Ramsay's kitchen dreams

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Manager and chef Michelle Ramsay tells Sheila McWattie about the benefits of a menu makeover at the Kings Head, Cubbington, Warwickshire Why our...

Manager and chef Michelle Ramsay tells Sheila McWattie about the benefits of a menu makeover at the Kings Head, Cubbington, Warwickshire

Why our business is a success

We're establishing a reputation for providing a traditional, well-priced menu that suits all pockets. All our dishes are home-made on the premises, using locally-sourced produce where possible. Our location next to the church at the heart of the village means a high demand for wedding parties, christenings and birthday celebrations. Business people, church bell-ringers and rambling and cycling club members all eat here regularly. Our customers rely on us to provide food that suits them, and the Kings Head has become a lively place at the heart of the community, attracting plenty of visitors as well as locals of all ages.

Our menu makeover is actually a prize we won in a Moy Park Foodservice competition. It is built around Moy Park's on-line menu-planning solution, Menu Makers, with support from catering development guru Ben Bartlett. It has helped us develop our food range, provided a professional signwriter to enhance our chalk-board menu, wine list and A-board, and assisted us in launching an internet promotion. Having spent five years at a pub where the menus were limited, I wanted to develop a more ambitious food offer. From a couple of orders a day, demand has grown to at least 250 covers a week.

My best promotions

We aim to offer good quality food at very reasonable prices. Senior citizens are offered a 20% discount and we create special menus celebrating Burns' Night, St Valentine's Day, Easter and Christmas, when we offer traditional and more adventurous choices. Our Christmas menus were particularly successful and prompted many customers to eat here regularly. We enjoy organising outings to Cheltenham races, including breakfast before we set off and a meal afterwards.

How I recruit and motivate staff

Word of mouth recruitment suits our rural location. We are considering giving our staff vouchers, days out or financial bonuses to help motivate and reward them.

My best-selling dishes

We're gaining a sound reputation for home-style cooking. Favourites include home-cooked honey & cider ham with fresh pineapple and fried egg (£6.50), chicken breast stuffed with Cumberland sausage wrapped in Parma ham (£6.95), Abbott Ale battered haddock and chips (£6.50), and local faggots and mushy peas (£5.95). Our home-made pies are big sellers and our Sunday roast at £6.25 offers outstanding value. In fact, demand is so high that we only accept advance bookings.

Our menu

As the chef here, I'm assisted by Tammy O'Gara and work closely with Wayne Quinlan, the licensee, to ensure our main menu changes monthly while retaining favourites. Our lighter bar menu offers sandwiches, baguettes and paninis and a Ploughman's lunch of local cheeses or ham served with home-made spicy apple & mango chutney, pickled onions and fresh apple. Moy Park Thai chicken goujons are a big hit. All dishes include a range of seasonal veg, and the vegetarian Sunday lunches have been so well-received that we have up to seven dishes on our menu every week.

My best investment in the past 12 months

Our fantastic staff are invaluable. When we took over this licence in April 2007, we had all hands on deck. Everybody worked day and night - the last paint pots were cleared away just before we opened our doors at noon on Good Friday. New garden furniture, an awning and heaters on our sunny patio at the back of the pub provide a pleasant area for smokers and outdoor diners, and the benches at the front are popular with our locals.

Marketing and PR

We haven't had to advertise formally as our best PR comes from our loyal customers, who spread the word very effectively. Customers remark on how good our chalk-boards look: an artistic member of staff updates them. Customers are increasingly using the internet to find out about us, especially if they want to book in advance. When our prize of one year's internet support expires in April, we hope to take on our own domain name and maintain our website. We only accept telephone bookings, but that could change if we develop our own site. I'm always willing to share my recipes for favourite meals - curried parsnip soup is very popular with walking groups, who often make a point of booking tables here before they set out on their rambles.

My top tip

Listen carefully to what customers want. We incorporate customers' ideas as well as our own, and always offer innovative dishes as well as traditional food. Selling food at affordable prices has remained our top priority - we want to avoid falling into the stereotype of the "gastropub" and isolating our locals, who are essential to our trade. We never forget that the Kings Head is a pub, first and foremost: we offer good hand-pulled beers and a small wine selection. We are lucky to have the Warwickshire Brewery here in Cubbington, which provides our guest ale Best Bitter or Lady Godiva, which we alternate with Hobson's Mild - voted Champion Beer of Britain 2007.

Facts 'n' stats

Address: Kings Head, Church Hill, Church Lane, Cubbington, Warwickshire, CV32 7JY

Tel: 01926 887142

Owners: Nine-year lease with Enterprise Inns

Turnover: est £313,000 excl VAT

Number of staff: Four full-time and four part-time

GP food: Apr 2007 - Jan 2008, 39.8%

GP drink: Apr 2007 - Jan 2008, 52.8%

Covers a week: 300

Food sales as % of turnover: est 14%

Please note that we have not yet completed a full year's trading

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