some of New Jersey’s ﬁnest
‘artistic’ dancers putting on
a show for you that you can
enhance by adding a signiﬁcant
value dollar bill to their garter.
The place is run by a man called
Silvio Dante, a dour looking
man with a magniﬁcent quiff.
He runs a tight ship and will
you tell you that the name was
inspired from a line from his
favourite ﬁlm ‘The Godfather.’
It’s at this point that you
should ask yourself what sort
of man ﬁnds gangland murder
inspiring.
If you get invited for a drink
out at the back you should
consider yourself lucky and
potentially in risk of your life
all at the same time! It’s in the
back ofﬁce you’ll meet the main
man himself Tony Soprano. He’s
a big guy, strong a bit receding
but unmistakeable.
He might want to discuss
business with you or offer you
a construction opportunity on
the Newark waterfront. You
should choose what you say
carefully.
If the penny hasn’t dropped
yet, perhaps you should start
making for the exit and the
ﬁrst plane out of Newark
International Airport!
The White Hart
The livery badge of King
Richard II of England. It became
so popular as an inn sign in his
reign that it was adopted by
many later inns and taverns.
Richard II introduced legislation
compelling public houses to
display a sign, and at one
time the White Hart was so
ubiquitous as to become almost
generic, in the same way that
we often call a vacuum cleaner
a Hoover today.
up front
The Ba Da Bing bar
The Soprano’s
Famous ﬁctitious boozers
For years the British boozer was dominated
by strong female bar staff, Bet Lynch and
Angie Watts and Kat Slater to name but
a few. These days you’re more likely to
encounter Ivanka from eastern europe!
Ivanka is a lovely girl. She’s on a 12 month
working visa from her home land and is
determined to make the most of her time
in the UK. But that means earning some
cash to fund those trips to nightclubs,
Glastonbury and the occasional trip around
the rest of Europe.
She’s a dab hand at pulling a pint and has
a very becoming and welcoming smile
that can trick a tipsy punter into thinking
that he has the green light to chat her up.
Needles to say that Ivanka is too used to
these clumsy approaches and dismisses
them with the contempt they deserve but
in a manner that leaves the punter still
feeling good about himself. It’s a rare gift!
Where you ﬁnd Ivanka, after awhile
you might well ﬁnd that the bar staff is
becoming more like a gathering of the
United Nations on a weekly basis. A foreign
smile and an alluring accent work wonders
to pull in the punters even if the pulling
of the pints leaves the head on the beer
somewhat on the generous side. But if
the punters keep coming in to enjoy the
international bar staff and they aren’t
complaining about the measures, what
landlord in his or her right mind would
issue a staff warning to such a valuable
employee?
What’s in a name?
LAGER
Bar Types:
Ivanka the Barmaid
12 / spring 2012 / host
Appi
Some Host recommended apps to add to
your mobile devices
talk
Carluccio
Cook with Antonio and
share his passion for food
with simple, delicious
recipes, together with his
top tips for choosing and
preparing ingredients. Ev-
ery recipe and tip includes
an easy to follow video.
Shazam
Is the name of that
song on the tip of your
tongue ? Use the phone’s
mic to gather a snipet
of music. It’s compared
against a central data-
base for a match. If a
match is found, informa-
tion such as the artist,
song title, and album are
displayed.
INRIX Trafﬁc
We all know the feeling
of being stuck in trafﬁc,
with no idea where the
problem is or how long
you will be stuck. To avoid
getting stuck in a jam,
use INRIX Trafﬁc to check
trafﬁc conditions ahead of
setting off.
Spotify
Think of Spotify as your
new music collection.
Wherever you go, your
music follows you, and
because the music plays
live, there’s no need to
wait for downloads and
no big dent in your hard
drive.
LogMeIn
It works with LogMeIn’s
ﬂagship free remote ac-
cess offering, LogMeIn
Free, giving iOS users un-
limited free mobile access
to their remote comput-
ers, anywhere with an
internet connection. Oh,
and it’s free.
CAMRA
A list of over 4,500 pubs
and Breweries all at your
ﬁnger tips and rated by
CAMRA!. So, where ever
you are in the country and
in need a restbite there’s
no excuse not to sample
some of the countries
best liquid refreshment.
host / spring 2012 / 13
t
trade opinion
The ALMR’s Outlook Campaign is seeking to allow
all of us who work in the industry the opportunity
to describe how what we do for a living makes a
difference directly to those who govern our affairs
in Westminster and Whitehall.
The aim (this time) will be to educate and inform
politicians rather than bully and berate them.
In doing so, we hope to change the terms of the
political and media debate –away from, at times,
a relentless focus on pub closures and 24-hour
drinking and towards celebrating how dynamic and
diverse our modern licensed hospitality businesses
are.
For too long, some
in our industry talk
about how we are on
the brink of disaster
and will vanish
from the landscape.
But the truth is we
have always had
to innovate and
we have always
survived. So why is
now a good time
to tell our story?
Because now, more than ever before, it is simply not
credible or helpful for politicians and the media to
‘pigeon hole’ what we do. The pub that caters for a
particular clientele during in the late night economy
on the high street also serves a different clientele
during the daytime economy. The village pub in its
bucolic, rural setting doesn’t just support the local
economy by helping attract tourists; it also operates
as an integral part of the local community.

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD
Food led pubs are now the market leader in our
sector and almost all pubs (87%) serve food at
most, if not all, times of the day. Increasingly they
offer breakfast, coffee and a modern hospitality
experience which attracts families, older people and
their custom in the daytime and early evening. In
fact we often act as a magnet encouraging others
to invest locally and serve as a support structure
for other retail businesses already operating on the
high street. We meet a need for those people who
want to pop in and out for a quick bite to eat or to
socialise over a drink with friends and family while
out shopping.
These stories are to be found in every constituency
up and down the country. Together they provide
politicians with reasons
to believe in our industry
and invest political capital
in us rather than treat us
as an ailing patient with a
chronic illness.

MAKING A POINT
If we succeed in telling
our side of the story,
then maybe, just maybe,
we can start to rebalance
the debate and ultimately
encourage politicians to reassess the projected 10x
increase in licensing fees we face over the next 12
months as a result of the measures contained in last
year’s Police Reform Act; encourage them to reassess
an out of date planning regime that does not allow
for hybrid casual dining ventures that attract
people to the high street; and reassess the value our
businesses provide as responsible welcoming places
to drink rather than the unsupervised environment
at home where measures aren’t measured and
consumption is fuelled by the easy availability and
pocket money prices charged by the supermarkets.
What have we got to lose?
Nick Bish of the ALMR says that if something is worth
doing its worth doing yourself. It’s often born out of
a frustration to make a break through and change
something for the better.
It is not
credible or
helpful for
politicians and
the media to
pigeon hole
what we do
The truth is we
have always had to
innovate and we have
always survived
14 / spring 2012 / host
Over the following pages editor Ben Newman recommends his
essentials to stock behind the bar during the spring months.
inn stock
Angostura 1919 is a
specially blended multiple
award winning rum, which
celebrates a very particular
date in the development of
the rum industry in Trinidad
& Tobago, as well as the
Caribbean.
After a fre in 1932, which destroyed the Government
Rum Bond, the master blender of Fernandes Distillers, J.B.
Fernandes, bought the charred casks, only to discover they
had been flled in the year 1919.
The prized rum was skillfully blended and called 1919.
For more details; Tel: 01355 260999
Angostura
As summer approaches which is typically peak
season for cocktail consumption, the trend of
sharing serves in the category is gaining more
prominence. Funkin’s 1 Litre Strawberry Daiquiri
Cocktail Mixer is ideal to make the most of this
demand. As strawberries are the typical summer
fruit and with each 1 litre mixer making up to
10 cocktails this is the ideal product for any bar
looking to serve pitchers or single cocktails at
minimal cost. Funkin mixers are made with 100%
natural ingredients and contain no alcohol.
For more details; Tel: 020 7328 4440 or visit:
www.funkin.co.uk
Jagermeister
Since 1879 The Glenrothes has had a
reputation among master blenders as
a top class malt, distinguished by its
complexity, balance and above all its
favour. Select Reserve was created to
be the ‘House Style’ of The Glenrothes;
instantly recognisable from its distinctive
bottle, it is laden with ripe fruits, citrus,
vanilla and hints of spice. The key to
appreciating The Glenrothes is to have an
understanding of the difference between
age, a number, and maturity, which is
about the development of ripeness. It has,
according to Jim Murray in his Whisky
Bible, “one of the softest deliveries on
Speyside.”
For more details, Tel: 01786 430 500
Glenrothes
Jägermeister is the 8th best selling
premium spirit brand in the world,
and the 9th in the UK. Made using
a secret blend of 56 different herbs,
blossoms, roots and fruits, the
recipe has not changed since it was
developed by Curt Mast in 1934.
Best served as an Ice Cold shot,
this represents the biggest growth
opportunity in the on-trade, as
consumers look to try new and
interesting drinks as part of their
regular drinking repertoire.
Jägermeister Tap Machines with
capacity for three bottles are
available for sale which provide
impactful standout on the back bar.
Outlets that have installed Jägermeister Tap Machines have,
on average, seen sales of Jägermeister triple as a result.
For more details; Tel: 01283 217703 or visit:
www.cellartrends.co.uk
Funkin
host / spring 2012 / 15
Folkington’s
Blue Keld
Brothers, the Original Pear Cider is the
fastest growing major cider brand.
The Brothers are always looking at
ways to grow the market and recently
introduced their frst draught product
– a font which can dispense four
different favours. The font dispenses
Pear cider and syrups which can be
added to create Strawberry, Toffee
Apple and Tutti Frutti favours.
For more details; Tel: 01749 344446
or visit: www.matthewclark.co.uk
Brothers
Passion Shed offer a range of tasty nuts mixes.
‘Honey Heaven’ is a blend of whole jumbo
hazelnuts, Californian almonds and jumbo
peanuts drizzled and roasted with the sweetest
of South American honey.‘High Seas’ is a mix
of sweet jumbo cashews, Californian almonds,
jumbo hazelnuts & peanuts coated with the
fnest Italian extra virgin olive oil and a light
sprinkling of sea salt and Tellicherry Pepper ,uses
Whole Cashews, Californian Almonds & Jumbo
Peanuts sprinkled with the fnest cracked black
pepper.
For more details; Tel: 0151 522 2355
or visit: www.passionshed.com
Passion Shed
Folkingtons range of high quality gourmet fruit juices are made
from selected fruit varieties grown in carefully selected parts of
England and across the world. From Sussex and Kent come the
‘Russet’ apples, from Sicily come the Femminello lemons, from
Quebec the ‘Stevens’ cranberries, from Valencia the ‘Valencia Late’
oranges, from Kent and the Three Counties come the ‘Conference’
and ‘Comice’ pears and from Navarra, Spain come the tomatoes. The
range is made entirely with not from concentrated juices.
For more details; Tel: 01323 482437 or visit: www.folkingtons.com
Blue Keld Springs have launched a new
bottle for the premium drinks market.
The stunning aquamarine bottle hold’s
750ml of Artesian natural mineral
water, drawn from an ancient artesian
well at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds.
The crystal clear water’s are fltered
natural over many years resulting in the
water being high in calcium and low in
sodium.
For more details; Tel: 01377 271207 or
visit: www.bluekeld.co.uk
16 / spring 2012 / host
Increase your ale sales with Ben Newmans favourite
ales and breweries. Hop to it.
Pulling Power
Purple Moose Brewery of
Porthmadog is launching a
brand new speciality beer
packed full of the foral aromas
of elderfower. At 4.0% ABV
Ysgawen (Welsh for elderfower)
is a particularly pale ale brewed
using a combination of Cascade
hops and dried elderfowers to
give a complex of distinctive
and complementary aromas and
favours to the beer.
The Cascade hop variety, grown
in the states of Washington
and Oregon, at the foot of the
Cascade Mountains, is renowned
for its powerful citrus and foral properties. Mixed
carefully with the dried British elderfowers and added
to the beer towards the end of the boiling process the
resulting aromatic fnish will have you coming back for
more.
For more details; Tel: 01766 515571 or visit
www.purplemoose.co.uk.
Purple Moose Box Steam Brewery
Box Steam Brewery was founded
in 2004 in Colerne, Wiltshire with
a 10 BBL brew plant and just two
fermenting vessels. To keep up with
demand, production increased year
on year, and in November 2011
the opportunity was seized to
relocate to new, much larger
premises in nearby Holt. At
a stroke, this move boosted
the brewery’s capacity from 65
hectolitres to a maximum of 400
hectolitres. Following a deal struck
with Carlsberg UK distribution, the
brewery’s beers are now available
throughout the UK, including its fag
ship bitter Tunnel Vision
For more details ; Tel:01225 782700 or visit:
www.boxsteambrewery.com
Consumer interest across the country in cask ales has seen the
Masham-based company brewing more beer than it has done for
many years, with a strong selection of seasonal ales and year-round
availability for the popular Lightfoot Ale.
Simon Theakston, Executive Director, says: “Increasing production
to meet demand is paying dividends and our on-trade customers
are benefting from a great range of quality ales. We will continue to
support the British pub trade through increased trade and consumer
advertising this year.”
For more details; Tel: 01765 680 000 or visit: www.theakstons.co.uk
T&R Theakston
16 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 17
Rudgate use the fnest malted
barley. Pearl being their
main base grist , their brews
include other malts such
as wheat, lager, crystal, chocolate, caramalt, roasted barley
and brown malts. Hops are sourced from around the globe.,
from countries as far afeld as England, America, New
Zealand, Slovenia and Germany. Originally sourced from
The Cannon Brewery Sheffeld, the Stones ale yeast works
extremely well for all their beers. Rudgates brewer’s choice
range makes up the other two seasonals which are paler
beers using hops rather than malts for favour and character.
For more details; Tel: 01423 358382 or visit:
www.rudgatebrewery.co.uk
Rudgate
Mc Mullen cask is inspired
from over 180 years of
brewing at The Whole Hop
Brewery. Styrian Goldings
added to English Fuggle hops
achieve a refreshingly well-
balanced combination.
The subtle biscuity favour
comes from pale ale and
amber malts. Mixed with
the citrus favours of these
hops, this creates a light
and refreshing ale that all
generations of ale drinkers
will enjoy.
For more details; Tel: 01992
584911 or visit:
www.mcmullens.co.uk
Hawkshead
Since 1928 Taylor`s
beers have won over
70 prestigious awards
with Landlord, the
company`s nationally
renowned pale ale that
was once described by
pop icon Madonna as the “Champagne of Ales”, winning more
prizes than any other beer. This includes the unique distinction
of being four times CAMRA Supreme Champion Beer of the
Year and four times Champion at the Brewers International
Exhibition.
Landlord is recognised as a refreshingly reliable, full drinking
English ale with a distinctive hoppy aroma. It has real “Pulling
Power” and stands out on any bar. This year, along with the
Queen, Landlord is also celebrating its Diamond Jubilee, having
frst been brewed in 1952.
For more details; Tel: 01535 691599 or visit:
www.timothytaylor.co.uk
Taylors
Hawkshead Brewery has
been brewing “traditional
beers with a modern
twist” in the English
Lake District since 2002
and at its present site at
Staveley, Cumbria since
2006. It is one of the new
wave of independent
breweries which have
revitalised British beer.
The brewery recently
expanded for the second
time in its ten year life and can now brew 8,000 barrels (1.3 million
litres) per year.
For more details; Tel: 01539 822644 or visit:
www.hawksheadbrewery.co.uk
McMullen
host / spring 2012 / 17
18 / spring 2012 / host
www.boxsteambrewery.com
At Box Steam Brewery we believe in the exacting standards of yesteryear.
Like the expertise and attention to detail that created age-defying
engineering marvels like Brunel’s Box Tunnel.
Our own quality control and meticulous methods mean that every pint
of our handcrafted beers is as flavoursome and characterful as the first
one. So your delight in them will last a lifetime.
2701 BOX_Generic_Ad_G_90x130_Layout 1 12/03/2012 11:50 Page 1
host / spring 2012 / 19
Amber Ales
Okells
The Black Sheep Brewery
was established in 1992
by Paul Theakston. Black
Sheep has always worked
hard to consistently
produce high quality
beer, only using the best raw materials: crystal clear dales water
from their own well, Maris Otter malted barley for extra ﬂavour,
some wheat to fortify the beers’ natural head, a little roasted malt
for colour and ﬂavour, and generous amounts of whole English
hops to make the beer really refreshing.
For more details; Tel: 01765 689227 or visit: www.
blacksheepbrewery.co.uk
Black Sheep
As the only beer from Royal
Windsor to commemorate
the Diamond Jubilee,
Kohinoor will be in big
demand. “It’s an IPA
with a twist – brewed
with jaggery, jasmine
and some cracking New
World hops” explained
top-rated Windsor &
Eton Brewery’s master
brewer Paddy Johnson, “It’ll
be a great-drinking beer for
summer events – after all they’ll
be serving it at Royal Ascot.”
For more details: 01753 854075 or visit:
www.webrew.co.uk
Windsor
Pulling Power
1850. It was the best of times…while Charles Dickens was
busy promoting his newly published book David Copperﬁeld,
Dr. William Okell opened his Steam Brewery in the Isle of
Man which set a new standard for innovation.
It is a standard that Okells’ Head Brewer, Dr. Mike
Cowbourne, continues today, along with another great Manx
tradition…Purity.
This started with the Isle of Man Brewing Purity Law in 1874,
forbidding the use of any ingredients other than malt, sugar,
hops, yeast and water. Today that standard, combined with Dr
Mike’s secret recipes, mean that Okells is a byword for pure
pleasure.
For more details, Tel: 01624 699 400 or visit: www.okells.co.uk
host / spring 2012 / 19
Amber Ales is a small
micro-brewery putting
Derbyshire’s Amber
Valley on the map both
locally and nationally
with a wide range of award
winning beers. Based in the
historic village of Pentrich,
near Ripley, the brewery was
established ﬁve years ago
by Peter & Jayn Hounsell to
create ‘classic style real ales
with a modern twist’. Their
most lauded beer ‘Chocolate
Orange’ is certainly that, a
dark stout created from a
unique blend of ﬁve malts,
imbued with vanilla and
orange and aged in the cask
for three months. Chocolate
Orange has been placed in
the prestigious CAMRA
‘Champion Speciality Beer of
Britain’ every year since 2009.
For more details, Tel:01773
512864 or visit:
www.amberales.co.uk
20 / spring 2012 / host
interview
men
motors
&
Si and Dave were both working on a ﬁlm set - Si as location man-
ager, Dave as prosthetics make-up artistwhen they ﬁrst met. It was
on a lunchtime break at The Egypt Cottage pub in Newcastle that an
enduring romance was born.
“That place was the initial landscape of our friendship,” Si chuckles.
“We bonded over our love of the pub grub and a good pint, while the
rest of the crew were sipping mineral water and nibbling on their
sandwiches.”
“Aye,” Dave chips in, “the Egypt’s where it all began. I used to come in
and see Si lashing into a chicken curry, with poppadoms and chutney
and I’d just say, ‘I’ll have what he’s having’. That was a great old spot.”
Fortunately for the rest of us, the pair decided it would be cruel to
keep private their adoration for all things culinary. Combine that with
a fondness for two wheelers, the open road and a ‘right place, right
time’ encounter with a BBC exec, and the result was The Hairy Bikers,
a sleeper hit phenomenon that the state broadcaster never expected
to make past the ﬁrst pilot episode.
After ﬁnding success with the initial show the duo founded a cult fol-
lowing with spin-off versions, all presented in a style that leant on the
effortless patter of the dearly departed Keith Floyd. And most recently,
they’ve been back on the road with Bakeation, which saw the pair hop
on their bikes and roar through the highways and byways of Central
Europe, stopping off for a little baking action on the way, as you do...
“We wanted to go on a big road trip,” Si explains. “For a number of
years we hadn’t been able to do that and we wanted to combine the
old Bikers with the best of the new.”
FAVOURITE SPOTS
So where were some of their favourite spots on the tour? “Norway,
where we started the trip, was totally fantastic,” Dave says. “And
because we hadn’t been before, it was new for both of us. Apart from
the great motorcycling; the food was brilliant and the baking, fantas-
tic. Austria and Germany were amazing, great food, cracking beer, and
ruddy good fun.
“We did the Hairy Bakers show a few years ago,” Si adds. “That was
only four half-hour programmes and a Christmas special, but it per-
formed very well, so I guess we had some unﬁnished baking business.”
Naturally the hirsute twosome must have stopped in some ﬁne water-
ing holes on the journey. “Some fantastic spots in Germany, up around
Bavaria naturally, where you get the giant beer glasses,” Dave says.
“There are some wonderful pubs along the Med in Italy and Spain, but
to be honest, none could match the wonder of a home brewer.”
“We’re proper British pub aﬁcionados,” laughs Si, a hearty chortle
accompanying his bold statement. “We didn’t get enough time on the
20 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 21
interview
The moment their eyes met over a
chicken curry in a crowded pub,
it was love at ﬁrst sight for Dave
Myers and Si King. Stephen
Milton meets and chats with The
Hairy Bikers
trip anyway and you need meandering hours and space to fully ap-
preciate the splendour of the pub.”
So where would be a Hairy hangout for the lads? “Mine’s the Prince of
Wales in Foxﬁeld,” Dave says. “It’s a great spot near to me, and one of
those places that’s as simple as they come - great ale, a dog snoozing
by the ﬁre, and a mellow atmosphere for a bit of chat and solidarity.”
Si jumps in: “That’s exactly what I’m after too when I go to a pub.
Somewhere you can have a sit down and a proper conversation with
real beer - nothing beats it. They’re the pubs that are doing well these
days. Seemingly, less is more. People are coming back to a simpler pub
and the age of the fancy bar is drawing to an end. Serving a good
range of local and continental beers is again becoming the most im-
portant thing... maybe a bit of nice grub, but I don’t think food’s that
important really, and that’s coming from a chef! At the end of the day,
people want a pub with an atmosphere where you can just sit down
and drink beer, without having to be constantly told how apparently
‘cool’ the place is.
“And my favourite is The Fox and Hounds, near Greenside. I’ve been
going there for years now - it’s the home away from home.”
“That’s a great place, Si,” Dave chimes in, “he’s taken me there a few
times.”
TOP TIPPLES
And what’s the favourite tipple to whet the whistles of this tradition-
alist pairing? “You can’t go wrong with a good beer,” Dave says. “I’m
up in Cumbria and there are 20 odd breweries, so the choice is radical.
Some brews are good, some are bad but there are plenty of crackers.”
“If I haven’t said it often enough, mine would be Working Ticket,” Si
offers, “which is from the Jennings Brothers up in Cockermouth, Cum-
bria. It’s a lovely, hoppy, fruity infusion. You can’t beat it.
“There’s another in Cumbria called the Hard Knott brewery,” Dave says,
“and they make Infra Red. That’s top notch.”
So an appreciation of beer is qualiﬁed, but how do the duo feel the
modern pub can improve and stay competitive in these challenging
economic times? “Like I said earlier,” Si states, “pare in down, make it
simple. It’s completely coming back to the traditional pub. These fancy
bars aren’t even doing well in the cities, let alone the country, so just
them and get back to the traditional mould.”
“Couldn’t agree more”, Dave adds. “It all needs to get back to basics
really. Oh, and always allow dogs in the pub. No dog, no atmosphere. I
always need some canine presence in my watering hole!”
host / spring 2012 / 21
22 / spring 2012 / host
SHAKEN
STIRRED
{
and
}
22 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 23
L
The thought of conjuring up cocktails on a regular basis can be a daunting
prospect for licenses and staff in the pub trade – but it’s probably easier
than it ﬁrst appears, says Nigel Huddlestone
Want to offer your clientele a range of cocktails? Well for a start,
there’s no need for all that juggling and throwing of bottles and
shakers, which is purely for Tom Cruise in the ﬁlm Cocktail and show-
offs in the less reﬁned style bars.
There’s also little need to invest in lots of specialist equipment. A
line-up of attractive and tasty long, mixed, spirit-based drinks can be
created with minimal use of shakers, strainers and cocktail spoons if
you want it that way.
Arguably the most common cocktail on on-trade menus at the
moment is the Mojito, which requires gently smashing and grinding
together mint leaves, sugar and lime juice with an implement known
as a muddler.
IN THE MIX
Ready-made cocktail mixes such as the Funkin range allow busy pubs
to bypass those sorts of time-consuming processes by simply adding
the mix to the relevant spirit.
If you are feeling more adventurous and want to make your own
mixes, purées and syrups for cocktails you can save service time by
prepping these up in advance, just as you might for aspects of the
food menu in the kitchen.
If even this sounds like it could stretch you, there are plenty of
simple spirit mixer serves with a twist which can be marketed as
cocktails for extra margin. The only proviso is that they have to look
and taste the part, to justify the price.
This means using quality spirits, juices, mixers and fruit – and serving
drinks with attractive garnishes, plenty of ice as required and good-
looking glassware.
Mark Collins, marketing controller for breakout brands at First Drinks,
whose portfolio includes Disaronno, Sailor Jerry rum and Monkey
Shoulder whisky, says: “A lot of the growth in cocktails is being
driven by women consumers who are getting a little bit tired of wine
and moving on.
“It’s ﬁltering down into pubs and high street bars and it a great way
of driving incremental spend.”
Collins says the key is keeping it simple and listing drinks that you
know staff can produce well.
“You also need to publicise your offering either with a list on the
table or with a very basic chalkboard,” he advises.
“We know that a lot of people don’t have any idea what they’re going
to order when they go into a pub and up to the bar so attracting
their attention with a cocktail list can drive extra spend.”
SIMPLE SERVE
Collins suggests a simple serve such as the Monkey Buck, which is
30ml of Monkey Shoulder whisky, 10ml of lime juice, ginger ale and a
splash of Angostura bitters, with a couple of lime wedges.
“It’s a drink that will give you something a little bit different form the
competition but which isn’t over-complicated for staff.
“We provide staff training which can help outlets make the most of
the opportunity and we have online resources with lots of ideas for
cocktails, as do many of our competitors.”
Marblehead Brand Development has worked on simple serves for
both its Kraken spiced rum and Zubrowka Polish vodka.
“The pub industry needs to focus on a few simple signature serves
to get people to trade-up,” says Steward. “The difﬁcult thing with
cocktails in pubs is to make sure you get consistency, either time-
after-time in the same pub, or for the same drink from pub-to-pub.
Even if customers are willing to pay a little bit more to try a cocktail,
they won’t be prepared to do the same a second time if it’s no good.
He adds: “A lot of pubs are also a bit worried about the word cocktail
so if they are they should just call it a long drink – cocktails don’t
need to be called cocktails as long as the are served well and justify
the extra margin.”
SHAKEN
24 / spring 2012 / host
Cristos UK Ltd
Tel: 020 8951 4884
[email protected]
host / spring 2012 / 25
Babicka Blush
Babicka Blush
40mls Babicka Wormwood Vodka
20ml Cassis
20ml Lime Juice

