Pub & Bar preview: Pub food focus

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At this year's Pub & Bar feed your imagination with a visit to the 3663 Food Experience Theatre.Pub & Bar 2006 is an ideal opportunity for...

At this year's Pub & Bar feed your imagination with a visit to the 3663 Food Experience Theatre.

Pub & Bar 2006 is an ideal opportunity for pubs looking to expand their food trade in response to extended trading hours and the smoking ban. The 3663 Food Experience Theatre is the key feature this year, where visitors can pick up innovative meal ideas from industry chefs and learn about new products and eating trends. The theatre area will have plenty going on throughout the day and will cover a range of topics to help pubs and bars build their business. The stand will also feature a central Masterclass area and three interactive "Pod" sections.

The experience will be strictly geared to providing the kind of ideas that publicans can implement themselves back at their pub, and there will be plenty of opportunity to actually participate in the demonstrations.

Ian Holliday, group sales manager for pubs & hotels at sponsor and wholesaler 3663 describes the Food Experience Theatre as "ideal for publicans looking to maximise their business potential by capitalising on current and future consumer trends".

"They can discover new products, meet new suppliers, find ways of increasing wet sales and develop their food offering," he adds. "Making small changes can go a long way. We aim to make the solutions easily available and provide publicans with inspirational tips and advice to really help their businesses grow."

Johnson Diversey is also supporting the Food Experience Theatre by providing professional cleaning throughout.

Masterclass theatre

The theatre will feature plenty of tips on how to make the most of the pub food offering. The useful tricks and simple-to-learn skills on offer will show how an everyday meal can be transformed into a real experience. Included in the line-up will be:

Expert butchers from the Barton Meat Company demonstrating how to get the most from all kinds of meat including the boning and cutting of, among other cuts, T-bone steaks, sirloin steaks, fillet steaks and stroganoff strips. Throughout the demonstration, 3663's own chefs will be creating some unique beef dishes.
3663's executive chefs cooking up some culinary delights, all with simple-to-follow steps which can be easily recreated back at the pub
Steelite presenting a range of crockery, from the simple to the sensational, and demonstrating how presentation of food can make all the difference to profits.

There will be plenty of chances to get involved, with lots of audience participation and opportunities to ask questions.

Pod 1 - Simple solutions with The Real Soup Company

For pubs which find it difficult to think of new ways to dress up the soup of the day, The Real Soup Company will be showing some inventive, and yet simple, ways to spruce up soup dishes and exceed customers' expectations.

Pod 2 - Tantalise your tastebuds with Discovery Foods

Discovery's very own "Mexican Bob" will be demonstrating some the many uses of the humble tortilla. Visitors will have the chance to try their hand at making the perfect wrap before being taken on a culinary experience like no other. From canapés to nachos - and even desserts, the versatility of these products is amazing.

Pod 3 - Fun and frolics with Knorr Collezione Italiana Pizzas

Knorr will give visitors the chance to try their hand at making the most famous Italian dish of them all... pizza! Get to know the family and be introduced to some clever ideas to make the most of this year's sporting events, finding out how the food offering can also increase wet sales.

The Outdoor Experience

With a smoking ban on its way, pubs need to make the most of their outdoor areas. Pub and Bar will provide the perfect opportunity to explore new al fresco ideas with the Outdoor Experience - a 500 sq m area creating three different kinds of outdoor area

a community pub with a large garden
a rural destination outlet
a city centre venue with a "continental" drinking area.

Offering advice and inspiration plus the chance to compare and contrast products from furniture and floral to barbecues, the Outdoor Experience will have everything you need to reinvent your garden, yard or patio.

Barbecues

Great British Barbeque Champion Ben Bartlett from The Union Pub Company will lead the al fresco cooking demonstrations and be joined other members of the British barbecue team.

Celebrity chef Richard Fox, who has written books on the subject of food and beer, will also be there cooking and giving advice and ideas on matching food with beer.

Tropicana Bar

Chill out in our garden bar and get one of your five essential fruits or vegetables per day with a taste of fruit drink Tropicana, which is using Pub & Bar to launch to the on-trade.

Alfresco living

Plants not only add year-round interest and colour to a pub garden or patio, they can make it a great place to hang out and Greenscene will use all its creative skills at the show to design "garden rooms" that actively encourage alfresco living and give your outdoors that designer look.

BII Live

With the industry facing many changes experts, on the BII Live stand will be on hand to provide advice and information on a range of issues from smoking to new legislation, as well as the day-to-day challenges of running a pub such as HR, training and food safety.

Exclusive to Pub & Bar, BII Live will also offer the first 100 visitors to the stand the opportunity to register for the BIIAB Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing telephone assessment at a cost of £11.75, and get the supporting handbook free of charge.

There's also a chance to test you knowledge in the BII Licensing Quiz and win a bottle of champagne.

The experts: