Well-starred venture

Having cut his teeth at the Michelin-starred Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire, chef James Mackenzie opened the Pipe & Glass in the East Yorkshire village of South Dalton last March. Mark Taylor reports

James Mackenzie 32, grew up in Filey, North Yorkshire, and trained at Scarborough Technical College, where he was named Chef of the Year.

After gaining experience in top kitchens around the country, including Michelin starred establishments and gastropubs, he returned to Scarborough to become head chef at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, where he cooked for well-known figures such as Michael Caine and Sir John Mills.

After working for several years at the Nailers Arms gastropub in the Midlands, where he met his fiancée, Kate, James returned to North Yorkshire to work as head chef for Andrew Pern at the Michelin-starred Star Inn at Harome.

James says that working at the Star was invaluable for a number of reasons. "Utilising the best seasonal produce from local suppliers/farmers and building good relationships with them was one of the highlights," James says. "It was great seeing the success of Andrew and Jacquie Pern, feeling part of that and realis-

ing it can only be achieved through constant hard work and dedication and consistent quality of food, service and giving people what they want."

James stayed for three years, while Kate managed the restaurant, and in early 2006 the couple bought the freehold of the 15th-century Pipe & Glass Inn, in South Dalton, East Yorkshire, on the site of the original gatehouse to Dalton Park, the residence of Lord Hotham.

James says: "The biggest surprise about setting up on my own is that we're so busy - that has made it possible to reinvest and move things on faster than planned.

The biggest challenge has been recruiting the best staff who understand what we are trying to achieve. We have a really great team who have been loyal for a long time, and we just need to build up that team."

Why my food business is a success

I think it was very much a case of getting our hands on the right place at the right time. When we first came here, the locals heard that a chef from a Michelin-starred place was taking over and thought the food would be minimalist and expensive. We purposely set not to be like that - we're well aware that this is a pub, not a fine-dining restaurant. Having experience and know-

ledge of this industry also helped. Kate and I live, sleep and breathe this business, but we make sure we do what people want.

My best promotions

We have a section called "pub grub classics" on our specials blackboard and these always sell very well. They include chicken Kiev with new season garlic butter (£9.95) and a rump steak sarnie with fried onions (£5.95).

We also run a "little people's menu" for children aged under 10. This is broken down into starters (£3.50), main courses (£5.50) and puddings (£3.50) and includes prawn cocktail with brown bread and butter, pea and ham risotto, roast chicken breast with smashed swede and carrots and mash, and a little chocolate fondant pudding with chocolate sauce and ice cream. We also do small portions of dishes on our normal menu and specials board if we can.

How we motivate staff

At first, finding staff was a nightmare. We were very aware that we would get a lot of attention because of my connection with the Star at Harome, so we had to set the standard with staff and stick to it. We've had a huge turnover of staff since we opened and we have three people left out of the original team. The rest have come and gone, especially on the chef side.

We've found that local papers are the best way to advertise around here. We've invested in staff by giving everybody a share of the tips, right down to the cleaners and people who do the washing up. We also organise staff days out and informal wine tastings for them.

Best-selling dishes

For starters, the constant winner is our "proper prawn cocktail" (£6.95), made from really good ingredients. Also selling well is the locally-shot hare, ham hock and foie gras terrine (£7.95) and, when it's in season, the local asparagus with poached egg and lovage velouté and crispy bacon (£6.95).

For mains, the grilled sirloin steak with thyme and sea-salt sautéed potatoes, roast shallots and deep-fried "Yorkshire blue" fritter (£15.95) is always a winner, as are the guinea-fowl coq au vin with wild garlic mash (£14.95) and the Harpham-raised spring lamb with braised mutton and kidney faggot, champ potato, broad beans, nettle and mint sauce (£14.95).

The best-selling desserts are lemon verbena burnt cream with spiced red berries (£5.95), sticky toffee pudding with stout ice cream and walnut praline (£5.45) and warm treacle tart with baked Yorkshire rhubarb and egg-nog ice cream (£5.95).

Menu philosophy

We have gone along the local and seasonal route, with a menu that changes every month. We work to an average GP of 60%, but it's not set in stone and if I get something in which the chefs and I like cooking, I'll put it on the menu. Dover sole always sells well, but I'll never put it on over the £20 mark because I'd rather sell them all and make 50% profit. Other dishes such as salmon fishcakes make a better GP so it can vary between 45% and 75%. It's all about charging what you think people will pay.

Best menu innovation

Mutton and kidney faggots, served with a prime cut of Burdass lamb. The dish has been well received by all our customers who seem to appreciate the fact that we're making use of mutton and offal.

Best investment

We had a £100,000 kitchen refurb in January, including a new stove, new floors and canopies. In the first year, we had only really replaced items when we could afford to, but we were reaching the point where we couldn't carry on with three six-burner stoves, only one of which worked properly. We were doing 1,000 covers a week and it was just annoying staff - tension levels were high because the chefs were unable to use the cooking methods they would normally choose.

This was the first pub in the country to install an Athanor range, which cost £45,000, but it was worth every penny. If you were a rep, you'd want a nice car to drive, so I thought as I'm standing at the stove for 14 hours a day, I'd install the best range I could. It was a statement about being serious about what we're doing here.

Marketing and PR

Although we haven't done any advertising, we've maintained a high profile since we opened through winning several awards from local magazines and newspapers, including Yorkshire Dining Pub of the Year in Yorkshire Life - that has brought a lot of new customers in. We're also in the Good Food Guide, Good Pub Guide and Alastair Sawday's Pubs & Inns Guide.

I organise quite a few cookery demonstrations at local events, which helps keep up our profile. These little things soon add up - it's all about getting our name out there and making people aware of what we're doing.

Business plans for the future

We're adding letting rooms to the pub and are having the plans drawn up at the moment. So many people have asked us if they can stay at the pub, but we decided not to do it until we were absolutely sure we could cope with it in terms of money and staffing. We wanted to do it properly. We want people to come here and experience the quality, right through from the restaurant to the rooms.

Customer service

It's all about consistency, knowing what people want and really knowing what regular customers like. I always say to my front-of-house staff that the priority is to be friendly and honest. I don't expect everybody to know everything about the wine list