Chris Maclean: Wilted leaves, wilting review

It is difficult to conceal my hurt following the review at the weekend. The Daily Telegraph​ featured our restaurant in a half-page review and gave it a massive 7/10 for the food. But throughout the article it was clear the reviewer didn't like the idea of a pub and restaurant in the same space.

The article was headed "In a drab station hotel, a charming platform for chefs with roaring ambition". Drab station hotel? Jasper Gerard (what kind of poncey name is that?) unleashes his vitriol on the things that make this place.

"You enter through a pub complete with dartboard, bar billiards table and dodgy carpet," he writes. Now if I had read that about a pub I'd be slightly aroused. I like it. To me it sounds idyllic. But no, Jasper makes it sound Dickensian. "It might be where some escaped convict nursed a pint of stout in a novel by Graham Greene." Ouch! To be so dismissive of what I hold so dear is offensive.

It gets worse.

I don't want to mention the wine list.

Once again I have been slaughtered for its shortcomings.

In truth I have sought to pick what I thought were a good selection of wines from a pretty extensive selection. I'm a tied house but I've got no complaints. Maybe I can improve the selection.

These guys nail me. I'm not sure what their point is but Jasper writes of my wine list (I hate his name more each time I write it): "…it's cheap. It belongs to a pub that serves microwave chilli con carne". Yeah? Where?

One of my customers suggested maybe if I added an extra 10 quid on a bottle the critics would be happier. Possibly.

But I am faced with some more realistic truths that help me rise above it.

The restaurant is busy and the chefs are making a living. It is a success.

The bar is trading well, I've billiards, darts and customers. It is a success.

The hotel has high occupancy, is full most of the time and that is a success.

Wine sales are sensational and we are among the highest sellers of wine in the estate.

I am not ashamed of what we have achieved. I accept the restaurant is serving fantastic food. I believe we are doing okay on every level.

But Jasper's twisted view on this hurts.

Would he really be happier if I dumped the chefs and got in the microwaves?

My goal was, and always has been, to run a pub. Traditional, honest and true. The restaurant's brief was to offer something commensurate with that. I think they generally do.

But Jasper thinks the food rides above everything else. Wrong. It has its place but this is a pub first and foremost.

Maybe I should get the chefs to stop this wilted foraged leaves nonsense. I knew it would lead to trouble.