•
Mix ingredients together and top up with
Prosseco.Garnish with berries, orange, limes
and grapefruit zest.
Earl Grey Martini
6 Earl Grey tea bags
180ml Babicka Wormwood Vodka
8 ice cubes
4 large lemons , 3 juiced, 1 cut into wedges
120ml sugar syrup

•
Steep the tea bags in the Babicka Wormwood
Vodka for 10 minutes. Strain and put in a cocktail
shaker on top of the ice cubes. Pour in the
lemon juice and 120ml of syrup. Shake and pour
into 2 cocktail glasses, rub the edge of the glass
with a lemon wedge.
Babicka Breeze
50mls Babicka Wormwood Vodka
60 mls Cranberry Juice.
30 mls Apple Juice.
Elderfower Cordial – dash.

•
Build ingredients over ice into
a highball glass.Garnsih with
2 lime wedges.
Breakfast Martini
30mls Babicka Wormwood Vodka
10mls Cointreau.
60mls Grapefruit juice.
20mls Fresh Orange juice.
1 barspoon of marmalade.

•
Shake/Strain very well and strain
and garnish with an orange twist.
The Host Cocktail List
The only challenge when it comes
to cocktails is quality, Ben Newman
recommend his favourite cocktails
for the summer months.
{ }
The Drinks
26 / spring 2012 / host
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*Prices quoted are exclusive of VAT and subject to survey
In fact, we’ve
won so many
awards we’re
fnding it diffcult
to close the door
on the Trophy Cabinet at
The House of Angostura. The most
recent addition to our ever growing
collection is seven Gold medals
which we picked up at this year’s
Spirits Business Rum Masters 2012 and,
to celebrate, we’re going to buy
a new, bigger, trophy cabinet.
These awards, which are judged by a panel
of leading spirits experts and bar profes-
sionals are internationally recognised and
attract entries from some of the world’s
most respected global brands.
Angostura’s international rum range
won five gold medals for the unique,
smooth taste of our rums. We won
an additional two gold medals
for our beautiful new packaging for
1919 and 1824. A new icon in rum
packaging? We’ll let you decide.
host / spring 2012 / 27
Vodka Gimlet
1 tsp fresh lime juice, plus 2 pieces lime zest
50ml/2f oz Babicka Wormwood Vodka
50ml/2f oz lime cordial
•
Place the lime juice and zest, vodka and lime
cordial into a mixing glass and add a handful of
ice. Stir well and strain the cocktail into a Martini
glass.
Perfect Manhattan
2 oz Ben Nevis whisky
½ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz dry vermouth
2 dashes of orange bitters
Lemon twist, for garnish.

•
Stir the liquid ingredients with ice and strain
into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the
twist.
Old Fashioned
1 sugar cube
3 dashes Angostura bitters
club soda
2 ounces Ben Nevis whisky

•
Place the sugar cube (or 1/2 teaspoon loose
sugar) in an Old-Fashioned glass. Wet it down
with 2 or 3 dashes of Angostura bitters and a
short splash of water or club soda. Crush the
sugar with a wooden muddler, chopstick, strong
spoon, lipstick, cartridge case, whatever. Rotate
the glass so that the sugar grains and bitters
give it a lining. Add a large ice cube. Pour in
whisky.Serve with a stirring rod.
Sore Loser
1 oz Ben Nevis whisky
1 oz creme de peche
.75 oz Amontillado sherry
1 tsp Pernod
1 dash Angostura bitters

•
Stir ingredients together with ice and strain
over fresh, large ice cubes in an old-fashioned
glass. Garnish with a large orange twist.
Twisted Whisky Sour
45ml Tennessee Whisky
20ml lime juice
15ml Sugar syrup
30ml Orange juice
2/3 drops of Aromatic Bitters

•
Take a mixing tin flled 3/4th with ice, add
whisky, lime juice, sugar syrup, orange juice,
bitters. Shake. Serve in a champagne tulip.
Garnish with a slice of orange or a cherry.
Angostura Storm
1 oz Angostura Rum
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz double strength ginger syrup
3 oz club soda

•
Shake Rum, lime juice, and ginger syrup.
Strain over fresh ice in a collins glass, top with
club soda, stir, and garnish with lime.
Angostura Rum Mojito
1.5 oz Angostura Rum
12 fresh mint leaves
1/2 lime
7 oz club soda
2 tbsp. simple syrup
(or 4 tsp. sugar)

•
In a tall glass muddle mint with the sugar /
syrup, then pour in rum and soda. Top up with
lime.
Tropical Highball
1 1/2 oz Angostura rum
2 - 3 dashes Angostura bitters
4 oz ginger ale

•
Build over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with
a lemon wedge, and serve.
Margarita
2 measures of Tequila
1 measure of Cointreau
½ measure Lime juice

•
Prepare the cocktail glass by rubbing lime
juice all the way around the edge of the glass and
place on a saucer of salt to achieve the salted
rim effect. Then add the Tequila, Cointreau and
lime juice into a cocktail shaker full of ice and
shake well together. Strain into the cocktail
glass.
Gin Bloody Mary
2 oz Gin
Dash of Lemon juice (or lime)
dash of Worcestershire sauce
2 or 3 drops Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce

