The cover drive

John Molnar tells Noli Dinkovski how combining food and cricket have helped make Larwood & Voce a Punch Shine award winner

Pub background

A cricket ball's throw from Test ground Trent Bridge in Nottingham, the Larwood & Voce was in a pretty miserable state when John Molnar and his newly-put-together firm, Moleface Pub Company, took over the Punch lease 12 months ago.

Previously a Spirit managed house, Molnar says little had been done to the pub since its opening in 1985. "We decided we needed to raise £250,000 to give it the makeover we wanted," he says. "Even if we had just given it a lick of paint and put in new toilets, it would have looked better. It was a very tired-looking pub."

Personal background

With more than 20 years' experience of working in restaurants and pubs, the Larwood & Voce is Molnar's first taste of running an establishment. Molnar's CV includes a stint as head chef of the Red House in Nether Broughton, Leicestershire, and, more recently, executive chef of the Fat Cat Group of bars. It was with Fat Cat co-founders Matt Saunders and Simon Patterson that Molnar, together with local businessman Matt Cullen, set up Moleface.

Work carried out

Molnar says they wanted to create a London gastropub feel, but without the "notoriously sloppy" city-centre service. Walls were knocked down, a new bar and toilets were fitted. Much of the focus, however, went on the kitchen. "We spent a lot of money in our kitchen because that was my background. The food is not the be all and end all, but it certainly drives what we're all about," says Molnar.

"It's a pub for locals and a pub

that serves good British food, something that was lacking in the area."

Test-match days

The Larwood & Voce opened at the end of June 2007, in time for England's Test match against India in July. "We set ourselves a deadline to be ready in time for the Test match," says Molnar. "With 20,000 people on our doorstep, it would have been foolish not to."

The pub runs corporate hospitality during Test matches. Booking customers receive a cooked breakfast, a three-course meal for lunch and afternoon tea. Tables are reserved until 6pm with table service throughout.

"We also offer lunches for people to sit in the bar and eat, and bacon and sausage baps to go," says Molnar.

Shine Award

All the hard work that Molnar and his team have put in has recently been acknowledged with a Shine award from Punch. As well as being made Regional Champion, the Larwood & Voce won the Best Customer Experience category. Judges praised the pub for its "outstanding use of promotional tools" and for "maximising every business opportunity".

Molnar says: "It's good to be recognised. It's all down to the way we train our staff. We are only as good as our staff — if they know that they are serving a great product, it shows through to the customer."

Further recognition comes by way of a listing in venue guide Square Meal, and Molnar says there is a good chance they will be listed in the next Michelin Pub Guide.

Keeping it local

The majority of food is sourced within a 50-mile radius. Molnar says the ingredients are simply prepared, but it's all about the quality.

"We buy superb beef, cook it well and serve it with chips cooked in beef dripping," he adds.

"We get the message out through word of mouth. I've a bit of a following in Nottingham, thanks to the other restaurants I worked in — so that helps."

The food's origins are detailed on the menu, and Molnar has added a novelty "colouring-in" place mat to help children and their parents appreciate that the food is local.

"The place mat is a map of the East Midlands. When the kids colour in, say, a chicken, they discover where it's from in this region," says Molnar. "It's a fun idea that's worked well."

Busy kitchen

The Larwood & Voce produces a tremendous range of food on-premise including pork pies, bread, ice cream, pasties and even pork scratchings. Molnar believes such a labour-

intensive kitchen is rare for what he describes as a community pub, but it's an approach that pays off.

"We are evolving with customers' requests. We have a lot of women who meet for coffee in the morning so we've started making home-made brownies, flapjacks and muffins,"

he says.

"It's really taken off and now we supply a local deli with the cakes as well, which also helps to get our name out to the general public.

"We are big on alternative snacks — we don't do crisps, but along with the pork scratchings, we make our own chilli roast nuts and really nice organic sausage rolls. They all sit on the bar."

The scratchings are selling "amazingly well", says Molnar. "We must be shifting between 100 to 150 bags per week. We offer a range of sweets as well — we put them in jars behind the bar. We did it originally for children, but the adults seem to eat more than them. Unfortunately the staff seem to eat even more than the adults!"

Training ethos

When it comes to training, Molnar is not one for sitting at a desk and going through manuals with his staff.

"We focus on aspects staff will enjoy — every month or so we send three or four out to eat at a competitor," he says. "We give them some money and let them have a night out. The catch is that they have to come back with two or three ideas they would like to see at the Larwood."

Molnar says that the other Punch Shine award winners are next on his visitor hit list. "It's all about benchmarking ourselves with what's out there in the marketplace," he adds. "That way the staff see at first hand where improvements can be made."

But that doesn't mean more formal training is discouraged — four staff members are going on a real-ale course at the end of the month, while the restaurant manager is undertaking training on making the most of beer with food.

"Once a month we'll close early and do some wine training, or if there's a new dish on the menu we'll get the staff to try it, so at least they know its flavour," says Molnar.

What's been learned?

Molnar says his biggest eye-opening experience over the past year has been just how the costs of running a pub add up: "You've got to stick realistically to the budgets you make, otherwise you could be chasing your tail before you're even trading."

In Molnar's last role at the Fat Cat he was looking after 19 sites at one point. "It was a great experience to play with someone else's money," he says. "But now it's my money I realise there isn't an endless pot of cash that you can just keep dipping into.

"I know the pub game, but when your livelihood is at stake it's a new experience. I'm now more conscious of little things, like checking that the cleaning-cupboard lights are turned off, making sure we maximise refuse collection, and so on, because they're my bills at the end of the day."

Molnar says every little bit helps when you look at your profit-and-loss sheet. "I'm learning every day. You should expect the unexpected —

I never thought we'd sell £500-worth of pork scratchings a month — or so many sweets," he says.

"We were more prepared for this year's cricket Test last weekend. But I'm sure once we have a chance to assess it all, there will be things that we can improve for next year."

Future plans

With gross profit at the Larwood running at a healthy 65%, it is no surprise Moleface is on the verge of snapping up a second pub, an Enterprise leasehold in Burton Joyce, just outside Nottingham. A four-week refit is planned for the Lord Nelson, with £150,000 budgeted.

"We're be taking some ideas from the Larwood, but adding some new ones," says Molnar. "The client base is a lot older, plus there is no world-famous sporting venue backed onto it, so we'll have to think of other things to get people through the d