Fuller's grows its own chefs

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM has it that the route to fame - if not always fortune - in the pub food game is to run your own business.

Food pubs that grab the attention of the guide books and reviewers tend to be leaseholds and freehouses, usually with an entrepreneurial licensee. And increasingly, it is even a big-name celebrity chef spearheading the food offer - if not always actually producing the goods in the kitchen themself.

The arrival of names such as Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver into the trade over the past year or so is evidence that pubs are no longer seen as the poor relation of the food trade in comparison to restaurants.

The main driver behind this trend of course, is not that the egos at play in the world of the TV chef have got any smaller, but rather that consumers have voted with their feet.

The casual dining, value-for-money experience of good food in a real pub is, for most people, far preferable to the starchy, have-you-booked approach of the restaurant trade.

However, the managed side of the pub business still has something of a Cinderella image when it comes to giving chefs the scope to demonstrate their creativity.

Delivering a menu generated at head office within the operational limits of a managed format leaves little scope for individual flair, so they'll tell you.

Not so, says Tim Barnes, catering trainer for London brewer Fuller's. The company's 170-odd managed pubs include many locations, which attract a discerning class of diner.

The company's standards are high. At its interim results in November 2006, Fuller's said that 4.3 per cent growth in like-for-like sales in its managed pubs was driven by a focus on cask-conditioned ales, delicious food, great wines, and exemplary service. Fuller's also pledged further investment in developing the food offer in the managed estate.

"We don't do brands, all our pubs are very individual," says Tim. "The competition among food pubs in the City is strong and the quality high. We want our chefs to take the same entrepreneurial approach other pubs have."

All of which sounds great, but requires a healthy supply of chefs with the skills and confidence to deliver. In a market characterised by skills shortages and high staff turnover, it's a tall order.

To help deliver, Fuller's has put in place a beefed-up catering training programme which takes a grow-your-own approach by bringing existing staff up to the standards required.

The full programme covers five levels of training (see box left). Chefs already working at a reasonably high level can be nominated by operations managers for the top-of-the range Chef Development Programme (see box right).

This consists of seven one-day training sessions which build on one another to create a suite of skills tailored to the needs of a reasonably upmarket food pub, as well as helping with internal career development. This approach hopes to overcome one of the perennial issues surrounding chef recruitment - the appropriateness of standard food training to the pub sector industry.

"Although catering colleges give a good basic grounding, pubs have specific needs in terms of delivering high-quality food quickly - skills that aren't always fully taught," says Tim. "By developing our own training programme we can ensure that relevant skills are being acquired."

Case study: Gary Smith, the Banker, London​

So what's the impact of all this training? Gary Smith is chef at the Banker, by Cannon Street Station in London. The pub is one of Fuller's high-profile City pubs and offers freshly made dishes on site. These range from sharing boards to pies, pasties, curries and tarts.

Gary has worked his way up from washer-up in pub kitchens to spear- heading the busy food operation at the Banker, and certainly doesn't believe that working in the managed sector has limited his scope to express himself.

"I buy produce locally, at Borough Market and elsewhere, and if I want to add a new supplier it's no problem," he says.

The pub's menu is unique - "there are other Fuller's pubs in the City, so we all need to have something different to offer" - and daily specials are decided according to the availability of produce.

"I definitely feel that I have creative input into the dishes. I get the support I need from the brewery, but, working with the manager, it's my menu," says Gary.

The Fuller's approach​

There are five levels of food training within the managed business

• Foundation Food Safety: Entry-level training aimed at junior kitchen staff and anybody with a role which includes food handling and service. Covers company hygiene standards and food safety
• Practical catering: Aimed at improving skills for those who already cook in a pub kitchen. Looks at working procedures, financial aspects and practical skills
• Advanced practical catering: Aimed at chefs and managers looking to improve their pub's food offer. Covers cooking skills, preparation for service, stocktaking and business issues
• Effective kitchen management: Aimed at chefs and managers running kitchens. It covers working practices and rotas, company food policy, organising events, overseeing a food operation and increasing sales and quality
• Chef development programme: Aimed at chefs wanting to grow in the industry and become head chefs. It includes seven full-day training sessions covering in-depth topics from desserts and ethnic cookery to the science of food

Chef Development Programme's seven sessions​

• Day one: Today's marketplace: This includes current trends in eating out, growing customer interest in food, and issues of quality, range and seasonality. The chefs are given practical lessons in boning meat and filleting and preparing fish and seafood, as well as in making stock.
• Day two: Science of food: Looking at cultural food influences, the evolution of food, food groups including protein, carbohydrates and minerals, and food allergies. Practical lessons include cooking pot roast lamb, deep-fried squid and baking bread.
• Day three: Events calendar: Looking at menu writing and achieving balance, costing a detailed recipe, and beer and food matching.
• Day Four: Cooking for a special diet: Covering coeliac, vegan and vegetarian diets, as well as stock control, wastage, ordering and setting the sale price of a dish. Practical cooking includes chicken jambalaya with corn bread and stuffed cabbage leaves.
• Day five: Desserts: Including a comparison of home-made desserts with bought-in products, as well as practical lessons in making a range of pub favourites from sticky toffee pudding to chocolate tart.
• Day six: Basket of ingredients exercise: This includes producing a range of buffet menus for different occasions and dietary requirements, and promotions linking food and drink.
• Day seven: Ethnic cookery: This covers cooking Thai and Indian menus, as well as reviewing many of the skills developed in previous sessions.