•
Over ice in a tall glass add tomato juice, Wortershire,
lemon juice, then Gin.
Fill with Tomato juice & Stir, Garnish with Celery stick &
Lime wedge. If you’re feeling like making your cocktail a
bit more substantial, garnish with a shrimp!!
28 / spring 2012 / host
THE PERFECT WAY
For many people, the perfect way to end a meal is a liqueur.
Richard Berndes looks at some of the classic and also some of the
more extravagant ways to enjoy a post meal aperitif and includes a
few post dinner facts that are fun to share with your guests.
Amaretto
Amaretto has artistic origins - In 1525, a
Saronno church commissioned artist Ber-
nardino Luini, one of Leonardo da Vinci’s
pupils, to paint their sanctuary. As the
church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary,
Luini needed to depict the Madonna, but
was in need of a model. He found his in-
spiration in a young widowed innkeeper,
who became his model. Out of gratitude
the woman wished to give him a gift. Her
simple means did not permit much, so
she steeped apricot kernels in brandy and
presented the resulting concoction, the
forefather of Amaretto, to Luini
Chartreuse
Chartreuse is an herbal liqueur produced by
Carthusian monks in the French Alps. With
almost 400 years of history, Chartreuse is one of
the oldest and most mysterious spirits still avail-
able. Only three monks from the order know the
secret recipe, each hold one third of that recipe
and all have taken a vow of silence, so the secret
recipe is kept safely. The liqueur was originally
created as an “Elixir of Long Life” in 1605 by
Peres Chartreux. The formula was perfected
over the years and by 1737 the liqueur was
released to the world in a form that is close to
what we drink today.
Cointreau
Cointreau was created by the brothers
Adolphe and Edouard-Jean Cointreau in
1849. It is a triple sec famous for its or-
ange ﬂavour which comes form its unique
blend of sweet and bitter oranges. In fact
the ﬁrm sources it’s oranges from places
all around the world including Spain, Brazil
and Haiti and Ghana
Over 13 million bottles are sold every year
and over 90% are exported from France.
IN fact Cointreau makes up 25% of the
French liqueur market. The production
methods and recipe are a family secret,
but tours of the distillery are open to the
public. Photography is restricted in many
areas to protect the production process
from being copied.
It’s a little known fact that the family go to
great lengths to protect the secret recipe.
Only 3 members of the Cointreau family
know the recipe and the 3 of them never
travel together so if disaster struck the
brand can continue!
to end a meal???
host / spring 2012 / 29
THE PERFECT WAY
Chambord
Chambord is a premium, all-natural
black raspberry liqueur produced in
the Loire Valley, south of Paris, France.
It is rich, lush and sweet made ﬂa-
vored with raspberries and blackber-
ries in a Cognac and other French
spirits base.
The bottle has the look of a royal orb
with a crown on the top. This goes
back to the legend that it was intro-
duced to Louis XIV and became his
favourite after dinner drink.
Crème De Menthe
Crème de menthe is a mint-ﬂavored liqueur that is very sweet and is avail-
able in both white and green versions. Like other crème liqueurs, it is not
creamy like “cream” liqueurs, but “crème” refers to a higher amount of sugar
that is used. Its ﬂavor is primarily derived from Corsican mint.
In Ian Fleming’s Thunderball, a crème de menthe frappé (with a maraschino
cherry on top) is Emilio Largo’s favorite drink.
Drambuie
Drambuie ‘s origins have royal pedigree.
After the Battle of Culloden in 1746,
Prince Charles Edward Stuart ﬂed to
the island of Skye. There, he was given
sanctuary by Captain John MacKinnon
of Clan MacKinnon. According to family
legend, after staying with the captain,
the prince rewarded him with this prized
drink recipe. The legend holds that the
recipe was then given in the late 19th
century by Clan MacKinnon to James
Ross. Ross ran the Broadford Hotel on
Skye, where he developed and improved
the recipe, initially for his friends and
then later to patrons in the 1870s. It
was one of these friends who coined the
name. Ross then sold it further aﬁeld,
eventually to France and the United
States.
Goldschlager
Goldschläger is a Swiss cinnamon schnapps, a
liqueur with very thin, yet visible ﬂakes of gold
leaf ﬂoating in it. The actual amount of gold
is extremely small and could be considered
novelty: there is currently less than a tenth of a
gram (0.1 g) of gold ﬂakes in a 750 mL bottle of
Goldschläger, which, as of November 23, 2011,
amounts to about 5.97 USD on the international
gold market.[
Despite being ﬁrst produced in Switzerland
during the 1990s, Goldschläger is a product
of Italy and the brand is owned by Diageo. The
German word Goldschläger designates the
profession of gold leaf makers, who beat bars of
gold into micrometre-thin sheets.
Goldschlager
to end a meal???
Kahlua
Kahlúa is a Mexican coffee-ﬂavored
rum-based liqueur. It is dense and
sweet, with the distinct taste of cof-
fee, from which it is made. Kahlúa
also contains sugar, corn syrup and
vanilla bean.
The name found worldwide fame
when it was quoted as the essential
ingredient in a White Russian cock-
tail in the ﬁlm ‘The Bog Lebowski.’
30 / spring 2012 / host
Heading
South
host / spring 2012 / 31
Some people still perceive real ale drinkers as having a
northern, working class, fat cap and whippet stereotype.
But the truth is, as Pete Brown points out ,more cask ale gets
drunk in London and the southeast than any other region.
32 / spring 2012 / host
L
London has always been full of real ale pubs, but until very
recently the number of brewers in the city was something of an
embarrassment – we were down to merely two at one point – an
incomprehensible state of affairs for the biggest city in the country.
But one good thing about the credit crunch (perhaps the only one) is
that commercial property became cheaper just as the craft brewing
scene was taking off. There are now more than twenty breweries
in the capital alone, and we could quite easily spend the whole of
this piece just talking about London. But that would miss out some
legendary and exciting up and coming brewers in East Anglia, Kent,
Sussex, and Berkshire.
Capital Gains
But London is a good place to start. Arguably the region’s best-known
brewer is Fuller’s, London’s oldest brewer now Young’s has departed.
In many ways Fuller’s is the model for how a reasonably sized regional
should behave. Their core range of Chiswick (3.5%), London Pride
(4.1%), Discovery (3.9%) and ESB (5.6%) is perfect – each beer has a
role within the portfolio, each complementing the
other. And beyond that, the stronger and more
esoteric bottled range offers beers that are
genuinely different, in many ways rivalling
the most experimental microbrewers, but
also bringing the professional attitude
of a large, long-established brewer
to such experiments as ageing beers
in whisky and rum barrels (Brewers
Reserve) and creating Vintage Ales that
now have an unbroken 15 year lineage,
allowing us to explore how beer changes over time.
After Young’s left London in 2006, the only real rival to Fuller’s inside
the M25 was Meantime, down in Greenwich. Such is the recent
pace of growth in London brewing that a brewery that was only
founded in 1999 now feels like an old timer. Head brewer Alastair
Hook trained in Germany and is Britain’s foremost expert on real
lagers. Meantime has a range of these, among which Helles (4.4%) is
particularly worth checking out. But beyond that, Meantime were the
pioneers of this year’s hottest beer conversation: a format that’s been
termed, for better or worse, ‘craft keg’. Meantime have been making
non-cask conditioned quality beers for years. Styles such as their
faithful recreations of London Porter (6.5%) and India Pale Ale (7.4%)
arguably work better in this format than they would on cask, and are
outstanding in bottle. On the bar, London Pale Ale (4.3%) is a fresh,
premium, ﬂavourful alternative to tired old ‘smoothﬂow’ brands and
mainstream standard lagers.
Following in Meantime’s footsteps is Camden Town Brewery. Founded
in 2010, their keg beers have proved so popular that demand long
since outstripped supply, to such an extent that Camden can now
only brew enough beer to supply long-standing accounts. It’s worth
getting your name on the waiting list though. Their Hells Lager
(4.8%) Wheat Beer (5%) and particularly the Pale Ale (4.5%) are crisp,
refreshing and ﬂavourful, each a great example of the style and a
dizzying smack in the kisser for anyone who thinks great beer can only
be in cask.
Heading Out
Finally heading out of the capital on the M4, we ﬁnd Windsor &
Eton Brewery. Once again founded in 2010, this is a very different
animal from the hip micros founded by ambitious home brewers and
young hipsters. There are years of industry experience here, and it
shows – there’s seemingly nothing this brewery can’t do brilliantly.
Regular beers such as Knight of the Garter, a golden ale at 3.8%,
and Guardsman (4.2%), a traditional best bitter, rub shoulders with
experimental beers such as Conqueror, a 5% ‘Black IPA’ that perplexes
beer style purists but delights those who just enjoy fantastic-tasting
beers. Then, in a recent side-by-side tasting I attended, Republika
(4.8% ABV), the brewery’s ﬁrst lager, stomped all over a couple
of quite respectable German imports.
With so many exciting new breweries, it’s important not to
forget some more established names in the region. Suffolk
may not be everyone’s idea of the southeast, but I’m a
northerner and anything below the Wash is southeast
to me. And Suffolk is home to Adnams, one of
Britain’s best-loved brewers. From Southwold Bitter
(3.7%) to the legendary Broadside (4.7%) the core
range covers all bases. But the seasonal beers such
as summer’s wonderful Regatta (4.3%) and winter’s
Old Ale (4.1%), brewed to a recipe from 1890, mean
there’s always something new to look forward to.
On top of that, head brewer Fergus Fitzgerald has
been stretching the range with bold new ideas since
he took over in 2009. Solebay Celebratory Beer
(10%), brewed in 2009 and then aged for a year to
commemorate 350 years of brewing in Southwold, is
beer doing champagne better than champagne can.
Sussex Success
Being a northerner, I often get Suffolk and Sussex mixed
up, which is always annoying for people who live there.
But happily, each has a legendary old brewery still turning
out beers that inspire. In Suffolk – sorry, I mean Sussex
host / spring 2012 / 33
Hepworth’s
Horsham’s brewery for eleven years, are proud of their
range of ales in keg, cask and bottle. They emphasise the
quality of ingredients, sourcing within Sussex . “Organic
barley is grown to our speciﬁcations” says Andy Hepworth
“and our hops are award winners in their own right. Just
add the 100 years of brewing experience within our team
and you can’t go wrong!”
Hepworth’s have won numerous awards for their ales:
Sussex 3.5%, Pullman 4.2%, Iron Horse 4.8%, Prospect
4.5%, Supreme Champion stout Conqueror, 4.5%. and
organic lager Blonde 5%
“It’s a ﬁne range “says Andy “and don’t forget the
seasonals...!”
For more details Tel 01403 269696 or visit
www.hepworthbrewery.co.uk
Curious Beers
Beers made with a winemaking twist by winemakers and
brewers with a real passion for beers with taste.
Curious Brew – A small batch crafted beer brewed made
with care, precision and passion. The result is more
fragrant, less gassy, cleaner, easier drinking, drier and more
refreshing than any other beer we have tried. Available in
33cl bottles or on draft in 30 litre kegs.
Curious IPA – We have blended three great hops to create
a classic IPA, bottled conditioned at 5.6abv it’s a big,
beautifully balanced beer.
Curious Porter – A beautiful nutty black beer, bottle
conditioned at 5.0% abv, it’s a dark deliciously drinkable
but distinctive brew.
Contact Patrick Thompson on tel: 01580 763033 or
[email protected] for more details
– that brewery is Harvey’s of Lewes. The brewery deﬁnes the town,
sitting on the river that runs through it and creating a tasty tourist
attraction. Like all the other brewers featured here, Harvey’s brews a
wide and intriguing range of beers. But with the space available I have
to eulogise just one of them – Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%). On
paper it’s a straightforward best bitter, brewed with the same quality
hops and barley as countless other examples of the style. But this is
one that seems to hold a special place in drinkers’ hearts. Like Timothy
Taylor Landlord further north and Batham’s in the Midlands, it attracts
fanatical devotion – it just seems to rise above the style and the sum of
its parts to provide a truly special drinking experience that devotees will
swap pubs for.
Levels Of Devotion
Just down the road in Horsham is a brewery that attracts similar levels
of devotion, albeit with a highly contrasting approach. Dark Star was
one of the ﬁrst breweries in the UK to take on some of the ideas (and
hops) being championed by craft breweries in the US. Their lead brand
Hophead (3.8%) is approaching the same divine status as Harvey’s Best,
combining a tingling hoppy punch with sublime sessionability. It’s the
kind of beer you start a session with, intending to switch, but end up
staying with all evening. And if you like its hoppy character, you’ll just
love new launch Revelation (5.7%), a far more muscular version which is
simply a hymn to the hop.
This is ﬁtting really, given that Dark Star is just a short drive from the
hop garden of England. But smack in the centre of Kent’s fabled garden
is Westerham. This small micro has really made a name for itself since
setting up shop in 2004, brewing a range of award-winning traditional
Kentish bitters such as British Bulldog, a full-bodied best bitter at 4.3%,
and golden ale Summer Perle (3.8%). The brewery has also done a great
deal to preserve and revive hop cultivation in the county.
Back down the road in Horsham, Dark Star’s neighbours Hepworths are
following the theme of diversifying from a core portfolio of reliable cask
ales. Conqueror Sussex Stout (4.5%) was recently named Champion
Craft Beer in Keg at the National SIBA awards, and provides a more
ﬂavourful, luxurious alternative to Guinness. At the other end of the
spectrum, Sussex Blonde (5%) is an English lager (brewed with English
barley and hops, but German lager yeast). It’s a refreshing, citrusy
alternative for those who actually like their lager to taste of something.
Our ﬁnal southeast brewer is somewhat better known as a wine maker.
Chapel Down wines in Kent have overturned the notion that British
wine has to be ropey, and should be gracing the top end of every British
pub’s wine list. But the company’s CEO, Frazer Thompson, had a long
career in beer before he took over the reins, and has been unable to
leave it completely behind. Curious Brew is a range of three beers from
the winery, each of which has the touch of a wine maker’s inﬂuence.
Cobb IPA (5.6%) and Admiral Porter (5%) are only available in bottles,
but those bottles look as classy as any modern wine. Curious Brew Brut
(5%) is also available on draught. A lager fermented with French wine
yeast, it has a softer, mousse-like ﬁzz than other lagers, and a look, feel
and taste that screams premiumness in an increasingly commoditised
corner of the beer market.
Flavoursome Alternatives
I’ve focused quite heavily in this regional review on craft keg ales and
British lagers. That’s not to say there aren’t some amazing traditional
cask ales here – there are more than we could possibly ﬁt into this
piece. But brewers in the south east are pushing the frontiers of what
we think of as quality British beers, and are capable of providing every
type of beer you need on the bar and in the fridge, not just on the
handpumps. In and around the nation’s capital, there’s never been a
better time to explore the local brew.
34 / spring 2012 / host
www.chapeldown.com
A range of three original and distinctive
bottled beers and one premium
draught lager from Chapel Down;
England’s leading winemaker.
For further information contact
Patrick Tompson on 01580 763033
or email [email protected]
Supreme
Champion!
The Beer Station, The Railway Yard, Nightingale Road, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 2NW
tel: 01403 269696 | email: [email protected]
www.hepworthbrewery.co.uk
Fine cask ales
still brewed in the
traditional, time
honoured way.
TIMOTHY TAYLOR
CHAMPIONSHIP BEERS
Timothy Taylor & Co Ltd, Knowle Spring Brewery,
Keighley, West Yorkshire BD21 1AW. Tel: 01535 603139 Fax: 01535 691167
www.timothytaylor.co.uk
PERFECT
PARTNERS
It’s Landlord’s Diamond Jubilee too!
A gem of a beer, craft brewed
since 1952
8365 TT A5 Diamond Jubilee Ad.indd 1 22/3/12 10:05:23
host / spring 2012 / 35
Host
Recommended
Beer
Festivals
May - June
2012
39th Cambridge
Beer Festival
Monday 21/05/2012 to
Saturday 26/05/2012
Jesus Green
Cambridge
Thurrock Beer
Festival
Tuesday 22/05/2012 to
Saturday 26/05/2012
Thurrock Civic Hall
Blackshots Lane
Grays
Harwich Juberlee
Thursday 31/05/2012 to
Saturday 02/06/2012
Kingsway Hall
Dovercourt
13th Chappel
Cider Festival
Friday 01/06/2012 to Sunday
03/06/2012
Chappel & Wakes
Colne Station
Essex
4th Gibberd
Garden Beer
Festival
Saturday 16/06/2012 to
Sunday 17/06/2012
The Gibberd Garden
Marsh Lane
Old Harlow
2nd Beckenham
Beer & Cider
Festival
Thursday 07/06/2012 to
Saturday 09/06/2012
Beckenham Rugby Club
Balmoral Avenue
Beckenham
Meantime Brewing is throwing open the doors of
the biggest new brewery to open in London since
1936 to the public to share London’s brewing
history, give visitors a behind-the-scenes view of
beer-making and offering an opportunity to taste
a variety of beers, all made on-site in Greenwich.
The new Meantime Brewery Visitors’ Centre and
Tasting Room will offer daily tutored tastings
to offer the public a taste of Meantime’s ﬁnest
brews. There will also be an opportunity to
sample a selection of beers alongside a tasting
menu of matched dishes made on-site from
locally-sourced produce.
Daily tours of the brewery by professional
guides will take visitors behind-the-scenes of
beer-making, show the different kinds of beers
available and demonstrate how they are made
– from refreshing lagers and Pilsners to Wheat
beers and Stouts to deep Amber Ales and London
Porter.
Guides will talk about how the combination of
different hop varieties and malted grains can
produce such a wide range of beer-styles and go
through the whole beer-making process, from
the arrival of the raw materials to tapping a pint
in the on-site bar.

Classic Brewery Tour
When: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 6.30 pm.
Saturday at 2.00 pm
Cost: £15 in advance, £18 on the day
Tour Duration: 2.5 hours with 3 sampled half
pints

Pie and a Pint Night
When: Fridays at 6.30 pm (also available as
a pre-booked group tour on Thursday and
Saturdays)
Cost: £30 per person
Tour Duration: 2.5 hours with 3 half pints
sampled during the tour
Food: the tour is followed by a Meantime Pie and
mash with a paired pint of Meantime beer

Bespoke Food Tasting Tours
When: Thursdays and Saturdays at 6.30 pm
(other times available upon request)
Cost: £30 per person
Tour Duration: 2.5 hours with 3 sampled half
pints during the tour
Food: the tour is followed by either a three
course menu matched with samples of Meantime
Beers or a ﬁve-canapé tasting menu, each
matched with a Meantime Beer

The Meantime Brewery is located on Blackwall
Lane, Greenwich, London, SE10 0AR
To book a brewery tour and tutored tasting, go
to www.meantimebrewing.com/tours or call 020
8293 1111 or email enquiries to brewerytours@
meantimebrewing.com
Tours of new brewery will take public behind the scenes
of beer-making and offer tutored tastings to explore the
brave new world of craft brewing
Meantime opens the doors
on London’s best new
beer-based attraction
36 / spring 2012 / host
Lotta
Ben Newman
recommends
his six favourite
bottled beers
Jaipur
A winner of 100+ national and international
awards in cask, keg and bottle Jaipur’s medals
mark this out as something special. The
immediate impression is soft and smooth but
building to a crescendo of massive hoppiness
accentuated by honey. A dangerously drinkable
wonderful IPA.
For more details; Tel: 01629 64 1000
Affigem
The Affigem Abbey was founded in 1074 by 6
knights determined to adopt a monastic lifestyle.
Though the Affigem range is now brewed outside
the Abbey grounds in nearby Opwijk, a deep respect
for nearly 1000 years of beer-making tradition still
remains. Affigem Blond (6.8% ABV) is light gold
in colour with a lively, welcoming nose and lemony,
hoppy and even some spicy undertones on the
palate.
Group For more details; Tel: 0845 070 4310
Bitter & Twisted
Harviestouns B&T has a superb hop profle combining
aromatic Hallertau Hersbrűcker with spicy Challenger,
fnished by late hopping with Styrian Goldings giving
sharpness like the twist of a lemon.
B&T has won awards home and abroad, bottled with less
carbon dioxide results in a more natural tasting beer.
For more details; Tel: 01259 769100
Bottle
host / spring 2012 / 37
Paradox Jura
Paradox Jura, a 15% imperial stout, pours
a rich black colour with a light brown head.
On the nose there are roasted malts, bitter
chocolate, coffee and some peat aromas,
imparted from the Jura casks. The favour
is full bodied and deep, with sweetness that
is in a direct paradox with the peat and oak
form the cask. The long fnish has hints of
bitter chocolate and roasted malts, with a
fantastic blend of stout and soothing heat
from the alcohol.
For more details; Tel: 01346 519 009
Brains Dark
With powerful credentials founded on more than a
century of Welsh brewing, ‘Dark’ is treacle-coloured
with a creamy contrasting head. A velvety smooth pint
brewed with chocolate malts to provide a clean palate
with hints of liquorice and freshly ground coffee.
For more details; Tel: 0845 6217990
Bitburger Pilsner
Brewed in Bitburg, Germany since 1817,
tradition and perfection are what make this
Premium lager so special. At 4.8% Abv,
Bitburger is bursting with refreshment and
favour.
In accordance with the German Purity Law of
1516, Bitburger’s unsurpassable quality, unique
favour and natural freshness come from only the
fnest four ingredients – carefully selected spring
barley, pure, crystal clear water of the Eifel, and
the fnest locally grown dry hops and yeast from
their own pure culture sources.
For more details; Tel: 01502 727200
38 / spring 2012 / host
When the sun decides to emerge and the grey skies of winter
become scarce, summertime with a glass of beer in a pub
garden is the height of sensory pleasure. Adrian Tierney Jones
looks at ways to boost your profts in the great outdoors.
W
Whether the soundtrack is the soft murmur of conversation
interspersed with the occasional giggles of children (well-behaved
of course) enjoying lunch with mum and dad or a musical combo
offering up merry melodies adjacent to the fower-beds, a pub with an
outside area and garden can make a good living when the sun puts its
hat on.
For many licensees it’s a real fnancial windfall, as Kenny McDonald,
landlord of the Bridge in the Exmoor town of Dulverton, relates:
‘On a hot summer day the outside area can account for 90% of
our takings.’ Over at the Red Lion in the pretty Wiltshire town of
Cricklade, landlord Tom Gee murmurs his agreement: ‘A good outdoor
environment doubles your turnover and so proportionately increases
your proftability.’
All this means it’s a no brainer to make the outdoor area as
welcoming and inviting to customers as much as possible. However,
it’s not as simple as putting out a few tables and chairs along with the
odd branded umbrella. After the drabness of winter, the outdoor area
needs to be spruced up while thoughts should be given to what sort
of customers you want to see relaxing outside.
Whose branded umbrellas do you want? What about outdoor heaters
for cool evenings and maybe the kiddies’ play area needs a bit of a
spring clean? Flower-beds cry out for a touch of the Alan Titchmarsh,
while you must decide what sort of food offerings will bring the
crowds in — barbecues, paella cook-outs or maybe a beer festival with
spit-roast suckling pig. Whatever you choose, get it right and you’ll
see that wonderful equation: people + the outdoor area = proft.
38 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 39
First impressions
‘The front of the pub is the frst thing a customer sees and a bit of
good-quality furniture can help with frst impressions,’ says Nick
Barnicoat from Tabula (www.tabula.co.uk), a company that specialises
in outdoor furniture for the pub industry. ‘We have a number of
clients who have found that putting a pair of tables, together with
good-quality parasols, makes a big difference and can really lift the
look of a pub. Secondly, it is worth thinking about the relatively small
cost of equipping a garden with furniture against the high price of
interior refurbishment. If you get well-built outdoor furniture, a few
weeks of good weather will see it paid for and it will increase your
capacity for a small investment.’
For the Red Lion’s Tom Gee getting the outdoor area right it’s a case
of looking around and seeing what sort of wear and tear the winter
has left him to deal with. ‘I always ensure that the garden is looking
its best and renovate the lawn area ready for the stampede. We use
a contractor who comes once a month to keep on top of it; it would
be very easy to forget about the gardening however it is a very visual
point of the business. We also check all furniture for weather damage
and repair as necessary.’
Being situated in a rural area and a town that has won plaudits from
Britain in Bloom has obviously helped the Red Lion with its outdoor
visual appeal. But what if you are in a city? Whether it’s London,
Sheffeld or Manchester, this doesn’t mean that you cannot create
an outdoor area that briefy transports the customer for their city
environment.
host / spring 2012 / 39
40 / spring 2012 / host
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Host Magazine Spring 2012.pdf 1 2012-04-22 23:32:28
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host / spring 2012 / 41
The style of your establishment needn’t be a worry either. Modern,
Retro, Country or Themed, these styles can all be accompanied by an
outdoor space in a similar style. Andy Thornton (www.andythornton.
com) has been supplying furniture and accessories for over 35 years and
can supply everything from benches and garden furniture to fountains,
garden antiques, gazebos and sculptures. No matter what budget or size
of outdoor space you have, a few well chosen accessories can turn your
outdoor space into a practical and extra revenue generating area. Check
out Andy Thornton’s outdoor furniture range for 2012.
Over at the award-winning Bricklayer’s Arms in Putney, landlady
Rebecca Newman makes sure that her pub garden is right for summer.
‘For a start, I start hassling breweries to take away their empties so
I have a little space to set out my tables. I have a garden paved with
lovely York stone so I tend to go for robust benches/tables/chairs that
can withstand the wobble factor. I have a beautiful honeysuckle and the
fragrance is just gorgeous on those warm summer nights. I also planted
passionﬂower and clematis for their glorious blue. The talking point in
the garden, however, is undoubtedly the bird boxes that I have on the
west wall of the pub. The customers love watching the comings and
goings of the ﬂedglings.’
Newman shows foresight in the way she blends in a sense of nature
with a sound approach towards her furniture. The latter is something
else the licensee must get right and once more it’s about what sort of
customers to attract. If you get more families, then there is a need to
make sure that they feel their children are safe, though it also has to be
impressed on them that the outdoor area is not a playground.
AL FRESCO
Get the environment right and people will want to linger. When people
linger, they get hungry and it goes without saying that getting the
right sort of food is an essential aspect of pub al-fresco life. First of all
there’s the barbeque. No pub garden on a sunny weekend afternoon
is complete without that that mouth-watering char-grilled aroma.
One such company, Cinders Barbecues (www.cindersbarbecues.co.uk),
knows all about how to make people hungry: they have been providing
equipment for the pub trade since 1984.
‘Outdoor areas can provide an attractive alternative for customers to
dine al-fresco and a Cinders barbecue gives the chef an opportunity to
extend menu choices,’ says the company’s Marketing Manager Brenda
Lavelle. ‘Customers can also watch the food being cooked and an artistic
chef can indulge in the showmanship that goes with cooking for an
audience. Our Caterer TG160 and Cavalier SG80 have been hand built
to operate from dawn to dusk without problems. High volume and fast
throughput of food is the recipe to make money, so it makes sense to
utilise outdoor areas to extend any other dining space indoors.’
Pubs that have the outdoor space plus a reputation for their beer also
organise regular beer festivals during the warm months. It’s a lot of
work but it can pay great dividends. Burgers and sausage baps are much
loved by those wishing to soak up the odd pint or two, but the last few
Andy
Thornton
Andy Thornton has
launched a fantastic
outdoor furniture
range for 2012 .As
one of the largest
suppliers of contract
furniture for pubs,
bars and hotels Andy
Thornton is well
placed to provide all
outdoor as well as
interior furniture
requirements.
The company offers
a comprehensive
range of outdoor
furniture for
terraces, pub
gardens and
pavement drinking/
dining areas and has
extended its already
expansive range of outdoor furniture by adding a number of
new collections this year.
Completely new is the Vintage Cafe Collection of Parisian-style
pavement cafe furniture, offered in natural pewter or a choice
of powder coated colours and antique ﬁnishes. This versatile
range includes cafe side chairs bar stools and low stools which
will match a number of metal table bases and laminate tops
They have also launched the Wave Collection of lightweight
aluminium framed furniture in a stunning two-tone bronze
synthetic weave. This includes a choice of armchairs, a sofa and
a variety of tables with elegant glass tops.
Perfect for terraces and gardens the new Hardy Collection of
acacia furniture, comprises an armchair, bench and series of
tables offered in hardwood in a choice of natural weathered or
oiled ﬁnish and is from FSC certiﬁed sources.
Whether you are looking to provide furniture for a new outside
area or replacing existing furniture to rejuvenate established
areas, Andy Thornton can offer the complete range of high
quality, durable outdoor furniture that will last for many, many
seasons.
For more details; Tel: 01422 376000 or visit:
www.andythornton.com
host / spring 2012 / 41
42 / spring 2012 / host
years has also seen pig roasts
grow in popularity. Over at Steve
Cullum’s Spit Roast Machines
(www.spitroast1.com), the
company is proud of its new Elite
Hog Roasting machine.
‘In addition to cooking up
to a 90kg pig,’ says company
spokesman John Stockdale, ‘it has
the ability to roast a variety of
meats and poultry. For example,
up to sixty chickens can be ready
for serving in just two hours,
as landlords can provide an
indoor and outdoor table service
guaranteed to create the right
atmosphere and a focal talking
point for diners. New innovations
also include an in-built jacket
potato cooking system that can
bake up to 70 jacket potatoes to
perfection as the meat is cooking,
both maximising the hog roaster’s
efﬁciency and giving customers a
more varied menu.’
Tasty Trotter (www.tastytrotter.
com) goes the whole hog (so to
speak) by providing hog roasts as
well as pizza ovens. ‘We do a hog
roast machine that can feed 300
people for as little as 50p a head,’
says the company’s Managing
Director Bruce Hunter, ‘while
we have also had great success
with our pizza oven, which can
produce two pizzas in 90 seconds.
We feel we have made the
machines more affordable— they
make it easy to feed people and
you can also do roast spuds in
them when the meat is turning.’
Summer is coming and we all
hope for a lot more sun than
we’ve had in recent years. So it
goes without saying that now is
the time to get the outdoors right
and reap the beneﬁts.
Elite
The Elite Range of hog
roasting equipment is
much more than just a
hog roasting machine and
is proving very popular
with publicans wishing
to offer their customers a
much more varied menu
selection.
Apart from simply cooking
a pig, up to 40 chickens can
be accommodated using
the large size poultry rack
and this same accessory
can be used for joints of
meat too.
Alternatively a mini
poultry rack (20 x chicken
capacity) can be used in
conjunction with their
carousel system, enabling
poultry to be cooked to
perfection at the same
time as other cuts of meat,
typically sausages, burgers
or spare ribs without cross
contamination.
Our latest edition to the
range is our jacket potato
lid and again this enables
a pig or chickens to be
cooked while up to 70
jacket potatoes can be
cooked at the same time,
using the same heat and
labour, creating better
bottom-line proﬁts for the
operator and creating a
visual “wow-factor” with
the customers.
For more details; Tel:
07807 067248 or visit:
www.spitroast1.com
Cinders
Making use of your outdoor
areas will increase the
capacity of your venue and
barbecues are a great way
of generating proﬁts and
impressing diners. The
Caterer TG160 gives the
chef 7312 sq cms of long
presentation frontage with
which to demonstrate his
skills and create cooking
theatre.
Accessories give greater
versatility to the catering
operation. The Universal
Griddle converts one side of
the TG160 to a ﬂat cooking
surface and the Pan Support
takes two holding containers
for hot and cold food.
Cinders barbecues are hand
built to operate from dawn
to dusk without problems,
heat up in ﬁve minutes and
self clean when cooking is
ﬁnished. For more details;
Tel:0800 0182 984 or visit:
www.cindersbarbecues.co.uk
Tasty
Trotter
Tasty Trotters Hog
Roast machine is
ideal for hog roast
catering, bbq,
wedding’s, parties
or anywhere people
need feeding.
The Tasty
Trotter hog
roast machine
is your perfect
Hog Roast
oven. They are
dedicated to
offering a premium Hog Roast oven for a modest
price. That’s why their professional spit roasting
oven offers a list of features equal to Hog Roast
Machines twice the price. With sales in over 15
countries you can be assured that our machine
has proven to be the ideal catering companion
For more details; Tel: 012346 866 800 or visit:
www.tastytrotter.com
42 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 43
~Ara
|~Hardy
~Café
~Wave
Call: 01422 376000
Email: [email protected]
Buy online: andythornton.com
Outdoor furniture from Andy Thornton
Are you ready for summer 2012?
NEW 32-PAGE
BROCHURE
OUT NOW
AT-Outdoor12-HOST.indd 1 22/03/2012 15:41

Quality Equipment
Designed and Hand Built
in the UK
www.cindersbarbecues.co.uk
44 / spring 2012 / host
i
I am writing as a Humanist celebrant about the need for non-reli-
gious people to have greater choice about where we hold funerals.
We conduct naming, wedding and funeral ceremonies – sometimes
called hatchings, matchings and dispatchings. Just as religious people
hold their ceremonies in their buildings we hold our namings, wed-
dings, memorials etc. within the community in our homes, gardens,
parks, beaches, hotels, pubs, community venues etc. but our funerals
are mainly held in a crematorium.
Crematoria are places dedicated solely for the disposal of dead bodies
by burning. However, I don’t think
they are the right place to hold
funerals for people who are not
religious/believers in the super-
natural. Atheists/humanists regard
death as a fundamental part of
life and we should be holding our
funerals within the community.
I have taken funerals in commu-
nity centres and hotels but not
in someone’s home, residential
home, park or pub. Things will
only have begun to change and
people having greater choice about how we conduct funerals if they
are held elsewhere than the crematorium and that the crematorium
is ONLY used for the committal.
After Hours
Funeral ‘afters’ are often held in people’s home, pubs, hotels, and
community venues but there is NO good reason why the funeral
ceremony, with the coffn, shouldn’t also be held in the same place
and immediate family/close friends go to the crem for the commit-
tal. I would really like to see funerals happening in pubs. I know that
people can be squeamish and there are considerations about access
and parking. We would only need a few public houses to be accom-
modating , especially those that already cater for funeral parties.
Obviously, this idea needs to be debated and aired. It takes time to
change attitudes and practices. Funeral Directors are rather conser-
vative and the industry is known as the Dismal Trade. We need them
to realise that things need to change and for them to help clients re-
alise that they do have choices about
where to hold their funeral ceremony.
Public houses, taverns coaching inns
and hotels have been centres of
hospitality and venues for important
family celebrations. So, it makes sense,
that they should be accommodating
secular funeral services too. I have
attended so many funeral ‘afters’ in
a local pub or bar after conducting
the funeral at the crematorium. When
I say it’s a pity we didn’t have the
funeral in the pub they usually agree!
The same occurs when we return to people’s homes after a small
funeral. Why weren’t they offered the choice?
So, isn’t it time that the pub trade played its part in changing the
way we deal with the death and funerals of their clients. If the pub
is good enough for us to socialise in then we should be encouraged
to hold our funerals there too. After all this is what the hospitality
business is about, landlord.
If the pub is good enough
for us to socialise in, then
we should be encouraged
to hold our funerals there
too
Cert
Why don’t we hold secular
funerals in public houses? After
all, says Jeanne Rathbone
they are an important part of
community life in Britain at
the heart of the community.
A
Dead
host / spring 2012 / 45
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r
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46 / spring 2012 / host
C
Colm O’Dwyer, sales and customer development director at Coca-
Cola Enterprises, says the pub environment is perfect for uniting the
nation during the Olympic period, as well as being a good setting for
welcoming new visitors who may wish to “sample the great British
institution”.
But while pubs could win some new business, early planning is the
key.
Camra spokesman Jon Howard suggests pubs start by surveying their
locals as to which Olympic events are of most interest to them, and
then create their own events around these dates.
“Of course, make the most of major event fnals (such as the 100
meter fnal), and keep these dates in mind when planning your own
event,” he says. “The Opening and Closing Ceremonies are also always
an excuse for a coinciding party!”
It’s also worth remembering that the Paralympics takes place in late
August and early September so this could be a good reason to plan a
late summer event.
Televisions
For pubs that hope to bring in the crowds via screening Olympic
events, getting the right audio and visual set up is essential .
Steve Lucas, product specialist at Olympic sponsor Panasonic, explains
that it’s worth remembering the BBC will be broadcasting most of the
Olympic Games in High Defnition (HD), “so where possible provide
HD coverage of the games, especially when using large screen TVs or
projectors, as this will create the home-theatre experience of being
right in the centre of the action”.
Freeview HD will be widely available in time for the Olympics for most
of the country but for those who can’t receive it there is also HD via
Freesat.
Pubs can also consider showing some footage in HD and some in 3D.
“The BBC has announced it will broadcast some live 3D coverage of
the Olympics including the Opening Ceremony, the Closing Ceremony,
the men’s 100m fnal and nightly highlights,” explains Lucas.
Panasonic will be selling passive3D models (which are suitable for
large groups of people to watch) from 32” up to 55”. Four pairs of
glasses are provided with the TV but additional pairs can be purchased
for just a few pounds each, according to the company.
When marketing your television, Publican Sam, who runs the www.
howtorunapub.co.uk website, suggests an A-board or chalkboard
outside your pub to tell everyone you have a big screen and will be
showing certain events.
He does point out though that some customers dislike TVs being part
of the pub environment, “ I generally try and create at least one area
which is screen-free and ensure that TV’s are only put on for adver-
tised sporting fxtures, and not just left on all day and night”.
Other tips from Publican Sam include thinking about lighting in the
area where your TV is set up, particularly because direct sunlight can
obscure the view.
Events
More people taking holidays at home (perhaps arranged to ft in with
their Olympic ticket allocation) and potentially a boost of tourist num-
bers into the UK, could all make for increased footfall in many pubs. It
doesn’t always mean that these people want to actually watch events
on TV within a pub, but they may be keen to feel part of the Olympic
fever as it spreads across the country.
There are plenty of things pubs can do during this period, such as run-
ning Olympic-themed quizzes.
“We are planning to offer pubs a range of picture and standard
quizzes for the Olympics, and we will have full Olympic quiz packs
for those that want them,” says Tim Smithies, director of pub quiz
provider, Redtooth.
Pubs can place orders for these a month or so in advance, and they
can purchase any number of weekly quizzes throughout the Olympic
period. Redtooth will also be running Olympic versions of its popular
Body Parts quiz, where participants have to look at a picture and
guess who the body parts belong to. “This is good for pubs as it can be
handed out at any time, and any deadline can be given for entries, so
it’s quite fexible,” says Smithies.
And other themed events could also beneft the on-trade.
“With 26 sports taking place over the 17 day period, it should be
possible to run at least one or two different events a week during the
Games,” says Ann Elliott, managing director of Elliot Marketing & PR.
Olympian
The Olympics is set to dominate the summer, and, enhanced by the
European Championships football and the Queen’s Jubilee, Sonya
Hook suggests that pubs and bars could see an increase in both regular
customers and profts if they get it right.
Profts
host / spring 2012 / 47
“Themes could be based around British medal hopes,
local athletes or certain sports.”
Camra’s Jon Howard suggests holding a sweepstake
during big events like the 100m fnal, whereby cus-
tomers have to guess a winning time.
“Pubs could also hold their own pub games champi-
onships or sports days as a bit of fun,” says Howard.
“You could do a pub games decathlon with events like
darts, pool, bar billiards, or a proper sports day with
sack races, egg and spoon races etc, for a bit of fun.”
Food and drink
For busy pubs, quick and easy food solutions are
essential – especially if you want to ensure uninter-
rupted viewing during key events.
“Have another look at your menus and check you can
provide food quickly but to a high standard,” suggests
Elliott.
A spokesperson for Carlsberg suggests pubs could
offer themed food and beer for the larger events, such
as country-related meals to support the USA, steak
and ale pie to support Great Britain or tapas for Spain.
“Make sure you’ve got a good range of world beers to
support the worldwide theme of the event,” she says.
Camra’s Howard says it’s also worth checking out
what UK breweries are up to. “Contact your local
breweries to investigate whether they are bringing
out any special tipples for the occasion,” he sug-
gests. “If so, potentially look to combine this with an
international theme to bring in some beers brewed in
the major Olympic nations, such as China, Russia or
the USA.”
And keeping things simple is also advisable for food
and drink options.
“The key to making the most of the increased custom-
ers brought about by these kinds of events is conve-
nience, not only for the licensee but the customer as
well, “ says McCains Food Marketing manager, Donna
Rowbottom. “A delicious bowl of McCains chips,
wedges or Sweet Potato Fries can help generate ad-
ditional spend and is an easy addition to the menu.”
She also notes that presentation is important and she
suggests pubs think about sharing platters as well as
serving potato products in tankards or pint glasses
with themed paper lining as a good hand-held food
option.
“Introducing promotions to encourage customers to
purchase a sharing platter or portion of chips in addi-
tion to their drink is also a great way to cross sell and
increase consumer spend,” says Rowbottom.
And Carlsberg suggests offering table service for busy
events for both food and drink. “Or, you could set up
lanes at the bar to speed up service – who will be the
Usain Bolt of your bar staff!”
Sponsors are paying a
lot of money to use the
Olympic branding so
there are strict guide-
lines about how pubs
and other venues should
market their events. It’s
worth checking the Lon-
don 2012 website (www.
london2012.com) for
guidelines, and, as Ann
Elliott, managing director
of Elliot Marketing & PR,
explains, if you mention
the Olympics, the best
way is to keep it factual.
“Don’t give the impres-
sion you have an offcial
connection with the
Games,” she says. “Avoid
using the Olympic Rings
or any other offcial sym-
bols. But national fags
and bunting are fne.”
48 / spring 2012 / host
multimedia
Hospitality operators are increasingly aware of the importance of
TCO when investing in new EPoS. Focus has moved from the purchase
price alone to take into account lifecycle costs including environmental,
reliability and serviceability, which together can amount to 3-5 times the
initial investment.
PC-based touchscreen EPoS manufacturer, J2 Retail Systems, has
pioneered lower TCO-oriented technology and introduced innovations
that signiﬁcantly drive down lifecycle costs.
• Virtually maintenance-free terminals
• Touchscreen technologies (Resistive, SAW, Infra-Red & PCT) for
hightouch situations
• Fanless operation increases reliability, especially in greasy environments
• User-upgradeable processors, including pull-out motherboards
• Solid state storage eliminates hard drive failures
• “All in the head” design provides a cable-free system
• Numerous power-saving features
• New backwards-compatible processor to extend unit life
Says J2’s Moray Boyd: “Maximising EPoS reliability and performance, whilst minimising lifecycle costs,
are the goals that drive our business. Users tell us J2 technology can’t be matched for low TCO.”
Contact: Moray Boyd Tel: 01925 854 841
Email: [email protected] Web: www.j2retailsystems.com
J2 innovations drive down lifecycle EPoS costs and set
standards for lower ‘total cost of
ownership’ (TCO)
eat
spring 2012
take a
grilling
great barbecue ideas
something
ﬁ shy
perfect ﬁsh dishes
cheesed off
the ultimate cheese board
inspiration for your kitchen
50 / spring 2012 / host
No pub menu would be complete
without scampi and battered
cod on oer – or would it? Both
scampi – which is actually made
from the Dublin Bay prawn - and
cod are on the ‘big ve’ list of
seafood species which operators
are being encouraged to avoid for
sustainability reasons. The other
three on the list are haddock, salmon
and tuna, and between them the
ve species account for 80 per cent
of seafood sold in the UK.
Campaigns such as Hugh Fearnley-
Whittingstall’s ‘Fish Fight’ have raised
awareness of the need to look for
alternatives, and pub and restaurant
operators have responded. Many
mainstream pub chain menus now
list ‘battered white sh and chips’,
which allows them to vary the sh
served seasonally and to quietly use
less familiar species such as pollock
and coley.
Other are more open about
championing alternatives. The Spirit
Pub Company owned Chef & Brewer
brand featured dishes such as sea
bream risotto and Cornish megrim
during its recent month-long Flavour
of Seafood promotion.
At the Victoria Inn in the coastal
town of Salcombe, Devon, Tim
Hore, co-licensee with wife Liz, is
cutting out the middleman when
it comes to seafood. He says: “One
of our regulars is planning to land
sh commercially in Salcombe this
year, so I’ve applied for a licence
which will enable to buy straight
o his boat. It will make the menu
interesting, because we won’t know
from day-to-day what he’ll have
caught.”
People love sh and seafood, and no serious menu would be complete
without it. John Porter is tipping the scales.
King Prawn Linguine
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
360g Lyons raw butter y shell on jumbo king
prawns
500g fresh linguine pasta
190g basil pesto
1 tablespoon of olive oil
50g pine kernels, toasted
Handful fresh basil and rocket leaf
50g Parmesan shavings
Drizzle of olive oil to nish
Method
Boil the linguine in lightly salted water,
according to the instructions on the packet.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan.
Add raw defrosted butter y king prawns and
sauté until fully cooked for approximately 5-6
minutes.
Take the pan o the heat and add the pesto
and the drained linguine and toss well.
Serve garnished topped with fresh basil and
rocket leaf, parmesan shavings, toasted pine
kernels and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
Something
Fishy
host / spring 2012 / 51
Baked Fish Tafeensamak
Ingredients
Serves 4
1.5kg rm white sh llets
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive or sunower oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
2-4 garlic cloves (nely chopped)
1kg tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
2 tsp sugar (optional)
250g onions (nely sliced)
2 tbsp blanched almonds (coarsly chopped or
sliced)
1 1/2 tbsp raisins
large bunch of fresh at parsley (deep fried in oil - to
garnish)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 C/gas 6. Put the llets in
a baking dish (we recommend the Emile Henry
Baking Dish) in a single layer. Rub with salt, pepper
and 2 tbsp oil and the lemon juice, cover with foil.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the esh becomes
translucent and just begins to ake, keep warm.
Meanwhile, fry the garlic in 2 tbsp oil and, as it
begins to colour, add the tomatoes with a litle
sugar if they are not very sweet. Cook gently for
20 minutes or until the tomatoes reduce to a thick
paste.
In another pan, fry the onions in 3 tbsp oil until
golden. Add the almonds and raisins, fry until the
almonds colour and the raisins pu up.
To serve, lay the sh on a large serving plate, pour
the tomato sauce over and cover with the fried
onion mixture. Garnish with the deep-fried parsley,
and lemon slices if you like.
Roasted salmon with cherry tomatoes
Serves 6

