Historic values
The Blue Anchor's award-winning pub food is making waves. John Porter reports.
If Winston Churchill or two of the unfortunate victims of Jack the Ripper were to look for their favourite London watering hole today, they might find themselves somewhat baffled. The Blue Anchor pub no longer stands on the corner of Chancery Lane, where it was opened in 1865 by Scottish brewer William Younger. However, it is located just around the corner in Rolls Lane. And, strangely enough, it can also be found in Delray Beach, Florida.
Confused? It seems that when the original site of the Blue Anchor was redeveloped in the 1980s, the pub was relocated to its current, purpose-built site nearby. However, the original facade - leaded windows, Victorian wooden doors - was carefully disassembled by a US entrepreneur and rebuilt in Florida.
The Stateside version of the Blue Anchor markets itself as a traditional English pub, offering exotic delicacies such as fish 'n' chips and sausage rolls to thrill-seeking US holidaymakers. It trades strongly on the original pub's historic links with London, including aforementioned regulars Mr Churchill and the ill-fated Victorian ladies of the night.
However, the original has to work a bit harder, since well-known historic customers are two-a-penny in any central London pub worth its salt. The approach has been, at least since lessees Maureen and John Evans took over five years ago, to raise its game considerably in the food stakes.
The Blue Anchor is now operated by Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises (S&NPE). Parent company S&N acquired the William Younger business though McEwans some time back.
Against some stiff competition, the pub won the Best Food Pub title in the S&NPE Warm Welcome Awards 2004, earning Maureen and John, along with their son Ross, £3,000 in travel vouchers.
The menu focuses on traditional, home-made food. The offer is seasonal, with the winter offer featuring good hearty pies, roasts and sausage and mash, while in the summer it varies to include salads and barbecues. Sandwiches and soups are specialities as are the desserts - also home-made - which in the run-up to Christmas include Maureen's excellent mince pies.
Maureen's influence can also be seen elsewhere in the menu. Originally from Belgium, the art of matching beer and food is second nature to her, and there is a definite Belgian and French twist to the classic pub food offer. Mussels - one of the signature dishes of the house - are a firm favourite. Chilled Gazpacho and penne with roast vegetables and goat's cheese have also featured with great success.
However, it was a very different story when John and Maureen took over the lease in February 2000. The pub is very much in a business rather than a residential area, with no weekend trade, making the lunchtime offer crucial.
Despite this, and with a great many other pubs, restaurants and cafes in the area competing for trade, the Blue Anchor menu the Evanses inherited was very much of the bog standard freezer-to-microwave-to-plate variety.
"We knew we could do better," recalls John. "We knew that there was plenty of potential for the pub to increase its food trade." That feeling wasn't based so much on gut instinct as on the Evans' family's in-depth knowledge and experience of the London pub trade. This goes back at least four generations when Ross, who runs the pub alongside his parents, is factored in.
The Cock Tavern on Great Portland Street, now one of Samuel Smith's flagship London pubs, was run by the family for 82 years - initially by John's grandfather. Before taking over the Blue Anchor, John and Maureen managed another pub - the Wheatsheaf, just off Tottenham Court Road.
Their experience of catering to the tastes of the London business and tourist crowd has stood them in good stead at the Blue Anchor. In an area where it is notoriously difficult to create a sense of community, around 80 per cent of customers are regulars.
"We're off the beaten track, right at the end of the passage," says John. "We've relied on word-of-mouth to build trade." Maureen adds: "We've reached the stage now where we can tell straight away if someone comes in who hasn't been to the pub before."
The Evanses go to great lengths to make sure the regulars are getting what they want. One recent innovation, added by Ross, has been a suggestion box, with customers encouraged to give feedback on dishes on the menu, as well as to let hard working chef Antonio know if there's anything different they fancy.
"As you can imagine, we've had a few unprintable suggestions," says John. "But overall it's helped us to develop the menu." Recognising that many customers, particularly at lunchtime, will be in a hurry, the emphasis is on friendly and efficient service with food delivered promptly to the table straight from the kitchen.
Of the accolade from Pub Enterprises, John comments: "Maureen, Ross and I put a lot of thought and effort into creating a special experience at the Blue Anchor and it's great to have these efforts recognised by the company with such a prestigious award."
S&N Pub Enterprises commercial director, Martyn Gray, says: "Maureen and John have drawn on their combined experience to put their own stamp on the menu and this has really helped to make eating at their pub a unique experience. The judges were unanimous in their decision and could not fault the pub."
Pictured top: Ross Evans proudly holds the certificate awarded to the Blue Anchor as part of the Pub Enterprises Warm Welcome Awards 2004.
