Crowning Glory

James Burn and Penny Hawes have only been running the food-led Crown in Dialpost, West Sussex for a few months but already it looks likely that they will double the takings of the previous owner. Fiona McLelland gets an update.

The Crown has been open for four months and James Burn and fiancé Penny Hawes are revelling in their new venture.

Turnover has far exceeded expectations, locals have taken the pub to heart and the couple have not had one argument. Their aim has always been to be a food-led pub, but keeping the local drinkers happy too.

James and Penny recently ate at a local gastropub and were shocked by the cost of the meal - the bill amounted to more than £80 - and disappointed by the quality of food. Although gastropubs have their place, that's not what James wants for the Crown.

"There are lots of gastropubs in this area, all done up and flashy. But it's been done too much and can get boring. I want the Crown to be an individual local pub that serves great pub food."

And the formula is working. "We are averaging more than £6,000 per week, which is pretty healthy. We had wanted to meet the previous owner's yearly takings. He was doing £150,000 but the way these figures are going we're heading towards £300,000."

One of the major selling points for the pub is the service, explains James.

"Recently we had booking for a group of four families. I knew I wasn't holding enough stock for that, so I called them and asked what they wanted to eat. I went down to the butchers and got it all in. We got the booking and they got great personal

service."

And through Penny's dedicated customer service upfront and James's flexibility, some customers now know that they can phone up to book in advance and order what they fancy. James says it's an excellent service to offer and one that is easily executed.

"If someone asks for something, I can just buy lots of it and put it on the board for other customers that evening as well. Last week we had a group phone us all wanting Chateaubriand. We did it for £40 for two."

Friends and family were all drafted in originally to give the pub some tender

loving care and a good lick of paint, but the major work will be done in January. But already, the touches that James and Penny have added have paid off.

"Putting sofas in the conservatory (this used to house a pool table) has proved really popular and we regularly get the ladies coming in on a week night to drink the bubbles," says James.

It also gives the pub extra covers as customers will often eat in the conservatory.

Penny's talented dad is currently throwing himself into the project and is in the process of hand-making thick pine dining tables to furnish the pub. He has found some old church pews for sale and has spruced them up to replace the velour chairs. His art is also displayed in the pub.

Although autumn has been mild, there have been a few nights suited to a roaring fire. One evening was a bit hotter than planned.

James said: "The first time we made a fire, we actually set the place alight. There was a bird's nest up the chimney. But I got the fire extinguisher out and all the

customers took it well."

But there have been more serious incidents. Thieves recently targeted the Crown. They stole the till which contained £300 as well as Penny's car. The couple were upstairs at the time. The pub was closed before services and although the couple had just gone upstairs, even that failed to deter the burglars. Penny and James are now planning to get a dog for the pub.

More sickening, says Penny, was that one week prior to the burglary the charity box had been taken from the bar.

Despite the setbacks, James and Penny say they are still having the time of their lives.

Everyone gets a slice of the pie

James has to be content with a small kitchen and limited equipment until the Crown gets its revamp in January, but he is up and running with a full menu.

He puts on four starters, eight to 10 main courses and five desserts each evening.

Steaks are popular with the customers and although James is currently improvising with inherited equipment and is using an old double-sided grill plate for the steaks, he's impressed with the results.

The Crown customers like their traditional food, but James says: "When I put on

something a little different, like aubergine rarebit served with bubble and squeak, it always goes down well."

James's hand-cut chips are also popular and his pies are going down a treat

"We regularly get calls to ask if we've got a pie on the menu. Last week I had a lot of turkey and ham in and that did me for the week. The pies have proper shortcrust pastry. I bake eight portions and I'm only heating a couple of portions at a time so each person gets a great pie. On quiet days we make lots of pastry, semi-roll it and put it in the freezer so it can be defrosted in an hour.

"Space is limited so it gets tough when we're busy. We've got to be clever and prepare when we can. We do things like the sticky toffee pudding because it freezes so well.

"We also make our own mince here. It may not be a time-saver but it's a great money-saver."

His home-cooked honey-glazed ham, free-range eggs and chips are a favourite at lunchtimes (£6.95). "I believe it's the best ham, eggs and chips you'll get. You can go to a place and get frozen chips and ham from the packet for the same price."

And on a Sunday, the roast beef (£12) is the firm favourite. "It's £4 more expensive than the pork, but everyone seems to love it."

And James has started to do a bit of game. "We got a haunch of venison in recently from Shanktenbury Game and did some steaks, which were very popular. We simply diced some of it and braised it in red wine, and also made some great venison burgers from the trimmings.

"Penny's brother-in-law is a pest controller and brought us in about 15 rabbits recently. I adapted a Simon Hopkinson recipe and did a drunken rabbit. I coated the meat in sugar, a bit of salt and spices and made the sauce with some brandy. It was delicious."

Keeping it local - suppliers

Butcher: SK Hutchings, Partridge Green, West Sussex

Game: Shanktenbury Game, Steyning, West Sussex

Seafood: Network Seafood, Newhaven, East Sussex; Pure Oyster, Pease Pottage, West Sussex

Speciality: Maws Fine Food, Hawkhurst, Kent; Don Quijote, Worthing, West Sussex

Fruit and Vegetables: local farmers Derek and Vicky Crush; BK Wholesale (for anything can't get locally)

Cheese: The Cheese Man, Portslade, East Sussex

Bread: Barnards Bakery, Henfield, West Sussex

Wine: Amphora Wines

Latest menu

l Onion, white wine and garlic soup £3.95

lTurkey ham pie with short-crust pastry, local vegetables and roast potatoes £9

l Local wild rabbit with linguini, tomato and chives £9

l Banana and black pepper parfait £4.50

New ideas

Discount diners card

A discount diner's card gives customers a 10% discount on food from Monday to Thursday, and builds up a database for marketing purposes.

Wine-tasting dinner

For £25, customers get bubbles on arrival, and tastings of two white and two red wines, from which they choose two glasses to accompany their three-course dinner.

School dinners

Customers came dressed in their school uniforms and dined on dishes such as shepherd's pie and spotted dick.

Quiz night

There's a quiz night at the Crown once a month and all entry fees go into a charity box.

From marketing to managing the local

Penny gave up a career in marketing to set up the Crown with James.

"I find the front-of-house role has come very easily to me. I know I'm good at dealing with people. But what I do find difficult is that it's constant. There's so much to do. Sometimes we'll work until midnight and realise I have been on the go for 20 hours."

Penny has been working hard to get the beer