Ingredients
1kg piece of salmon
1 pack fresh rosemary
8 cherry tomatoes
150 ml olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
150 ml dry white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1 Preheat oven to 220 degrees centigrade. Wash the salmon inside and out with
cold water and then pat dry with kitchen paper. Fill the cavity with rosemary.
2 In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, herbs and
seasoning.Add the tomatoes and toss well to coat. Spread them over the base of
a shallow roasting tin or ovenproof dish big enough to take the salmon. Lay the
salmon on top of the tomatoes, pour over the white wine.
3 Bake for 30 minutes, basting the salmon and stirring the vegetables halfway
through. Remove from the oven, cover the salmon with foil and leave to rest for 5
minutes.
4 To serve, remove the foil, peel o the skin and ease the salmon o the bone into
6 large pieces. Flake or leave whole. Put the tomatoes on a serving dish and top
with the salmon. Strain the cooking juices through a sieve and pour over the sh.
Serve with roasted potatoes.
Spinach with
Borage Cress
Method
Wash spinach thoroughly.
Heat oil on a frying pan
and add the spinach. Cook
until wilted add chopped
borage cress, salt and
cracked pepper. Serve
with a white sh.
Fish Tip
How long can you freeze your sh?
Never longer than 6 months. After
that, you will notice a serious
decline in quality. Fatty sh, such
as salmon or trout, go down hill
even faster: Don’t freeze them
longer than 3 months.
52 / spring 2012 / host
Tempura are battered and
deep fried sh dishes, which
are commonly eaten in
Japan. This is a recipe to
make basic batter. Using
ice water for the batter is
recommended in order to
make crispy tempura. It’s
good to make the batter
right before frying tempura.
Preparing the batter ahead of
time is not recommended.
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup ice water/cold water
1 cup all purpose our, sifted
Method
Beat an egg in a bowl. Add
ice water in the bowl. Be sure
to use very cold water. Add
sifted our in the bowl and
mix lightly. Be careful not to
overmix the batter.
Getting Battered
Beer Batter
This is a quick and easy recipe
for a beer batter that goes
great with nearly any sh and
seafood; it’s basically a sh-
n-chips batter made with a
good beer, our and a little
oil. The keys here are cold
batter, hot oil and quality sh.
This recipe works well with
monk sh, cod, haddock,
seabass, snapper, halibut
-- really any rm sh. You can
even use it for king prawns,
calamari or oysters. Serve this
with home made chips, and
a dipping sauce. I like simple
mustard. This recipe makes
enough batter for 2 pounds
of sh or seafood.
Ingredients:
2 pounds sh / seafood
8 tbsp self-rising our
2 tbsp olive oil
Half a bottle of good beer
½ tsp salt
Oil for frying
salt
Preparation:
Mix the our, oil, salt and beer
together in a bowl. Add the
beer last and do it slowly,
stirring all the time.
Put the batter in the fridge for
20 minutes.
After 10 minutes, take out
the sh and salt it. Rest for
5 minutes, then slice it into
pieces about the size of a
large prawn.
When the oil is hot, coat the
sh into the batter then.place
it in the oil and repeat. Do
this in several batches.
Fry until the sh is golden
brown., then drain on a wire
rack or paper towels.
Serve at once with a sauce
(tartar sauce, cocktail sauce,
mustard, hot sauce, ketchup,
etc) and an ice cold beer.
Thai Fishcakes
Ingredients
300g sustainable or organically farmed cod, pollack or pouting
llet, boned and skinned *
200g raw shelled prawns
5 spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp Thai curry paste (try Namjai Red Curry Paste from
Sainsbury’s Special Selection)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp sh sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Handful chopped fresh coriander
2 tbsp olive oil
150ml sweet chilli sauce
Juice of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
Method
How to make Thai shcakes
1. Blend the cod, prawns, spring onions, curry paste, ginger, sh
and soy sauces and coriander in a food processor, until broken
down but not totally smooth.
2. Using slightly wet hands, shape this mixture evenly into 20
small shcakes.
3. Preheat the grill to medium. Brush a grill rack with a little
oil and put the shcakes in a straight line. Brush the shcakes
with the remaining oil and pop under the grill for 10 minutes,
turning halfway, until cooked through and golden brown.
To barbecue, preheat your barbecue in the usual way until it
reaches the correct temperature. Cook turning once, bearing
in mind you may have to adjust the cooking time slightly
depending on how hot your barbecue is or how near the heat
source the shcakes are placed. Transfer to a serving platter.
4. Meanwhile, mix the sweet chilli sauce and lime juice. Put
the chilli sauce in bowls for dipping and serve with the lime
wedges.
host / spring 2012 / 53
Spanish rice with prawns, mussels
and olives
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 onion
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
olive oil
100g mussels
150g paella rice
pinch of sa ron
400ml chicken stock
125g cooked prawns
1 lemon halved
small bunch parsley
Method
Cook the onion and pepper in 2 tbsp olive oil in a wide, shallow pan
until softened. Add the mussels and cook for a couple of minutes until
they fully open.Stir in the rice until coated in all the oils. Stir the sa ron
into the stock then add to the pan and stir well. Put on a lid and cook
for 15 minutes until the rice is tender and the stock absorbed. Stir in
the prawns until heated through completely, the squeeze over lemon
and toss through the parsley.
Getting Saucy
No need to sh for compliments with these great
sauces, they are perfect with sh
Tartar Sauce

Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sweet
pickle relish, and minced onion. Stir in lemon juice.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for
at least 1 hour before serving.
Original Recipe Yield 1 cup . Sorrel Sauce 9-11 oz
(250-300ml) strong sh stock (a cube will do) 1oz
(25g) butter 1tbsp our 1 oz (25ml) white wine 3.5
oz (100ml) double cream fresh sorrel leaves (about
ve), shredded salt and pepper 25-28oz (700-800g)
spinach, picked over, washed and dried . Boil the
stock in a thick-bottomed pan. In another pan melt
the butter and stir in the our. Cook very slowly over
a low heat for 30 seconds, then whisk the sh stock
into the our mixture. Pour in the white wine and
simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Add the cream and reduce the sauce until it is of a
thick pouring consistency, then stir in the sorrel and
season.
Lem
on Cress
Dressing
Ingredients:
palm or castor sugar
1/2 cucumber
1 punnet Limon Cress
ginger
salt
Method
Place palm sugar in mortar
and grind until powder. Smash
cucumber in mortar until smooth.
Add ginger and salt.
Fish Tip
When you thaw your frozen sh,
do it gradually. Never put them in
the microwave to thaw!! Let them
thaw in the fridge or in cold water.
Thawing at room temperature is
also a bad idea
54 / spring 2012 / host
Given the unpredictability of
the British climate, the fact that
we embrace the al fresco dining
culture so enthusiastically can only
attributed to a perverse streak in our
national character. Nevertheless,
researcher Mintel estimates that two
in three adults eat food cooked on
a barbecue across the summer, at a
total of more than 120m barbecue
occasions.
This year, occasions such as the four
day Diamond Jubilee weekend, the
Euro 2012 nals and the Olympics
all oer pubs the opportunity to run
barbecues, hog roasts and garden
parties as a way of encouraging the
patriotic spirit.
One pubs planning to take full
advantage of the opportunity is
the Kings Arms at Hampton Court,
part of the three-strong Absolute
Pubs group run by Simon and Sarah
Bailey. The Olympic cycling route
runs past the pub’s front door. “We’ll
be moving outside for the occasion,”
says Simon, “running a barbecue and
serving food and drink to spectators.”
Even with food costs soaring, serving
customers high quality British meat
outdoors can still be economic.
Trade bodies EBLEX and BPEX have
come up with a range of recipe
suggestions and alternative cuts,
available through most catering
butchers.
Try collar of pork marinated
and slowly barbecued over an
indirect heat, or whole boneless
spatchcocked shoulder of lamb
cooked slowly with fresh herbs and
garlic in the oven and nished on
the barbecue. Visit www.eblextrade.
co.uk and porkforcaterers.bpex.org.
uk for recipes and tips.
Thinking of oering barbeque bites this summer, then do nothing until you
have read Hosts guide to the best products and oerings.
Right
On Cue
Bu alo burger
Ingredients
500g/1lb 1oz bu alo mince
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large (or 4 small) ciabatta loaf
2 beefsteak tomatoes
a handful of large basil leaves
2 balls of bu alo mozzarella, thickly sliced
500g/1lb 1oz bu alo mince
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large (or 4 small) ciabatta loaf
2 beefsteak tomatoes
a handful of large basil leaves
2 balls of bu alo mozzarella, thickly sliced
Method
Heat a grill or griddle pan. Season the bu alo mince with salt
and freshly ground black pepper. Shape the seasoned mince into
eight small patties.
Grill (or griddle) the patties until nicely coloured on both sides,
about ve minutes or so each side. They are best when still slightly
pink in the centre, but that is up to you.
Cut the ciabatta into short lengths and split them open. Place a
slice of tomato, a large basil leaf or two and a slice of mozzarella
in each one. Slide a cooked burger (or two if they are very small)
into each ciabatta and squeeze together so the juices from the
tomato, mozzarella and meat mix together. Eat immediately.
host / spring 2012 / 55
Chicken tikka skewers
Ingredients
150g pot low-fat natural yogurt
2 tbsp hot curry paste
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts , cubed
250g pack cherry tomatoes
4 wholemeal chapatis , warmed, to serve
FOR THE CUCUMBER SALAD
½ cucumber , halved lengthways, deseeded and sliced
1 red onion , thinly sliced
handful chopped coriander leaves
juice 1 lemon
50g pack lamb’s lettuces or pea shoots
Method
Put 8 wooden skewers in a bowl of water to soak. Mix the yogurt and curry paste
together in a bowl, then add the chicken (if you have time, marinate for an hr or
so). In a large bowl, toss together the cucumber, red onion, coriander and lemon
juice. Chill until ready to serve.
Shake o any excess marinade, then thread the chicken pieces and cherry
tomatoes onto the pre-soaked skewers. Cook under a medium grill for 15-20 mins,
turning from time to time, until cooked through and nicely browned.
Stir the lettuce or pea shoots into the salad, then divide between 4 plates. Top
each serving with 2 chicken tikka skewers and serve with the warm chapatis.
The Fire
Charcoal gives more avour, but if
you are using gas, you can impart
lingering aromas by placing
bunches of thyme or wild fennel
that have been soaked in water
directly on to the grill ten minutes
before the meat goes on.
Barbecue health
and safety

Ensure all food is refrigerated or
frozen to the correct temperature
before beginning preparation
Do not mix raw and cooked meat
and do not return cooked meat
to the fridge until it has properly
cooled
Remember that the barbecue is
hot, so site well away from trees,
fences, hedges, umbrellas and
awnings
Keep children and pets well away
from the grill and do not drink
when grilling
Barbecued food should be grilled
from the fridge and eaten as soon
as cooked. Do not leave grilled
food lying around in the sun or
next to warm surfaces.
Finishing Touch
Method
Mix equal quantities of Heinz
tomato ketchup, Hellman’s
mayonnaise and French’s
mustard. That is the best
burger sauce in the world
Smoking
Tired of meat that appears to have recently survived
re-entry? What you’ll require in patience to use a
smoker baberque - anything from 2 to 20 hours.
You’ll more than be rewarded in taste; even the
toughest meat drops o the bone ,with a rich wood
-chip avour.The ProQ can also grill and roast and be
converted into a kettel barbeque.Is it big enough to
t a small piglet? Oh yes. £160 www.forfoodsmokers.
co.uk
56 / spring 2012 / host
At Home Among the Stars
The Koppert Cress’ Collection of
23 Cress and 23 Specialties presents a
palette of flavours, scents and colours for
you to apply in all your culinary creations.
In the new innovative and sustainable
greenhouse in the Dutch Westland, both
energy efficiency and food safety are
combined to produce the decorative
and tasty ingredients, recognized by the
best chefs in the world.
Visit our website and find all information.
www.koppertcress.com
Host magazine april 2012.qxd:Layout 1 28-03-12 16:24 Page 1
Baxters
est. 1799
James Baxter & Son
Thornton Road, Morecambe Lancashire LA4 5PB
Tel: 01524 410910 Fax: 01524 833363
email: [email protected]
web: www.baxterspottedshrimps.co.uk
“In my opinion
they are the
nest shrimps
in the world.”
Marco Pierre White
By appointment to Her Majesty The Queen By appointment to Her Majesty The Queen
PURVEYORS OF POTTED SHRIMPS
The original and finest potted
shrimps from Morecambe Bay
Wholesale orders and
stockist enquiries welcome.
We supply restaurants, pubs, hotels, caterers,
delicatessens, farm shops & specialist food stores.
host / spring 2012 / 57
Roast tomatoes with asparagus
Ingredients
750g cherry tomatoes
extra-virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves , peeled and halved
24 asparagus spears
Method
Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Spread
the tomatoes out on a large baking tray and prick each one
with a fork. Sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper and scatter with the garlic. Roast in the oven for 15
minutes.
Lay asparagus at in a large frying pan over a medium heat.
Splash with 3 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper. Roll the spears until they’re hot and evenly
coated with oil.
Remove tomatoes from oven and pour o the excess juice.
Push tomatoes to one side of tray and lay asparagus next to
them. Return to oven and roast for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the
olives before serving warm or at room temperature. Vegetables
can be done up to two hours before serving and kept at room
temperature.
Best...
Burger Maker
Nothing tastes better
than your own homemade
burgers.
Use this press to make sure
they look good, too.
£15 www.roullierwhite.com
Best...
Fish Basket
BBQ Master
Tongs with a long
handle are essential if
you’re not going to grill
your hand. This 41cm
pair will keep you safe.
£12.99
www.amazon.co.uk
Classic tapenade
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 x 400g tin black pitted olives
1 large clove garlic, peeled
2 anchovy llets
7 frresh basil leaves
2 heaped dessertspoons
capers
150ml extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Put the olives, garlic, anchovies,
basil leaves, capers and pepper
in a food processor, and pulse-
chop to a course texture. Add
the oil and pulse again, then
tip into a serving bowl.
Tuna tapenade
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 x 200g tin good-quality tuna
in oil, drained
1 x 400g tin pitted black olives,
drained, rinsed and dried
2 heaped dessertspoons
capers, drained
1 large clove garlic, peeled
2 anchovy llets
5 fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
75 ml extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Put the tuna, olives, capers,
basil leaves and pepper in a
food processor and pulse-chop
to a course texture. add the
mustard and oil and process
again. Tip into a serving bowl.
Tapenade makes the perfect bar snack. Put
a bowl on the bar top with a round of sliced
toasted baguette and you are on to a winner.
Take a dip
Best...
Lighter
Get at those
hard-to-reach
spots without
burning your
ngers with
Zippos exible -
neck ame.£14
www.zippo.
co.uk
58 / spring 2012 / host
cheesed
off
The town of Stilton in Cambridgeshire
is currently ﬁghting to be allowed to
make the cheese that bears it name,
because the Stilton Cheese Makers’
Association, across the county border
in Leicestershire, has Protected Desig-
nation of Origin status under EU law.
Further West, the cheesemakers of
Cheddar in Somerset have obtained
PDO status for the designation
West Country Farmhouse Cheddar,
distinguishing their traditionally
made Cheddar from the commercially
produced variety made around the
world.
True Cheddar aﬁcionados insist that
that terroir of the land the grass is
grown on makes such a difference
that cheeses from different farms
will have very different ﬂavours.
This prompted the Montague Inn in
Shepton Montague, Somerset to offer
its Five Mile Cheeseboard, featuring
ﬁve organic cheddar made within ﬁve
miles of the pub.
Most venues, however, will want
to offer a wider variety to reﬂect
the wide range of gourmet cheeses
available. Some go to extremes -
Vivat Bacchus in Farringdon Road,
London has its own cheese cellar,
where a professional fromagier can
talk customers through the hundreds
of varieties on offer and assemble a
bespoke cheese selection.
Cheeseboards offer an alternative to
puddings for customers who lack a
sweet tooth, and, served with a port
or barley wine at the end of a meal,
are an opportunity to upsell to diners
who can resist the siren call of the
sweet trolley.
While most chefs will feel conﬁdent
enough to assemble a diverse and
interesting cheeseboard, a little
expert advice never hurts. Paxton &
Whitﬁeld has been cheesemongering
to London’s gentry for more than 200
years. Rhuaridh Buchanan, manager
of Paxton & Whitﬁeld’s iconic store
on Jermyn Street, suggests that a
cheddar, a blue cheese, a soft rind
cheese, a goat’s cheese and a slightly
unusual hard cheese makes an
interesting combination. His recom-
mendations are:
Cheese is something the British take
seriously, and with the overwhelming
selection available John Porter says that
there is no reason to ever be cheese bored.
host / spring 2012 / 59
Aldwych Goat: This ﬁrm textured
goat’s milk log is made in the
heart of the West Country using
thermised milk from the dairy’s
own herd. This is a very versatile
cheese and works well lightly
grilled onto crostini as a canapé as
well as on a cheese board.
Baltic: Made by Doddington Dairy,
Northumberland, this cow’s milk
cheese is named after the ale
that the rind is washed in, Baltic
Summer Ale from Liverpool. Once
fully ripened, Baltic melts on the
tongue with a tangy aftertaste
from the ale.
Paxton’s Cave-Aged
Cheddar: Cheddar was
originally matured in
caves over 300 years
ago and this process of
maturation has recently
been reinvented. This
cheese is carefully cave
matured at Wookey
Hole in Somerset, and
has a very smooth,
complex and full taste.
Stilton: Paxton &
Whitﬁeld’s Stilton has
a longer maturation.
The gentler method of
production helps to
retain moisture and
fat, resulting is an
exceptionally soft and
buttery cheese that
retains the distinctive
Stilton ﬂavour.
Brie de Meaux: Brie
has been made in
France since the Middle
Ages, when Char-
lemagne was said to
have enjoyed it. The
cheese is treated with
dry salt that counters
the mild sweetness of
the milk.
60 / spring 2012 / host
Are you making the most
from your coffee menu?
Look no further than Ferns Coffee - leading coffee
providers to the licensed trade – with a premium range
of coffee blends and broader hot beverage solutions.
Try our new Sassetta coffee blend - inspired by the
finest Italian espresso coffee and fully supported
through branded merchandise (swing signs, loyalty cards
and menus)
www.fernscoffee.com or ring 01256 355661
FERNS 1-4PP Advert APR 12 AW:Layout 1 18/4/12 11:05 Page 1
EMPERORAD 3/4/12 16:14 Page 1
The Good Oven Company
The Good Oven Company presents the finest wood burning
ovens Italy produces. You will not find a more authentic oven nor
a more complete tool for traditional cooking.
PREMADE - READY TO GO - NO EXPENSIVE INSTALL
[email protected]
www.thegoodovencompany.com
host / spring 2012 / 61
food snippets
Throw that left over cooked rice
and 1 tbsp vegetable oil into a
hot frying pan. Add 225g peas,
1 tbsp soy sauce,225g diced
spring onions, 1 egg and 1 tbsp
of sesame oil. Fry until the egg
is scrambled and the rice is
crackling.
Top tip...
To peel garlic cloves quicker, microwave them ﬁrst
for 10 seconds. They pop out of their skins instantly.

