Table Talk with Carl Smith

Publicans from food-led pubs are leading a quiet revolution in Britain.

Across the country they are building fabulous businesses selling great food and drink, supporting local farmers and manufacturers and turning their customers into discerning "foodies".

These publicans - and pub chefs - have an enormous bank of knowledge about food, drink and business that can help others make a success of their pubs. They've also got some firmly-held views that they want to shout about. So we at The Publican have given them a voice.

Each month a successful, award-winning licensee will give us his or her opinion, tips, advice and viewpoint on all sorts of issues.

Next up is Carl Smith, licensee of the Guinea and the Windmill, both in Mayfair, London. There's been a lot of talk about a revolution in the world of pub food with the advent of gastropubs. Absolute rubbish. Gastropubs are great but they do not symbolise a revolution in pub food.

There will be a revolution in pub food, when you can walk into the Dog and Duck or the Red Lion and order a decent plate of ham, eggs and chips. Home made chips, free range eggs and properly cured ham.

Gastropubs are appearing because chefs (at long last) have realised that pubs provide a great opportunity to own or lease your own business. Pubs are user-friendly and attract customers who like the informality of the friendly local. Many gastropubs specialise in (what is described as modern British), others in Iberian or North African cuisines. Some are very successful, others not so.

Beware though. Gastropubs are most likely to work when they are owner-chef driven. The level of expertise required to produce gastro-pub food, means that if you are not cooking it yourself, you will probably have to pay a chef £350 to £450 per week. It doesn't end there either. You will need a quality second chef to cover days off and holidays too. Consistency is vital and you can't afford to run dodgy sessions when you've only got the B team on.

Remember, sales are vanity but profit is sanity! There's no point in increasing sales if they're eaten up by staff costs.

There is another way to serve great pub food and make a profit. I begin with the premise that the best pub food is often that which has had the least interference from the chef. In other words, buy great ingredients and let those ingredients speak for themselves. I take you back to the example of the ham, egg and chips. Don't underestimate how simple most people's tastes are. Just make sure your food is fresh, seasonal and where possible, sourced locally.

If you want to find out more about how to make a success of pub food using real food, check out The Campaign for Real Food website www.thecarf.co.uk