David Hancock talks food, favourite ingredients and franchising with chef Jonny Butterfield of the Railway Hotel in Faversham, Kent
Smack opposite Faversham station, the Railway Hotel looks every inch the classic Victorian town pub, built of red brick with etched windows and a time-honoured bar. It was a smoky boozer until respected landlord Chris Maclean took the helm for owners Shepherd Neame. With an empty dining room adjacent to the bar and no interest in doing food himself, he approached chef Jonny Butterfield to run the food operation in September 2006.
Conran-trained Jonny was running his bespoke sandwich business, Jonny Sandwich, at the Goods Shed, the all-week farmers' market next to Canterbury's West Station.
He jumped at the offer, seeing it as a "fantastic opportunity to get back into the restaurant business as I didn't need to invest a great deal of money at the time". Having been out of the restaurant game for four years, life back in the kitchen came as a real shock when the Dining Room opened in January 2007.
Jonny says: "I didn't realise how difficult it would be and soon thought 'what have I done?' as I was struggling to move things forward in the kitchen and the place was busy from the start. Thankfully, Anthony North, who I met through the Goods Shed, was around and he teamed up with me last April and we haven't looked back since."
Local boy Anthony served an impressive apprenticeship: with Peter Kromberg at the Hotel InterContinental in London and Michel Bourdain at the Connaught, as well as cooking for Jean Christophe Novelli at Maison Novelli. There followed a spell cooking pan-Asian food before his interest and passion for locally-sourced produce led him to the Goods Shed and working for some of the producers, including cooking demonstrations at the British Food Festival in Kent.
Menu philosophy
We really believe in sourcing fresh local
ingredients, the importance of reducing food miles and supporting local farmers and the community, a philosophy that has been hugely influenced by our experience working at the Goods Shed.
We mix with the local farmers, producers and suppliers who have stalls there and this is where we met and worked with local foragers Miles Irving and Fergus Drennan, the "Roadkill" chef.
When we opened we didn't need to go searching for local producers because we knew exactly who could supply us with the best quality local beef, game and lamb.
Miles supplies us with plenty of foraged wild foods and through him we have gained invaluable knowledge about unusual ingredients and how to cook and use them.
To use such local and unusual produce is exciting and interesting, so rather than the standard salad leaves we get hold of foraged sea purslane, bitter cress and wild sea rocket, and we like to use seaweed, puff balls, rosehips, hogweed seeds, courgette flowers (tempura style), and bullrushes.
It was also through the Goods Shed that we met Vic and Vanessa Ehman, owners of Luddenham Vegetables, who supply us year round with potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes and superb salad leaves from their polytunnels. Then, there's local fisherman Bluey, who has his own boat and lands scallops and line-caught fish just up the coast.
We have also discovered a trout farm at Luddenham for excellent brown trout.
Menu innovation
Keeping the lunch menu to just three dishes at each course and then adding extra dishes at dinner, we have found that we are using produce that is really fresh and it keeps wastage down to a minimum.
Experimenting with different, often unusual ingredients keeps us interested in the kitchen and the customer intrigued and keen to try them. Some diners either love or hate certain dishes on the menu, for example the chocolate wasabi ginger ice cream, the rosehip jelly tots and the pine-needle sorbet that are on at the moment, but generally our customers are adventurous and happy to try the dishes with strange ingredients and flavours.
In fact, people come here because we are different and the menu is interesting and adventurous. Perhaps that's why we have been busy and successful over the past year.
Getting people to try the more unusual dishes hasn't been a problem. Harriet, our waitress, is very knowledgeable about all the foods and she explains where we get the produce from, what they are eating and the ingredients we have used in a particular dish.
Our favourite ingredients
It has to be the fantastic game we get from the Godmersham Estate - the venison is awesome and we love cooking it.
Likewise, we enjoy using the pigeon, rabbit, pheasant, wild teal and mallard from the local shoots during the winter months. Our favourite vegetables are the most unusual, the rainbow chard, black cabbage and Russian kale grown for us by Leila on her allotment in Graveney.
We are always looking for something different to add to our monthly menus and we love to create unusual dishes from wild foods, like foraged rosehips to make the jelly tots that accompany the rhubarb and custard panna cotta, or the hogweed seed custard that we serve with a classic jam roly poly.
Marketing and PR
From the start we decided not to go down the sandwich and pint route, opting to provide a good-value set-lunch menu with the prospect of upping the price a little if it took off.
It has proved a great success and we have kept it great value - it showcases our cooking style, the quality ingredients and encourages diners to return for our equally imaginative evening dishes. It was quiet at first, but it soon snowballed once people realised how good and affordable the menu was.
We also decided that we wouldn't pay for any publicity, as we really believed in our ability and our aims. Plus, it's such an expense for a fledgling business and we were so focused on trying to get it right in the early months.
When Matthew Fort gave us a great review and we heard about our entry in the Good Food Guide we knew things would escalate, so we didn't bother with paid-for publicity. Don't forget, we only have 40 covers and now it's advisable to reserve a table as we're busier than ever.
Unique arrangement
Answering a question about our wet:dry split is very difficult for us as we don't get involved with the alcohol side of the business, not even costing wine glasses - we just run the restaurant and provide the food, that's our deal with Chris the landlord. It's run as a completely separate business and we're very happy with that arrangement. It's good for us, we're not dictated to by anyone, be it the design of the menu, the suppliers we order from, or how busy we are.
Business plans for the future
We have had a very busy year and we need to work hard to maintain the momentum and quality, especially now we have gained recognition from the Good Food Guide. Ultimately, in time, we would like to find our own premises in the local area as we have developed a good relationship with some excellent local growers and producers, and the people of Faversham appreciate the food we cook.
Pub Facts
Covers: 40
Number of staff: six
GP: 68%
Average spend per head: £18-£20 lunch; £30-£35 dinner.
Best-selling dishes: Autumn cassoulet with herb dumplings (£13.42); seared Hollowshore cod, roasted salsify, mini crab cake, pea mash, crab broth (£14.02); Godmersham venison loin, garlic spatzele, beetroot purée, roast chestnuts (£15.58); rhubarb and custard panna cotta, rosehip jelly tots (£6.48).
The Dining Room at the Railway Hotel, Preston Street, Faversham, Kent,
ME13 8PE
Tel: 01795 533173
www.railwayhotelfaversham.co.uk
On the menu
Monthly changing lunch menu (one course £13; two courses £18; three courses £20)
Gamekeeper's terrine, pear and rosehip chutney, foraged leaves;
Spiced Kentish parsnip and apple soup;
Se