YOU’LL NEED
About 4 pounds
of chicken parts
and bones-
wings,backs,thighs,a
handfull of vegetables
and a big pot.
TO MAKE
Throw the chicken in a
pot with some roughly
chopped onion, carrot
and celery, a few
sprigs of parsley, a bay
leaf, and a couple of
pinches of salt. Add
just enough water to
cover it all, about 4
quarts. Bring to the
boil and then reduce
to a gentle simmer
for about 2 hours,
skimming off the
fat with a ladle as it
comes to the surface.
Strain it through a
sieve, let it sit for a
while, put it in the
refrigerator or the
freezer, then use it.
How to use up...
How to
make...
Delicious
fried rice
+
+
+
+
+
...lemon curd
...A
perfect
stock
Got a jar of lemon curd lurking
in the fridge, here’s 6 inspired
ideas to turn this tangy spread
into sweet treats.
Cheesecake bites
Mix lemon curd with softened
medium-fat soft cheese and serve
spread over shortbread biscuits to
create lemon cheesecake bites

Cream tea spread
Stir a few spoonfuls of lemon curd
into lightly whipped clotted cream
and use to spread onto scones.

Toasted croissants
Cut croissants in half, spread with
lemon curd, dust with icing sugar and
place under a hot grill until browned

Lemon heaven
Mash a little lemon curd into
softened butter and chill to harden.
Melt over some hot toast.

Sticky pancake slices
Spread some pancakes with a little
mascarpone and lemon curd. add
a few rasberries, stack and cut into
wedges

Tangy custard
Zest up 500g shop bought custard
by stirring in 4 tbsp lemon curd just
before serving.
62 / spring 2012 / host
The WSET is accredited in the UK by the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (Ofqual).
Find out more about the Leading Global Provider of Wine and Spirits Qualifications at
“confidence for front line staff”
Need to train your
sales team?
Then talk to ours.
Email:
[email protected]
or call 020 7089 3800
SVadvert_hostFeb2012.pdf 1 26/03/2012 12:02:35
host / spring 2012 / 63
kitchen essentials
Ben Newman
recommends his
essentials for the
perfect kitchen
In recent years, the Pacojet has become recognised as an
indispensible piece of kitchen equipment, widely praised for
producing desserts and savoury food stuffs with sublime texture,
true colour and intense ﬂavour. It is labour-saving, minimises
waste and produces dishes to a standard manual processing
cannot. Widely
praised for its
ice cream and
sorbets, the
Pacojet is also
perfect for
making mousses,
pâtés, farces and
concentrates for
soups and stocks.
For more details;
Tel: 01702
258639 or visit:
www.cheftools.
co.uk
PACOJET
GRANT
Sous vide cooking method has revolutionised many professional
kitchens due to its taste, consistency, advance preparation, space
saving and cost control beneﬁts. Grant sous vide baths provide
excellent temperature control, yet offering solid, contemporary and
versatile range of equipment. Grant has developed a Professional
range (12L & 26L baths) for those just venturing into the world of
sous vide cooking and Expert range (12L, 26L & Dual 12L+12L baths)
for those at the cutting edge of sous vide and scientiﬁc cooking
techniques. For busy, space conscious kitchens or for those looking
for more ﬂexibility, Grant offers the universal stirred heater – SV100.
For more details; Tel: 01763 264 723 or visit www.grantsousvide.com.
FEM
Foodservice Equipment Marketing (FEM) has
introduced the Vollrath Super Pan 3 gastronorm
pan range with ﬂattened edges and a patented
angled ramp for ease of removal. The ﬁt and superior
thermal transfer properties of the pans reduce
heat loss and minimise food safety risks. They are
available in a wide range of sizes and styles: stainless
steel, perforated stainless steel, stainless steel with
a non-stick coat and high- and low-temperature
polycarbonate.
For more details; Tel: 01355 244111, email or visit
www.fem.co.uk.
SMOKING GUN
The Smoking Gun is designed to quickly infuse meats, poultry, ﬁsh,
vegetables and other foods with smoky aromas and ﬂavours without
grilling or ﬂame broiling. It is also fantastic for adding smoke to
cocktails and beverages - such as an applewood-smoked Bloody Mary
or a cigar-smoke infused Manhattan. The possibilities are endless so
get creating! For more details visit: www.infusions4chefs.co.uk
host / spring 2012 / 63
64 / spring 2012 / host
kitchen essentials
This is a great tool for grillers who have an iPhone, iPod Touch or
iPad. The iGrill is a wireless Bluetooth cooking thermometer that
syncs up with a free iPhone app to alert you when your meat is
cooked -- and from up to 200 feet away! No more excuses for
overcooking your steak.
For more details; visit:www.igrill.com
Effective, modern and bright.
Sagaform’s silicon oven mitts are
heat resistant and durable, while
the crab claw design is tactile
and gets great purchase. No more
scolding hands, burning tea towels
or dodgy padded gloves.
For more details visit:
www.sagaform.com
I GRILL
SALTER
You don’t have to be gearing up for
a bake sale to need scales. Salter’s
are generally the best, and these
Heston-branded ones also have an
“Aquatronic” feature for measuring
liquid. They look pretty good too!
For more details; Tel: 01732 360783
or visit: www.salterhousewares.com
MOSA
Designed to whip cream the Mosa stainless steel
whipper can also be used to make hot or cold
espumas, sauces and mousses. In fact it will thicken
anything with a high fat content. Nitrous oxide whips
up the cream while acting as a natural antibiotic,
keeping it fresh for up to 10 days when refrigerated.
For more details; Tel: 0845 226 3024 or visit: www.
creamsupplies.co.uk
GET A GRIP
64 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 65
Leading cellar-conditioning experts, Hubbard Products are predicting
that the low-carbon cellar will be the major focus for cost savings
for the licensed trade in the future, having just launched its new
Monoblock air source heat recovery (HR) unit, capable of recycling
waste heat for use elsewhere in the premises. With the cost of energy
rising and showing no signs of falling, opportunities for making
savings are few and far between. However, with such innovative
solutions, the cellar can be the source of signifcant cost savings for
hard-pressed hosts.
How Cool
Hubbard is the undisputed leader in the energy-effcient cellar cooling
and conditioning sector with its award winning ECA qualifying
‘Premium’ systems which in 2005, were the UK’s frst Enhanced
Capital Allowance (ECA) qualifying cellar conditioning & cooling
systems. Hubbard now offers a complete range of cellar cooling
equipment designed to reduce energy costs including the new
Monoblock HR unit, the award winning Econ-O-Mate heat recovery
system and a brand new Air Transfer system.
The Hubbard HR unit captures waste heat produced by cellar
conditioning compressors and condensers and converts it into a
viable source of heat for use elsewhere around the premises either in
the existing heating system or as washing water. The heat recovered
from an average-sized cellar cooling system can produce up to 3000
litres of water heated to 60°C each day. The energy cost saving and
coincidental benefts associated with heat recovery at this level are
considerable. Hubbard calculates that every £1 of energy consumed by
its HR Unit produces the equivalent of £3 of traditional cooling and £4
of hot water at 60°C. As an example, subject to site survey, Hubbard
cites a traditional cellar cooler which is more than fve years old can
be expected to cost £4000 to run each year, with a Hubbard HR unit
installed this drops to £1400 with an additional £4000 of hot water
produced as a by-product, removing the running cost of a traditional
boiler and hot-water system.
Effcient Enviroment
This approach to carbon reduction also offers additional benefts by
extending the maintenance periods of the cooling equipment and
providing a cooler and more effcient environment for the compressor.
Effectively, the compressor has to work less hard, for less time.
Hubbard completes the perfect cellar with its new Air Transfer Unit
that measures ambient temperatures inside and outside the cellar and
draws any available colder external air into the cellar to increase the
effciency of the cooling equipment.
For those who do not wish to invest in a complete system of high
effciency, state of the art cellar cooling, Hubbard also offers its Econ-
O-Mate heat recovery system, which can be retroftted to a wide
range of traditional, older cooling units up to a maximum of 7.5HP.
As you would expect of the market leader, the Hubbard range of low
carbon cellar cooling units are already chosen by the UK’s leading pub
and hospitality chains.
Web: www.hubbard.co.uk
Tel: 01473 892289
Email: [email protected]
Advertorial
Stellar Cellar
Hubbard’s new low carbon cellar points the way to profts for licensees
66 / spring 2012 / host
the corker
Lighter-style wines have been touted
as the next big thing in the wine trade.
Jamie Goode heads to the light side
t
There is a relatively new category consisting of wines with lower
alcohol levels, and Tesco, the planet’s largest wine retailer, have
recently gone large on stocking them. ‘It is right that we follow
customers,’ says Dan Jago, head of Beer, Wine and Spirits at Tesco.
‘But occasionally there are opportunities to take customers with
you. This is one of those areas.’
Jago was impressed by the growth of the Moscato category in the
USA and Australia, with these slightly sweet, lower alcohol (5–8%)
wines generating a keen following. But this was a category that
didn’t really exist in the UK. This is surprising, because although
there are some differences between these markets and the UK,
they are fundamentally pretty similar. ‘If we want to make wine
more accessible, we need to ﬁnd a more approachable style,’ he
says. ‘Light wines provide a fantastic opportunity to do this.’
As a result, Tesco has recently listed several new lighter wines.
These include the Beachcomber red and white from Australian
producer McWilliams, Banrock Station’s lighter wines, and a white
and pink Moscato from Jacob’s Creek. ‘We are providing the space
in store and the commercial energy to make this a category,’ he
says. ‘As full strength wine goes over £5, we need to ﬁnd a way
to provide people with access to cheap wine.’ Those lower-alcohol
products at 5.5% alcohol and below are taxed less, and so it will
be easier to meet sub-£5 price points with them.
SIZE MATTERS
But it isn’t just supermarkets who are interested in these wines:
they have also been attracting attention in the on-trade. A large
glass of wine in a pub is 250 ml. It doesn’t look all that big, but
this is one-third of a standard bottle. How many people realize
this as they’re having a drink with their friends? A glass this size
of 14% alcohol wine contains 35 ml of pure alcohol (14% of 250
ml), whereas a pint of 3.8% alcohol beer would contain 21.5 ml
of alcohol (3.8% of 568 ml). Bear in mind, also, that one unit of
alcohol is just 10 ml. So a typical large glass of wine represents
3.5 units.
A 250 ml glass of wine at 14.5% alcohol and with no residual
sugar contains 207 Calories. Now if this was a typical lighter-style
wine in the same serving, at 8% alcohol with 8 g/litre residual
sugar, this would be 124 Calories. As a comparison, a Big Mac is
540 Calories, and a Mars Bar is 280 Calories. So it’s clear to see
the appeal of lighter wines for many drinkers in a pub setting,
especially at lunchtime.
So what are these lighter-style wines like, and how are the lower
levels of alcohol achieved? They come in different varieties.
First of all, we have the Moscato style wines. These are slightly
sweet, fruity wines, with alcohol levels of around 8% achieved
by stopping the fermentation early. This leaves some of the sugar
that otherwise would have been converted to alcohol in the wine,
which provides the sweetness. Sometimes a little carbonation is
used to help give freshness and balance the wines.
Then we have the 8%-ish dry category. These wines are more
like conventional wines, in that they are dry or dry-ish with
host / spring 2012 / 67
normal wine like characters. The lower alcohol levels are achieved
in a number of different ways, some better than others. The
simplest way is just to pick the grapes earlier, but this can lead
to unbalanced, slightly harsh wines without much favour
development. A variation on this theme is to pick early and add
some water, and perhaps also some aromatic favourants. The wine
can then no longer be termed wine, but has to be described as a
‘wine-based alcoholic drink.’ This is not usually all that successful.
The more impressive lighter style wines are made like normal
wines and then have some alcohol removed by means of modern
technology that is able to take away alcohol without damaging the
favour.
IT’S IN THE TECHNIQUE
Three techniques are used. The frst is the spinning cone. This
is a sophisticated and expensive piece of kit that uses vacuum
evaporation to take the aromatics off the wine to be treated. Then
the alcohol is taken out, and the aromatics are combined back into
the original wine. The result is a low alcohol (4%) wine that can be
blended with full strength wine to produce a wine with the desired
alcoholic strength.
The second and third techniques are closely related, and work a bit
like the body’s kidney does. They involve a fltration device known
as cross-fow or tangential fltration, where instead of the liquid
hitting a flter plate head on, it fows along a tube made of the
flter membrane, and at pressure. This allows very small molecules
such as water, alcohol and acetic acid to be removed from the
wine. In the frst technique, reverse osmosis, this clear liquid is
then distilled to remove the alcohol, and blended back in with the
wine. In the second, called Memstar, the alcohol is removed from
the clear liquid by another membrane separation. Both reverse
osmosis and Memstar techniques, like the spinning cone, are
effective ways of reducing alcohol levels without compromising
quality. They are smaller and cheaper units, and so, unlike the
spinning cone, can be taken to wineries. For spinning cone, you
need to take the wine to the processing facility, but it is a more
effcient way to work with large quantities of wine.
The third category of lighter wines consists of dry-ish, wine-like
wines at 5.5% alcohol. This level is popular because the wine is
subject to lower duty levels. It’s hard to make a wine at 5.5%
alcohol taste totally convincing, but where the alcohol reduction
has been done with a sophisticated technique—and not just
adding water and favourants—the wines can be quite nice. Skill
in blending is required to make up for the hole in the favour that
taking alcohol out creates.
It’s still early days for these lighter-style wines, but expect to see
more of them in the coming years, as the quality improves and
people begin to get their heads around the category. Things do
tend to move slowly in the very tradition-bound world of wine,
but I think this is a welcome innovation that should help make
wine more accessible, especially in the pub setting where the lower
alcohol levels make a lot of sense.
68 / spring 2012 / host
six of the best
Blenders
Hamilton Beach
HBF 600
FEM’s Hamilton Beach blender provides
operator feedback using coloured-light
indicators to enable the user to monitor
the motor temperature whilst blending.
If the temperature begins to rise to
a dangerous level, the speed can be
lowered.
For more details: Tel: 01355 244111 or
visit: www.fem.co.uk
Vitamix Vitaprep 3
Ideal for busy kitchens. the Vitamix Vitaprep
3 is described as a do-it-all device that is able
to handle anything from asparagus through
to whole dried grains and spices. boasting an
energy-effcient three horsepower motor, the
vitaprep 3 comes with a two litre container
as standard, which can be augmented with
an optional 0.9 litre mini container for herbs.
the machine can also chop small quantities
of ingredients.
For more details; Tel: 01543 375311 or visit:
www.magrini.co.uk
Thermomix TM31
Think Thermomix for speed, productivity,
quality and yield! The TM 31 has such an
impact on productivity and consistency of
food quality that it is often described as
having another pair of professional hands in
the kitchen. It is an intelligent power blender
that can cook, stir and blend simultaneously.
“Thermomix purées are like silk”, says Simon
Hulstone and Alan Murchison declares, “It’s
the best gadget to enter my kitchen ever!”
For more details; Tel: 01344 622 344 or
visit: www.UKThermomix.com
1
2
3
host / spring 2012 / 69
Waring F135
The F135 features easy to use mechanical
controls ith three speeds and a powerful
max-pulse setting. The stainless steel jug has
two handles for ease of carrying and pouring.
the rubber lid, complete with clamps for
security, has a removable clear cap to allow
ingredients to be added whilst the machine is
blending. If the cap is left on, the machine is
able to blend under pressure.
For more details; Tel: 0845 140 5555 or visit:
www.nisbets.co.uk
Hamilton Beach
HBB908
The Hamilton Beach ‘HBB908’ Bar Blender
is a durable, entry level blender which is
capable of producing up to 14 frozen drinks
per day and can blend a 16oz daiquiri in just
25 seconds!
It is available from Lockhart Catering Equip-
ment with a 1.3ltr capacity polycarbonate
container and when you order from the
Lockhart ‘Essentials’ catalogue the HBB908
costs only £129.
For more details; Tel: 03701 678678 or visit:
www.lockhartcatering.co.uk
4
5
6
Vortex Stick Blenders
Sirman Ciclone and Vortex are powerful,
light weight and easy to use stick blend-
ers that have all the ingredients required
to take your kitchen by storm!
Perfect for professional chefs and cater-
ers, both blenders consist of sturdy,
lightweight Fiberglass ABS bodies making
them lightweight and easy to use yet
strong enough to take the daily punish-
ment of a busy kitchen. They consist of
1 motor and 1 stick; and offer a quick
utensil changeover system for maximum
effciency.
For more details Tel: 0844 499 4300 or
visit www.allianceonline.co.uk
70 / spring 2012 / host
It’s a fact,use induction just once and you’ll never want to
use anything else. Induced Energy’s induction hobs are as
responsive as gas but also offer the advantages of being
safer, cooler, cleaner and more energy efﬁcient.
Now Induced Energy have added the iPlate, induction keep
hot, to their world beating product range.
Key Beneﬁts of Induced Energy’s induction hobs are that they
are energy efﬁcient,better for the environment,are responsive
to use, safe reliable and simple to operate and clean.
For more details; Tel: 01280 705900 or visit
www.inducedenergy.com
bar essentials
Over the
following pages
Ben Newman
recommends this
seasons must
haves.
BBP Marketing Limited (BB Plastics) are the largest manufacturer in the UK & offer the
most comprehensive collection available in a range of materials.
All their products are made on site in their factory at Yorkshire from European FDA
approved materials. BBP have introduced a new twisted mini glass to it’s range entitled
the Siptail
It is a twisted mini cocktail glass, that has a 15ml capacity either side, adding a third
ingredient makes it a Mini Cocktail.Therefore No need to measure!
For more details; Tel: 01924 480393
BB Plastics
Induced Energy
Solar & Palau
StableTable
All pubs and bars suffers from the
uneven ﬂoors be it in- or outdoors.
Various attempts to solve the problem
with napkins, coasters or adjustable
feet fail resulting in spilt drinks and
complaining guests.
StableTable

with its patented system
is the solution to the problem! Place
your StableTable

on any uneven
surface and it will automatically
adjusts for height differences of up to
2-2,5cm and self-stabilizes.
We believe it is the most important
invention for the industry in years.
Simple and ingenious it changes the
existing order and is hard to believe
until you’ve seen it!
For more details; Tel: 0208 144 95 04
or email: [email protected]
A high performance non-stick XYLAN® coating is now available for all
Solar & Palau (S&P) CONTRA-FOIL™ contra-rotating fans. Proven to
outperform painted and PTFE coatings, XYLAN® dramatically reduces
grease build-up, even at maximum working temperatures, while its
superb pliability prevents cracking even in the toughest environments.
All surfaces are coated to repel grease throughout the fan, resulting
in signiﬁcant cost savings through less frequent steam cleaning.
Furthermore, as grease does not stick there are no imbalances to increase
wear on bearings which, combined with the inherently robust design of
CONTRA-FOIL™, delivers greatly reduced life cycle costs.
For more details; Tel: 0845 4700074 or visit: www.solerandpalau.co.uk
host / spring 2012 / 71
Hubbard is the undisputed leader in energy-
effcient cellar cooling and conditioning with
its award winning ECA qualifying ‘Premium’
systems, the UK’s frst Enhanced Capital Allowance
(ECA) qualifying cellar conditioning & cooling systems. Hubbard is now
offering a new Monoblock Heat Recovery unit, and an innovative Air
Transfer system. Subject to site survey, Hubbard cites a fve year old
cellar cooler can cost £4000 to run each year, with the new Hubbard
HR unit installed this drops to £1400 with an additional £4000 of
hot water produced as a by-product, saving the running cost of a
traditional hot-water system.
For more details; Tel: 01473 892289 or visit: www.hubbard.co.uk
Hubbard
The Wine & Spirit Education Trust
(WSET) have launched two new
qualifcations specifcally created for
the front of house employees in the
hospitality sector.
The Level 1 Award in Wine Service
is an introduction to the wine
service profession and includes the
development of practical skills. It
completed its pilot stage earlier in 2011
and has included ‘trainees’ from BBC
1’s Michel Roux’s Service programme
among its earlier students. The Level 2
Award in Professional Wine Service is
being piloted in fve countries in the
second half of 2012 and is aimed at
those candidates wishing to progress
from the Level 1, and who have already
received the Level 2 Award in Wines
and Spirits (formerly the Intermediate
Certifcate).
For more details; Tel: 020 7089 3800 or
visit: www.wsetglobal.com
WSET
Are you fed-up of trying to write your own quiz
questions?
Wish you could save yourself the trouble and
just buy some?
Quizzical provides a carefully balanced mix of
fun, fascinating and challenging quizzes for all
age-groups; questions from a wide range of
subjects and interests; from the academic world
to music and TV; from sports and athletics to a
huge range of general knowledge topics.
Quizzical creates materials that are entertaining;
although they can be used for serious
competitions, they are mainly designed to
simply give a good night out.
For more details: visit: www.quizzical.biz or
email: [email protected]
Juras top of the range GIGA X9 has a daily capacity of up to 180 cups using the power
of 3 thermobocks and 3 pumps. This model is capable of preparing any speciality coffee,
from ristretto to latte macchiato. It can even prepare two at the same time at the touch
of a button. 20 different speciality coffees can be programmed. With a 3.5 inch TFT colour
display the machine is easy to use and maintain with visual user guidance.
The GIGA X7 uses 2 thermoblocks and 2 pumps and to intents and purposes has the same
features as the X9 but with a smaller grounds container and water tank. Daily capacity is
up to 150 cups.
For more details, Tel: 01282 869641 or visit www.jurauk.com
Jura
Quizzical
Decor Fusion is a commercial
interior design company with
offces in Manchester and London.
They are unique as they offer 4
distinct services under one brand,
namely; Commercial Interior Design
& Project Management,Furniture
Design, Manufacture &
Maintenance,FF&E Sourcing &
Procurement and Branding
Decor Fusion have worked in most
commercial environments but
specialise in providing commercial
interior design solutions for Hotels,
Restaurants, Bars and Cafes, from
concept to completion.Their core
clients are and will continue to be
independent businesses and small
chains. Given the current economic
climate, independent business and
small chains are best placed to take
advantage of their services and see
signifcant value whilst working with
a professional company for their
interior design needs.
For more details; Tel: 0844 357 4570
or visit www.decorfusion.com
Decor Fusion
72 / spring 2012 / host
The wait is over
the GIGA is here, top-of-the-range machines delivering
superb coffee effortlessly and in seconds through Swiss
precision engineering.
Latte, Espresso, Café Crème, Cappuccino and more…
the luxurious flavour and aroma demanded by discerning
coffee lovers, every time.
For further details on the new GIGA X7 & X9 commercial machines contact:
JURA Products Ltd, Vivary Mill, Vivary Way, Colne, Lancashire, BB8 9NW Tel: 01282 868266 Fax: 01282 863411 [email protected] www.jurauk.com
Sheer coffee pleasure…
for the most discerning customer
come and see us at
Caffè Culture
stand no.
D24
GIGA HOST 190x130.indd 1 09/03/2012 09:56
host / spring 2012 / 73
bar essentials
The Maypole Inn at Thurloxton near
Taunton is celebrating winning BOC’s
competition to fnd the pub that serves
the best pint in Britain. The prize was
an evening’s entertainment paid for by
the industrial gas company’s hospitality
division, BOC Sureserve. Regulars at The
Maypole were treated to an evening with
bands, magicians and a casino – and of
course, the highest quality food and drink,
all courtesy of BOC.
With pubs and bars under pressure in
today’s economic climate the challenge
is to retain existing clientele as well as
attract new visitors. While décor and food
quality are often at the front of a licensee’s
mind, the quality of the drinks served –
and how to improve it – may not be seen
as quite such a high priority. The Sureserve
campaign was designed to focus attention
on this aspect of the hospitality business.
A number of factors impact on the taste
and quality of beverages, for instance,
the temperature at which it is served
and then served, the type of glass it is
poured into and – in the case of beers and
carbonated drinks – the gas which is used
in dispensing it.
For more details; Tel: 08457 302302 or
email: [email protected]
BOC
Emperor’s range of “back bar” equipment
includes this stylish, stainless steel chiller
unit available as a double or single hinged
door option.
It has a full stainless steel interior and
exterior including 4 adjustable shelves. It
has a bottle capacity of 174 x 275ml and
has self closing lockable doors as standard.
This stylish unit also features ozone
friendly refrigerant and energy effcient
glass as well as internal lighting for
excellent product display and is ideal for
any bar area.
For more details; Tel: 0161 9471360.
Emperor
Stannah Microlifts
If your premises are arranged
in a way that makes the
movement of goods, services,
stock and food challenging
then installing a goods lift
could make life so much
easier.
Stannahs Microlift or dumb
waiter lifts provide an
essential extra pair of hands
for loads from 50 -100kg,
help publicans comply
with the Manual Handling
Regulations and keep staff
and customers happy too!
Ideally, premises use two lifts
side by side , one for food
and the other for clearing
tables and bars. If room
is restricted their Double
Decker Microlift serves the
same purpose - two lifts in
the same shaft.
Trolleylift is a foor level
service lift suitable for
larger loads of up to 300kg
transported on trolleys or
in roll cages. These larger
service lifts are typically
used to move beer barrels
and crates. They are designed
to help you avoid excessive
manual handling with risk of
injury to your staff.
For hefty loads of 500kg
right up to 3000kg Stannahs
Goodsmaster range provide
a wealth of confgurations.
These full height lifts are
typically used to reach
elevated storage areas, often
on mezzanine levels.
For more details; Tel: on
01264 351922 or visit:
www.stannahlifts.co.uk/
goodslifts
Classeq
Classeq’s ECO 2 Glasswasher is a
compact, front-loading glasswasher,
capable of washing up to 480 pint
glasses per hour in just two minutes,
enabling busy bars to keep a steady
supply of clean glasses during busy
periods.
Meanwhile a full coverage flter system
keeps the wash water cleaner for longer
meaning sparkling glasses, less water
changes and lower fuel bills. The double
skinned door reduces heat loss, helping
to keep the area cool, but also cutting
energy costs as well as lessening noise.
Designed with back bar operation in
mind, the machine has a compact
footprint of only 450mm x 550mm and a
height of 750mm.
For more details; Tel: 0844 225 9249 or
visit www.classeq.co.uk
74 / spring 2012 / host
bar essentials
The coffee opportunity has never been
stronger for the licensed trade. That’s
why Ferns Coffee – one of the UK’s oldest
coffee roasters – has created a range
of premium products, especially for
publicans, to support their coffee menus
and generate additional revenues, whilst
delivering a great coffee experience to
their customers.
Ferns Coffee has recently launched its
own blend, SASETTA, taking inspiration
from the pure notes of fnest, Italian,
espresso coffee. This high quality blend,
made primarily from Arabica beans, is
smooth, intense and competes favorably
with the high street.
Available in formats for Espresso OR Latte,
Sassetta is fully supported by a range of
high-impact, branded point of sale kits,
including swing signs, loyalty cards and
menus.
As a special offer to HOST readers, Ferns
Coffee is offering the frst 10 readers
to respond a FREE pack of its Sassetta
Espresso and Sassetta Latte blend. Please
email [email protected] to register
your interest quoting HOST SASSETTA
OFFER in the subject line.
For more details; Tel: 01256 355661 or
visit: www.fernscoffee.com
Ferns
Innventory
Running a pub isn’t just about pulling pints,
its running an ever-changing business, its
marketing, its customer service, its staying
ahead of the competition, meeting the needs
of your regulars on top of that you need
to stay in control of the numbers, a time
consuming task and not the reason you
started running a pub, by outsourcing this
task to experts INNventory Licensed Trade
Accountants lets you focus on what you do
best, running your pub.
For more details; visit: www.innventory-lta.
co.uk
WFC Contractors
WFC is the award winning Leisure Industry
ft-out specialist. The organisation offers
a high quality ft-out service for a wide
variety of clients, from one-off projects
through to national roll-outs. They adopt
a fexible approach to projects to suit
client requirements and are equally at ease
operating under a traditional, design and
build or “turnkey” contract.
With over 30 years’ experience delivering
successful projects to leading leisure
industry brands, WFC have the expertise
and resources to complete complex
refurbishment and ft-out contracts to a
high standard, working with their clients to
make the best use of their budgets.
For more details;Tel: 01626 353802
or visit: [email protected]
John Fuller
Established for over thirty years carrying
out Stock Audits on Licensed Premises.
John Fuller now use the latest software
for this job whether you want your
report printed on site or emailed to your
computer. Dealing with clients that have
either a one pub operation or multiple
operators; Stock Reports come in a simple
and easy to read format. Their summaries
tell you everything you need to know
about your business. Their professional
service counts second to none. Their
reliable auditors will complete the job as
per instructions received by the client and
report back in an effcient and professional
manner.
For more details Tel: 0845 604 4652
biz
helping you mind your own business
Olympian
Dreams
cashing in on the olympics
Getting
Engaged
the staff of dreams
Stellar
Tenants
taking on a tenancy
76 / spring 2012 / host
host / spring 2012 / 77
GettinG
Engaged
Employee engagement is the latest buzz-phrase among
pub operators, and it’s having a positive effect on
business. Phil Mellows explains what it’s all about
W
What makes a happy customer? You’ve got fne food and the drinks
to match. You’ve created an interesting yet relaxing environment.
But what really makes a difference are your staff. It’s happy people
behind the bar that produce happy people in front of it, in a kind of
benefcent contagion.
So the next question is, what makes happy staff?
In the last few of years, some leading managed house pub com-
panies have tried to answer that by turning to the concept of em-
ployee engagement. Engagement goes beyond mere motivation to
produce a deeper relationship between your staff and your business.
Beyond Payment
It goes beyond pay and incentives, too, and includes training and
development, empowering staff to make decisions and making the
pub a fun place to work. All those elements add up to make people
feel they have a personal investment in the success of your busi-
ness.
Ian Cockill, people development director at Inventive Leisure, which
runs the Revolution chain of bars, defnes engagement as: “the
desire to use all your skills for the beneft of the company, to con-
stantly improve what you’re doing. It’s not about a job description,
it’s a fundamental commitment to the company and its values, and
a willingness to help colleagues.”
Since starting to drive and measure employee engagement, Inven-
tive has seen dramatic proof that it works, both in the fnancial
performance of its bars and in staff retention fgures.
“The top fve bars fnancially outperform the bottom fve bars on
staff engagement every time, and staff turnover has dropped 25%
78 / spring 2012 / host
• All stock reports printed
on site or emailed
• Single and multiple
outlets
• Liquor and
food stocks
John Fuller Stock Auditors has been established for over 30 years and
carries out stock audits on public houses, hotels, wine bars, restaurants
and sports and social clubs.
John Fuller Stock Auditors can offer Multiple Operators Group Reporting. This will
enable your Area Manager (at a glance) to view reports that are clear, concise and
which offer the ability to benchmark against each outlet, if required.
Our Service Provision
When your stock audit has been carried out and the report is complete, we sit down
and discuss our findings. This process enables you to understand what the report is
telling us and provides you the client and JFSA with the opportunity to find practical
solutions to issues, or ways to assist in you growing your business further.
We can provide practical advice on
Health & Safety and Food Hygiene
issues within your business.
Undertaking a regular stock audit will
help you to identify, not only supplier
price increases on food and drink,
but also to assist in stopping, or
preventing stock deficits occurring.
We will also assist you in making sure
that your profits don't fall due to the
timing of your price rise adjustments,
or that certain stocked products
have had the agreed supplier
discount applied.
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John Fuller Advert 92 x 130 Port_Layout 1 13/04/2012 09:36 Page 1
host / spring 2012 / 79
a year for the last fve years, so there’s a defnite correla-
tion,” says Cockill. “In fact, we don’t really question it any
more.”
Individual pubs can also beneft from an employee en-
gagement strategy, he believes.
“It’s a matter of understanding what it is and putting
things in place to drive it. That can be expensive, we
spend a lot of money on it, but there are some really low
cost elements – the recruitment process, for instance. A
lot comes down to choosing the right people in the frst
place.”
At The Centre
Spirit Pub Company, which demerged from the Punch
leased and tenanted estate last summer, now puts em-
ployee engagement at the centre of its strategy.
“We’ve always wanted to keep the feel of a small business
and want our people to be switched on and go the extra
mile for our customers,” says corporate communications
manager Debbie Poole. “Having engaged employees mean
they do a good job for the company and work well as a
team.
“It’s also about staff retention and ensuring that we have
a high calibre of people who are more likely to want to
progress a career with us.
“We engage team members in a variety of different ways,”
she continues. “A big part of it is giving them responsibili-
ties, so they feel like they’re making decisions that affect
the pub.
“Social activities are also important. We could sit back and
say it’s just business, but we’ll do anything to make it more
fun. You really have to work at that, and as well as making
use of our suppliers we’ve a budget set aside for it so we
don’t forget about the fun stuff.
“But it’s not all about investing. Most of the things we
do to create the right working environment costs little or
nothing. It’s about including people in what you’re doing.”
Get them to take turns editing the
pub’s newsletter
Recognise when they’ve done well.
A thank-you goes a long way
Encourage them to personalise the
staff room
Give them responsibility for
organising an event – or a night out
for staff
Provide a channel for them to
feed back their own ideas on the
business
Make someone manager for the
day. That way they’ll think about the
challenges and gain an empathy for
the way you run the business
Invite different people to chair staff
meetings and set the agenda
Four More
Inventive Leisure’s
four point plan
for employee
engagement:
Recruitment – choose like-
minded people through
behaviourial interviewing that
fnd out how the respond to
different situations. Use a trial
shift to fnd out whether they’ll
like working for you.
Induction – take time to
explain the way you do things
and introduce other team
members. Then follow up
with consistent training and
development, including life
skills.
Recognition – bonuses,
incentives and informal
recognition when you see a job
well done.
Measure the results and listen
to what your people have to say
about working in your pub.
Spirit’s Debbie Poole
offers some practical tips
to help your staff feel
engaged.
Keep them engaged
80 / spring 2012 / host
T
This is an important time of year for tenant recruitment.
Pubcos and brewers alike are on a drive to bring in
experienced, quality operators who can give sustainability to
their pubs, and the competition for talent at the top end has
made it a buyer’s – or rather lessee’s – market.
Andrew Buchanan, director of pub operations at Daniel
Thwaites, reveals the Blackburn-based regional brewer is
willing to sacrifce short-term fnancial benefts to bring in
established multiple operators.
“We have done deals with a number of good quality multiples
where it would have been more proftable for us had we let
the pub to an individual in the traditional way,” he says. “But
with a multiple we feel we have a longer term opportunity.
They are bringing in a high level of skills and systems –
effectively they are a small managed house chain - and that’s
worth buying.
“It’s a marriage of convenience. We’ve recruited a high quality
entrepreneur and they’ve added to their estate at a time when
it’s hard to fnd bank funding to buy pubs. It means there’s
always a deal to be done and we are constantly looking for
high quality operators and fexing our agreements to suit
them.”
Flexible Friends
There’s a limit to the fexibility a brewer can offer, though. As
Buchanan admits, “We’ll still want to tie the beer supply, and
in an ideal world the rest of the drinks too. But we have a big
range, and our operators are happy with that.”
Kent brewer Shepherd Neame also has traditional tenancies
on the market, though property and tenanted trade director
George Barnes says “we’ve always been really fexible about
what we offer”.
“We recruit quite a range of people including experienced
licensees, quite a few of whom have previously run freehouses,
plus ex-pub managers and business people from outside the
trade.”
Key to the attraction of running a pub with Sheps is the
investment that goes into the estate. Tenants can be part of
of a matched investment scheme in which the brewery’s share
of the cost is not ‘rentalised’ – that is, not paid for indirectly
through a higher rent.
“Any investment we make is done in consultaion with the new
licensees so they can effectively have the type of pub they
want,” says Barnes. “I would hope that, as we continue to
upgrade the estate in this way our pubs become increasingly
attractive to operators.”
Practise Makes Perfect
Applicants, though, should prepare for a more rigorous
recruitment process these days thanks to the new industry-
standard code of practice.
“There are a few more procedures to go through and it takes
longer. But the outcome is that we recruit licensees who are
better able to make a success of the pub.”
For all the bad publicity around tenanted pubs, fuelled
by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
probe into the tied house system, Phil Mellows suggests
that the model is proving increasingly attractive to
serious business people.
STella
Tenants
host / spring 2012 / 81
82 / spring 2012 / host
Excel in the Olympics, win in the Euros
and crown it all with a Jubilee.
This summer we’re looking forward to the Olympics, the European Championships and
the Diamond Jubilee. Our pubs are benefting from huge investment, great business
advice and lots of promotional support - so they’ve got everything they need to make
2012 an unforgettable year.

