The French connection

Related tags French cuisine

In an area bereft of decent food pubs, two French sisters are making a go of it with a bistro-style pub. HUMAYUN HUSSAIN reports

It's not very often that one sees two French sisters take on the burgeoning British gastropub scene.

But then Sabine Letort, aged 31 and her sister, Vanessa, who is a year younger, don't exactly like calling their pub, Somers Town Coffee House, a "gastropub". They much prefer the term "bistropub", which is very much in keeping with their origins in France.

The two arrived in London from Normandy seven years ago, with Sabine's background in business studies and Vanessa's in science. Yet, by the time they had reached the British shores, the sisters had already chalked up a fair bit of experience working in various French restaurants and brasseries. They started doing the same here, though always with the intention that one day they would end up running their own pub.

"If you try and launch a food-and-drink-related business in France," says Sabine, "there is too much competition, not to mention the bureaucracy of paperwork, government officials and hefty taxes. So the more receptive business environment here in the UK, plus the fact that both Vanessa and I are big fans of the British gastropub culture, because it's done a lot for modern British cuisine, made us want to open our pub here."

But Sabine also admits that the downside of launching a venture in Britain is that property prices are more expensive here compared to France. Either way, what neither sister wanted to do was to emulate British gastropub cooking. That goes some way to explaining their "bistro-style" concept.

"It was very simple for us," states Sabine, "because what we wanted was an English pub premises that offered home-made bistro-style French food. There is definitely a niche for that kind of food in pubs in the UK."

With enough work experience under their belt and a clear-cut idea of their aspirations, Sabine and Vanessa set about looking for a pub they could run in London. Then Vanessa saw the current Chalton Street site, a Grade II listed building near Euston station, which had clearly seen better days. Having done their research and prepared a comprehensive business profile, the sisters convinced the landlord, brewers Charles Wells, to let them take over the pub. Once they were in the driving seat, in May last year, the two took a long hard look at the business.

"We realised during the course of the following few months," explains Sabine, "that as we had no kitchen or facilities to offer food, the drink sales were gradually declining. We always knew that we would be offering cooked food, but we hadn't envisaged how soon we would have to do that."

So the sisters enlisted Charles Wells in the refurbishment, shut the pub down for six weeks and concentrated on creating a kitchen. Some of the fixtures and fittings, such as the wood panelling and original fireplace, were retained, but otherwise the new look was achieved with clean and subdued tones. The pub re-opened in December and, with a French chef overseeing a team of four in the kitchen and about eight part-time front-of-house staff, the sisters went about serving unpretentious Gallic food.

"We noticed the difference in sales almost immediately," says Sabine, "particularly with the wines customers were now ordering with their food."

At lunchtimes, the menu is made up of light fare such as French onion soup, home-made lasagne or even steak sandwiches. The evening menu is a little more ambitious, though still quite grounded, with dishes such as confit of duck with parsley baby potatoes and vegetables, or mussels cooked in white wine and herbs. But the à la carte menu is supplemented by daily-changing blackboard specials that can include anything from butternut squash and curry soup to roasted quail with

raisins and puy lentils.

"What we don't want to do in our menu," notes Sabine, "is to offer dishes that may be too complex. But Vanessa and I are quite picky on where we do our sourcing. The meat and vegetables we get locally, but when it comes to dairy products such as butter and cheese, we get those from Normandy. We would never compromise on that.

"It's also important for us that we encourage our customers to match the right kind of beer and wine with their food. Women like to drink Erdinger for instance, much more so than men, especially if they are having salad or just snacking on a plate of cheese. Men really go for the stronger beers such as Kirin and Red Stripe. The wines we chose have sold very well, but we are aware that we need to increase our range. I think because we're almost an all-French team in the pub, customers automatically expect our wine list to be a lot more comprehensive."

So any regrets for the two French sisters on opening an English pub?

"None at all," says a smiling Sabine. "The only thing I would add is that the British are very fussy about their beer. If some customers don't get the right sort of head on their pint, they start complaining!"

On the menu

Starters

Goat's cheese pear Tatin, served with

salad - £5.50

Deep fried brie, served with a berry

coulis - £4.50

Mains

Charcoal-grilled chicken, served with a white wine and wild mushroom sauce and

home-made mash - £8.50

Braised lamb, served with a honey and rosemary sauce, gratin Dauphinoise

and vegetables - £11.95

Desserts