Food awakening
Sue Coughlan, licensee at Shepherd Neame pub the Sun Inn, in Faversham, Kent, offers words of reassurance for
any would-be kitchen wizards
"We started 10 years ago and, by building it up slowly, we've trebled the amount of food we do. But even today, food is only about 30% of our total turnover. We are very keen to keep it as a pub.
We are very lucky in having an award-winning butcher and an award-winning baker practically next door to us. Both are very handy and we use them to make our hufkins - traditional Kent filled rolls.
Fillings include bacon and Brie, roast beef, and Spitfire sausages, made with the Shepherd Neame beer. We have a big photo of a hufkin in case people don't know what one is.
The arrangement works for the butcher and the baker as well. If people like the sausages we serve here, we tell them where we get them and they can pop to the butcher's. Likewise with the bread. One of our most popular offerings is Welsh rarebit with German mustard toasted on a hufkin.
We try to do a lot of home-made pub fare. We have a curry of the week - such as chicken dhansak. It's not difficult and, once again, it's something that people like to eat.
As you get more into food, it's quite possible to make your own pies as well.
Retaining a pub atmosphere
We never forget that we are, first and foremost, a pub. As such, you don't want to put people off by having all the tables laid all the time. This will damage your wet sales. As a town pub, we get a lot of people who just want to drink, or just want a drink and a snack.
We also serve jacket potatoes with various fillings and sandwiches. Plus chips. You can't get away from chips!
Other simple things we do include salads and a plate of mixed olives with dipping oil. These are very popular in the summer, and they're simple and tasty.
If you create too much of a restaurant feel, it can deter people. Even people who come to eat visit a pub like ours because it has a more relaxed, pub feel to it.
Nowadays, we do offer more complicated food, but it's about starting from a concept that says you're a pub, not kicking out all the drinkers and turning into a restaurant. So we just have a jug of knives and forks and people can help themselves when they want to eat.
I think that starting off with a simple offer can help define your pub and maintain the standards and atmosphere that you want.
Too many pubs have discovered that it all changes when you start doing food, but with the right planning and approach, it doesn't have to be like that."