To fnd out more about Punch Taverns and for information on Leased Pub
Opportunities, contact Recruitment on 0844 848 3264.
www.punchpubs.co.uk
Download the
Punch Taverns
iPhone App!
P A S S I O N A T E A B O U T O U R P U B S
...to run your own pub!
THOROUGHLY GOOD OPPORTUNITIES
With great ale
comes great
opportunities...
SCAN ME
Explore our fexible agreements and development
programmes to suit you and beneft you in running
your own business.
Visit our website to see our current opportunities
at www.thwaites.co.uk or call us on 01254 686 840
COME AND JOIN THE FAMILY.
host / spring 2012 / 83
Punch Taverns’ focus is now on its core estate of 3,000
high quality leaseholds. Last year the pubs received
investments totalling £38 million, a ﬁgure set to be
exceeded this year.
“There are great opportunities for entrepreneurs to
work alongside us to invest in a business,” says partner
recruitment manager Alyson Swann. “We are working
hard with multiples, including freetraders looking for
a second site or a low-cost expansion of their estate,
and we can offer them free-of-tie on cask ales and
ﬂexibility on rent and discounts.
“We are being very targeted in our approach to
recruitment,” she adds. “People must have experience
in leisure and hospitality or the right transferable skills
that can make a pub work.
“People who join us are very conﬁdent in their business
skills, they’ve got a plan for the pub, they’ve done their
research.
“We’re looking for people who are going to make a
long term success of the pub and we’re taking the best
opportunity rather than any opportunity.”
For Arkell’s Brewery in Swindon the trick lies in its pubs
becoming a broader business than an old-fashioned
boozer.
“Practically all pubs have multiple income-generating
opportunities and ours are no exception,” explains
dierctor George Arkell.
“Now a publican can sell beer, food – including
take-away - host events and offer overnight
accommodation.”
A number of Arkell’s tenants have seized the
opportunity to take on a second pub. As one of them,
Ross Morgan, says: “If you’ve got good staff and
suppliers, running two pubs isn’t much more difﬁcult
than running one.”
NEW RECRUITS
Hot competition for top talent means
brewers and pubcos are putting extra
effort in to recruitment – and the style of
approach can vary dramatically.
Arkell’s has just staged its third annual
recruitment day, organised by training and
recruitment manager Julie Moss, herself
an ex-tenant who now runs the White Hart
at Whitchurch, Hampshire.
“We get a a lot of people through the
doors,” she says. “At this time of year many
people consider a change in career and it’s
an opportunity for them to meet us face-to-
face and ﬁnd out what the industry’s about.
“We want people who have a concept
of what they’re taking on and a can-do
attitude. It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. You’ve
got to really want to do it. And each pub has
a character that we have to try and match a
licensee to.”
At the other end of the technological
scale, Punch is ﬁnding success with a new
i-Phone app that allows potential licensees
search for pubs to let by location and
investment levels, view images and letting
details in real time and connect to the
recruitment team at the press of a button.
More than 1,200 i-Phone users have
downloaded the app since Christmas.
Thwaites
With a wide range of tenancy and pub lease
agreements, Lancashire-based brewer Daniel
Thwaites has a tailored plan to match your
business and personal needs and make your
dream of running a pub a reality.
The family-owned brewery offers an unrivalled
support package including a three-day brewery-
based training course, dedicated Area Business
Manager, instant access to marketing, catering,
technical services, an expert wine buyer, repairs
and maintenance expertise, a portfolio of award
winning cask ales and fair rents to give tenants
the very best proﬁtability.
For more details; contact Rachel Crossland on
07891239084 or Mike Aspey on 07854 999400
or visit: www.thwaites.co.uk
Punch Taverns
Punch have worked very hard as a business
to create an offer which is attracting
some of the best operators in the trade,
whether freeholders, multiple operators,
microbrewers or people just wanting to take
on a pub.
The ﬂexibility of their leases, the quality of
their pubs and the planned investment of
40 million into hundreds of the pubs is a
compelling message for anyone considering
taking on more pubs
For more details: Tel: 0844 848 3264 or
visit: www.punchpubs.co.uk
Shepherd Neame
Shepherd Neame has more than 300 tenanted
pubs across the South East, including town
centre bars, historic village pubs, “destination”
houses and suburban locals.
The brewery provides award-winning brands,
such as Spitﬁre ale and Asahi lager plus a range
of seasonal beers,and support their tenants
with training and advice . Their dedicated team
of business development managers will help you
achieve your pub’s potential.
You will need to invest between £15,000 and
£35,000, which covers the life of the tenancy
and is sold-on upon your departure. In addition,
an annual rent is agreed on a three-year rolling
contract.
For more details; Tel: 01795 542132 or visit
www.shepherdneame.co.uk
Arkells
Running an Arkell’s pub is one of the best
ways to be your own boss. You have full
responsibility for your business, with the
experience and support of a 160 year old
brewery behind you when you need it.And
they’ve got some great pubs too – located
in busy town centres as well as in pretty
villages across the West of England.
If you want to run a pub, a pub with food,
letting rooms or a small country hotel, their
estate of around 100 pubs could offer just
what you want.
For more details; Tel: 01793 823026 or
eamail: [email protected]
84 / spring 2012 / host
CMYK
CLI ENT
PRODUCT
DETAI L
FI LE NAME
DATE
DI SPATCH DATE PRI NTI NG PROCESS X
SHEPHERD NEAME
HOST MAGAZI NE AD
215mm x 290mm
HOST_MAGAZI NE_AD
03/ 04/ 2012
03/ 04/ 2012 AC
T: +44 (0) 1732 456242
[email protected]
saauk.com
LASER OR ART FI LE MUST NOT BE USED FOR VI SUAL PRODUCTI ON COLOUR MATCHI NG
For more information on becoming a Shepherd Neame tenant please
contact Linda on 01795 542132 or [email protected]
Visit the website to view all our available tenancies
WWW.SHEPHERDNEAME.CO.UK
RUN A PUB
IN THE GARDEN
OF ENGLAND
host / spring 2012 / 85
The Bear
The Bear is typical of the investment brewers and
pubcos are putting into promising pubs. One of
Shepherd Neame’s oldest houses, close to the
brewery in Faversham, Kent, and dating back
to 1507, the Bear was refurbished to the tune
of £60,000 last year in consultation with its new
tenants, experienced licensees Chris and Marie
Annand.
The work retained the, now rare, three-bar set-
up, and a full internal and external
redecoration, including furniture and ﬁ ttings,
restored the pub’s character.
“We’ve returned to a traditional colour scheme
and kept a lot of the memorabilia,” says Chris
Annand. “Our regulars are delighted that the new
look is in keeping with the pub’s heritage and
we’ve also managed to attract new customers.
“There’s a strong market for pubs with
individuality and character and this work’s helped
us meet that demand.”
Arkell’s
A new breed of young tenants are helping revitalise
brewer-owned pubs across the country. Chris Manners
and Leo Johnson run two Arkell’s houses in Oxford, the
Rusty Bicycle and the Rickety Press, both offering high
quality food, cask beer and a certain quirkiness.
The pair had already made a success of the Rusty Bicycle
when Arkell’s bought and refurbished the Rickety Press
and gave them the keys to the new pub last year.
“It’s reassuring to know that if there’s a leak in the roof or
a problem with the building Arkell’s takes responsibility
– just like a residential landlord,” says Manners. “It also
helps that we know everyone at the brewery, from top to
bottom. It makes for a much better working relationship.
“We’ve had a lot of help from them - but ultimately we
know it’s up to us“
John Gibson
Last year successful freetrader
John Gibson took the unusual
step of swapping one of his three
Northumberland freehouses for a
leased pub.
He was operating the Black Bull in
Matfen, the Queen’s Head in Great
Whittington and the Angel in Corbridge
when he came to the conclusion that
the Angel, a coaching inn with 15 letting
bedrooms and a restaurant, was “too
big”.
He sold it and took another Corbridge
pub, the Blue Bell, on a Punch Taverns
lease.
A joint investment of £130,000 between
Gibson and Punch saw it reopen as a
smart village local – with no food.
“The Blue Bell is a drinker’s pub, totally
different to the Angel,” says Gibson. “It
was a gamble but we were conﬁ dent
and it’s worked.”
And it’s worked because of the deal he
was able to do with Punch. A ﬂ exible
lease agreement provides discounts of
up to £160-a-barrel in return for higher
rent. It also gives Gibson the freedom
to buy one cask ale free-of-tie for each
bought within the tie, and the Blue Bell
has drawn a loyal customer base by
being able to offer a rotating selection
of guest ales.
“We’ve been able to keep our drinks
reasonably priced and we’ve passed the
point where it pays us to have taken the
extra discount in return for higher rent.
“We’d like to open another pub
with Punch in the future,” he adds.
“There have been no problems at all
– and I think you’re better off having a
relationship with a landlord than a bank
in the current climate.”
CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
CASE
STUDIES
Is the tenancy market
on the decline?
Apparently not if you
are willing to put in
the time and effort
CASE STUDY
CMYK
CLI ENT
PRODUCT
DETAI L
FI LE NAME
DATE
DI SPATCH DATE PRI NTI NG PROCESS X
SHEPHERD NEAME
HOST MAGAZI NE AD
215mm x 290mm
HOST_MAGAZI NE_AD
03/ 04/ 2012
03/ 04/ 2012 AC
T: +44 (0) 1732 456242
[email protected]
saauk.com
LASER OR ART FI LE MUST NOT BE USED FOR VI SUAL PRODUCTI ON COLOUR MATCHI NG
For more information on becoming a Shepherd Neame tenant please
contact Linda on 01795 542132 or [email protected]
Visit the website to view all our available tenancies
WWW.SHEPHERDNEAME.CO.UK
RUN A PUB
IN THE GARDEN
OF ENGLAND
86 / spring 2012 / host
Soler & Palau
For Ventilation Solutions
To find your local distributor or for further
details please contact us on 08454 700074
or [email protected]
Or visit www.solerandpalau.co.uk
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2012 halfpage 190x130mm FEB 2012_Layout 1 2/9/12 6:53 PM Page 1
host / spring 2012 / 87
t
The Driftwood Spars was already successful
when Louise Treseder returned to her native
Cornwall in search of a business opportunity
ﬁve years ago.
“I wasn’t looking for a full-on licensed
premises like this, more a B&B or a café,” she
admits. “I remembered the Driftwood Spars
from my teenage years and when my mum
told me it was for sale my ﬁrst thought was
that it was too big for me. But when I looked
around it the potential really excited me. I’d
never been so excited about an opportunity.
“So I put together a business plan and to my
surpise the bank agreed to lend me £2million
to buy the freehold. I almost had palpitations!
But I knew I was taking on a good, solid,
established business.”
Still, there were things Treseder knew she had
to do to take the pub up to the next level.
“The bar ran well but the rest of the business
needed a gear-change. I improved and
extended the food and the coffee offer,
expanded the brewery, the live music, and
developed a function and wedding trade.
“There’s loads to it, now. We even have two
shops on the premises, one an off licence
selling bottled beers from our own and other
local microbrewers, the other an artists’
gallery.
“We have an upper beer garden that looks
out over the coast and it’s used by touring
theatre groups which move indoors in the
winter.
“We’ve had a wedding licence for 18 months
and that side of the business is so busy we’ve
got a full time wedding planner to handle all
the bookings. We don’t do formal ceremonies
but that’s not what people want. They’re
interested in the stunning location, good
quality food and good service.”
SOMETHING FISHY
One of the restaurants specialises in seafood,
the other high quality traditional pub food.
Fish and chips is the most popular. Treseder
seems quite keen on it herself.
“I’m disappointted when I eat ﬁsh and chips
anywhere else. Some customers have said it’s
better than Rick Stein’s – I’ll have to go there
one day and ﬁnd out for myself!
“We’ve stuck by good quality ingredients,
we know where they come from and we use
local produce as much as we can,” she adds.
“It’s easy when times are hard to cut back
and get cheap products in, but for us it’s all
about consistency – in the beer, in the food,
the service, and that can be a battle. It’s
something we always have to work hard at.”
PAYING OFF
And it’s paying off. In 2011 the Driftwood
Spars was named among the Times
newspaper’s top ﬁve pubs in the UK, and
earlier this year the Driftwood Brewery,
run by brewer Peter Martin, won Supreme
Champion Winter Beer of Britain with its
Alﬁe’s Revenge ale.
Annual turnover has hit the £1million-mark,
roughly split 50% wet, 30% food and 20%
accommodation. Any cash left over from
paying back the bank is invested in the letting
rooms to maintain the pub’s four star status.
“We can’t spend as much as we’d like on
the pub but every year we make a few small
improvements,” says Treseder.
The fact that the pub is such a seasonal
business – August, the busiest month, brings
in 50% more than the quietist – means the
team there is always having to think up fresh
ideas to get people in.
“If I have anything to say to anyone coming
into this trade for the ﬁrst time, it’s don’t be
scared of trying something new,” she says.
“We’ve a young team here with ideas and we
experiment because you never know what
might work.”
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88 / spring 2012 / host
TURN YOUR CELLAR
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• Energy cost savings and coincidental benefits associated
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Project1_Layout 1 09/03/2012 11:30 Page 1
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Would you like to run
Quiz nights at your Pub?
Quizzical provides afordable quiz/trivia material for
establishments to run their own quiz nights. Choose
from the following 2 options:
The Lo-Cost Option
Quiz rounds on Word documents (to be read by
quizmaster or printed for participants). £1:00 per round
of 10 questions (includes a separate doc. with answers).
A good range of categories available.
The Really Cool Option
Lots of interesting Quiz rounds illustrated and
presented on PowerPoint to be displayed on a screen.
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 Answer sheet for participants
 Information sheets for participants
(where appropriate)
 Model answers for markers
email [email protected] for quotes and more
info or visit our web-site: http://www.quizzical.biz
Would you like to run
your own business?
New Publicans
Information Day
6 March 2012 1pm-8pm
Arkell's Brewery, Kingsdown, Swindon SN2 7RU
Discover the freedom of being an Arkell’s landlord.
visit: www.arkells.com/recruitment
Being an Arkells's licensee isn't just a job, it is a way of life, it’s
challenging, sociable and very rewarding. Arkell's is respected
across the industry for the support it gives its licensees.
Come and find out more at our:
Previous
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training
provided!
host / spring 2012 / 89
I’m thinking of running a poker
night in my pub what are the legal
implications?
You can organise poker games and play
poker in a pub. However, there are strict
conditions on any gaming including
limits on stakes and prizes. Licensing
authorities can take action against
individuals, whose premises do not
comply with these conditions, including
taking away the right to permit poker or
prosecution. They may also review your
Premises Licence.
The general rules are that there can
be no charge for participating, nor a
charge or levy or deduction from the
stakes or prizes. Neither can there be
linked games across premises. Under
18’s cannot participate. The maximum
amount that can be staked by a player
on any game is £5. The total aggregate
amount that can be staked on poker
for a single premises must not exceed
£100 per day and the maximum amount
that can be won on any game of poker
is £100.
The DPS becomes the ‘Gaming
Supervisor’ for the purposes of the
legislation and is expected to take all
reasonable steps to ensure that the
limits are adhered to. A Code of Practice
applies which is onerous. It defnes the
details on the gaming, including age
checking, rules on equipment to be used,
etc. The code actually recommends that
cash poker is not permitted. According
to the codes the Gaming Supervisor
must keep a record of the games played,
number of players, and amount staked,
to ensure that the games are played in
a ‘pleasant atmosphere’. This could be
interesting and is not necessarily an
easy task in the heat of the moment.
Following a recent Environmental
Health Offcer inspection of my pub it
transpires that I am not adhering to
the condition on my licence regarding
doors and windows being closed
during regulated entertainment. The
Offcer threatened me with a review
or even a prosecution. Is that right?
It is entirely possible for the
Environmental Health Offcer to
take action against you through the
Magistrates’ Court for breach of the
condition in the frst place, which
is likely to result in a fne. It would
also result in a criminal conviction
for whoever they take action against,
whether it be you as an individual, or
any company who actually holds the
premises licence. In addition to this,
they could also seek a review of your
premises licence citing public nuisance
as the relevant licensing objective. The
Licensing Committee have a full range
of powers at their disposal from simply
warning you as to your future conduct
right through to revocation of the
licence. For either aspect of this, you
should seek immediate legal advice.
I was recently subject to an underage
test purchasing operation by Trading
Standards. They sent in a 16 year old
boy and unfortunately he was sold an
alcoholic drink by a member of my
bar staff. The member of staff has
been offered a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Do you think he should he accept it?
The best advice is yes. The reason is
this. Acceptance of a Fixed Penalty
Notice does not involve any kind of
criminal record or even formal caution
which is disclosable on a job application
or would have any adverse affect on
the individual accepting it. It simply
involves the payment of £80 within a
period prescribed on the Notice. It is, of
course, possible to challenge the Notice
and request a Court Hearing instead.
The only available argument for the
member of bar staff is that they young
person they served clearly looked over
18 and any reasonable person would
come to that conclusion. This is a risky
strategy as the determination of age is
entirely subjective. The barman would
be relying upon the Magistrates coming
to the same conclusion that he had. If
the decision went the other way, then
the barman would have a conviction
together with the stigma and all of the
adverse implications of having one.
There is also the issue that mounting
a serious challenge to the allegation
in Court would be expensive in itself
with the risk of being awarded another
signifcant amount in prosecution costs
at the end of it.
Q&A legal
Q
Q
Q
A
A
A
From running a poker night, to underage drinking. If it’s a
legal question Nick Arron has the answer.
If you have any questions or queries
of a legal nature, please send to;
Host Magazine, Plum Publications
27 Old Gloucester Street
London WC1 3XX
or email us at:
[email protected]
N.B. Please note, due to space restrictions
we cannot guarantee a response to every
query.
82 / spring 2011 / host
Hendricks gin and tonic with cucumber.
What is your favourite tipple?
James Martin
That’s a diffcult one really. I suppose America
and Australia are service martyrs but I think
Japan is really the leader in terms of service
and food. We can learn so much from how
they work. For me, Japan is amazing.
In which country do you feel the customer
receives the best service?
I never smoked in my life so the ban was
the best thing that could happen. I hated
going to a bar or restaurant and stinking
of smoke. And now, a lot of my employees
have now have given up as well. Three of my
immediate staff, who used to smoke 20, 30,
40 a day have now stopped and they feel so
much better for it. They can now smell things
and you can’t be a good chef if you can’t
taste anything. Smoking certainly affects
your taste buds.
How has the smoking ban affected your
enjoyment of a visit to a bar?
No. It’s certainly getting better, on the whole,
and it’s changed so much over the last 20
years, but I think pubs have this idea of
standardising everything and it all becomes
like McDonalds. Now there’s nothing wrong
with McDonalds - what they do is fantastic
- but when it’s a pub chain and you get
that same tasteless food all the time, there’s
no talent there. You don’t have chefs, you
just have people churning out food from a
trough. To make a pub stand out, you should
strive to do better food all the time.
Do you feel the quality of food is as it
should be in pubs and bars?
We only have ourselves to blame. If you’re
going to dish out all these drinks cheaper
and cheaper and cheaper all the time, then
what do you expect? It’s the same as food
- if all we had to eat was McDonalds and
Burger King at 90p a portion, we’d all be the
sizes of bloody houses. Until the government
does something more about it, it’ll stay the
same. You can’t cram people into the bars
and not expect the stresses on the health
services. I used to work in a hospital; I saw
frst-hand on Saturday night what goes on
and it’s disgraceful.
How do you feel about Britain having the
reputation of binge drinking capital of Europe?
I love British food, British ingredients, but the
way the Japanese look at their food, and the
way that they incorporate their food is just
incredible. For any chef, it’s the one country
they all fnd fascinating.
What is your favourite cuisine?
celebrity questionnaire
90 / spring 2012 / host
Chef and host of Saturday Kitchen James Martin
answers Hosts questionnaire.
J
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Expertise you can trust
The stripe symbol and the letters BOC are registered trade marks of The BOC Group Limited.
Both BOC Limited and The BOC Group Limited are members of The Linde Group, the parent company
of which is Linde AG. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. © BOC Limited 2012
501955-Sureserve Host Magazine advertisement.indd 1 29/03/2012 10:12
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It’s all part of the Theakyons brewer’s
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be along any moment
now. [ [ [ [
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