Publican makes her dry sales sizzle

A publican has turned up the heat on her food sales by creating a silly sausages night.Naomi Katze, licensee of the Drayman's Arms in Spalding,...

A publican has turned up the heat on her food sales by creating a silly sausages night.

Naomi Katze, licensee of the Drayman's Arms in Spalding, Lincolnshire, kick-started the new event in a bid to draw more people into the pub on Saturday nights.

"I wanted to find a new way to pull people in, but I wanted to do something different - everyone does curry and steak nights," she said.

"We have only been running the nights for a couple of weeks, but they have so far been a great success. We are not only keeping ourselves afloat, but are increasing our business."

Naomi creates all the recipes herself, then gets her local butcher to make the sausages using locally sourced ingredients.

The most popular recipe so far has been the chicken, lemon and tarragon sausage. But Naomi has also created Greek lamb sausages containing feta and olives, and venison sausages with port and cranberry.

With a dish costing only £4.95, Naomi is hoping the silly sausage night will appeal to those searching for a cheaper alternative to a restaurant meal.

"I realised if you are going out for a meal in a restaurant it will cost you at least £10 before you even blink," she said.

"Everyone is feeling a bit bust at the moment, but we can offer great restaurant-quality food, that is locally sourced, for half the price."

Naomi is now asking local businesses to come up with recipe ideas which can be added to the menu and named after the company.

Having already had requests from customers wanting to buy her sausages to cook at home, she is looking into making them available for sale at both the pub and the local butcher.