Harness the great outdoors
Mark Taylor looks at making the most of the al fresco dining experience
For some reason, food simply tastes
better outside. In the summer, dishes and ingredients come alive in the
fresh air, and adding an al fresco side to your business is a great opportunity to
offer customers something just that little bit different.
Al fresco means "in the open air" and there's nothing quite like a relaxed weekend lunch in a sun-dappled pub garden or a romantic dinner on a terrace as the sun sets.
The smoking ban in July will see more and more pubs experimenting with serving food outside and now is the time to start planning.
Size isn't important - whether it's a small courtyard with a few pot plants in the city or a rambling country garden with trees, flowers and expansive views, you can create an oasis of calm for those customers who want to eat outside.
All you need is a few weather-proof chairs and tables, umbrellas and a heater or two just in case the good old British weather turns unexpectedly nasty.
As summer is the main vegetable and salad-growing season, make sure these seasonal treats take pride of place on the menu.
Take advantage of the fact that local growers will have an abundance of tomatoes, lettuces and blink-or-you'll-miss-them delights such as asparagus, broad beans and peas. These seasons are short so make the most of them.
Soft fruits like raspberries, strawberries and blackcurrants should be transformed into simple desserts such as fools, trifles or the classic summer pudding, served with lashings of thick cream. Summertime also means barbecue season, so invest in a decent bit of kit and hold special events. Of course, you don't have to stick to the traditional burgers and sausages - why not theme your evening?
Host a seafood night and throw langoustines and lobsters on the BBQ and serve them with chips and proper home-made mayonnaise. With a chilled bottle of Chablis or Champagne, there is no better way to spend a warm summer evening.
Or do a hog roast with suckling pigs, which you can carve up and serve in buns with apple sauce.
Tips on creating a fresh-air success
l Whatever the size of your al fresco area, make it as attractive as you can with appropriate, comfortable and practical furniture. You want people to linger as long as possible.
l Serve a lighter, healthier menu
in summer with plenty of salads,
sandwiches, cold platters to share and seasonal specials like lobster with Jersey Royals and aioli.
l Make sure there are plenty of summery drinks on the menu - jugs of Pimms, Sangria etc - and also a good selection of soft drinks for children and drivers.
l Invest in a barbecue, a wood-burning oven or a hog roast. If you organise special al fresco evenings that potentially attract up to 100 people at a time, you'll soon get your money back.
l Try to create a safe area for children to play. If the kids are having a good time, the parents will and they'll stay longer.
l Offer customers picnic hampers packed with dishes and snacks made in the pub kitchen.
Barbecue bonanza
Paul Day, owner of the Royal Oak, Poynings, West Sussex
"We have a paved patio area with about 20 seats adjacent to the main buildings. Beyond that we have a very large area laid to lawn but with attractive areas of shrubbery and a number of mature trees. The views of the South Downs from the gardens are spectacular and are a huge draw for the business.
"The lawned areas seat about 200, but even if the tables are full, in fine weather people are happy to sit on the grass. This year I am considering providing picnic blankets for when all the tables are full.
"We've done barbecues since we took over 10 years ago. Our head chef, David Wharton is well known for his barbecues and he won the PubChef Battle of the Barbecues competition in 2005. We have a purpose-built 'barbecue kitchen' - brick-built under a cedar shingles roof. We cook on charcoal as far as possible but we also have a propane gas griddle which serves as a back-up and a holding/finishing area.
"We have a special barbecue menu and still do a classic burger, but it is made from beef sourced from the neighbouring farm where the pedigree Sussex beef cattle are hand-raised and grass fed. In addition we offer a range of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes - all at selling prices comparable with similar dishes on our regular menus."
Garden gourmets
Steve Hill, owner of the Lord Poulett Arms, Hinton St George, Somerset
"We've become quite well known for our garden, which we did ourselves when we took over three years ago. We wanted to give our customers proper tables and chairs rather than balancing on picnic tables and it's made a big difference to our al fresco dining in the summer.
"We have a French-style boules pitch and in the summer we have two leagues that play here on Wednesday and Sunday nights. It has become where everyone in the village gets together for a glass of Pimms and some great food. The boules pitch is a gravel area with lavender all the way around it and when there isn't a boules match on, we fill it with tables for people to eat.
"We have a herb garden that supplies the kitchen, but people can also dine among the herbs, in the wild meadow the other side of the car park, or in the specially-built pergola. People actually phone to specifically book these areas for meals in the summer and we lay tables in those areas."
Warming to a theme
Marcus Wright, manager of the Griffin Inn, Fletching, East Sussex
"If pubs have got the space, then it's a very good opportunity to increase business by having an al fresco option. We've got a terrace with 12 big tables on it and it looks out across 10 miles of National Trust land.
"There's a wood-burning oven and a barbecue on the terrace and we have special themed nights, which are usually organised by our wine suppliers in conjunction with our chefs. If we get requests, we do things like suckling pigs, but last year we had evenings with a Spanish theme and an Italian theme.
In the winter, we have live jazz in the bar on Friday nights and Sunday lunchtimes, which we move to the terrace in the summer. In the summer, we make sure the food is lighter so we have lots of salads, cold dishes and things like lobster.
We've already banned smoking in all but one of the smaller bars and we've found that trade hasn't dropped off at all so we're rather hopeful that we won't lose out at all when the ban comes in officially. We expect the terrace to be even more popular this summer."
