Menu Matching: A joint effort

Related tags Beer

Winning a Pub Food Award once is, of course, a great achievement for any pub. Winning in the same category two years in a row is a truly formidable...

Winning a Pub Food​ Award once is, of course, a great achievement for any pub. Winning in the same category two years in a row is a truly formidable feat, particularly in an area as dynamic as beer and food matching.

With so many pubs having picked up the gauntlet and started stocking a wider range of speciality beers, as well as making menu recommendations on dishes to go with them, things have undoubtedly moved on.

So, for Thomas Rigby's in Liverpool, adding the Beer and Food Matching Pub of the Year 2006 title to a trophy cabinet which already includes Best Beer and Food Experience 2005 was a very welcome surprise.

"We knew it would be hard to win for a second year," says licensee Fiona Hornsby. "So it was great to hear it announced at the Savoy."

The revival of the historic pub, located in the centre of Liverpool, is a success story for Isle of Man brewer and pub operator Heron & Brearley, owner of the Okells brewery operation.

Three years ago the company recruited former Cains brewery boss Steve Holt, and handed him the brief of building them a mainland presence in Liverpool. The acquisition of the 18th century pub was an early coup for the project.

"I had already worked with Steve at Cains," says Fiona. "and I was really excited about his plans this pub."

Beer and food matching came about through the happy combination of a high-quality pub food menu, put in place by head chef Thomas Rockliffe, along with the successful introduction of speciality beers.

The pub's customer base, with a healthy mix of young city centre workers, responded enthusiastically to the idea of selecting a beer to go with their meal. "Of course, there are no rules with beer matching, which is what we say when someone tells us they didn't like a match we recommended," says Fiona.

Thankfully, that doesn't happen often, and the point about Thomas Rigby's success with beer and food matching is that the pub has turned into to an enjoyable part of the meal which adds value, rather than a set of rules which restricts.

Around half the dishes on the menu use beer as an ingredient, and there are more than 40 draught and bottle speciality beers on offer.

"We now change the beer menu about three times a year - we found quarterly was too often," explains Fiona.

"We also run regular beer festivals, with food matched to the theme. Our most successful this year was a German beer and food festival during the World Cup."

Overwhelming evidence of the success of the pub comes from its just-completed acquisition of a neighbouring restaurant, the Courtyard.

"Our plan is to relaunch it in the New Year with a Beer Dinner," says Fiona, "with different beers matched to each course."

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