Summer menu ideas

Sandwiches and wraps​

Don’t forget to introduce lighter flavours and seasonal ingredients to your sandwich menu this summer. As the current trend for hand-held street-food shows, sandwiches don’t have to be boring.

A new Street Food​ report from Santa Maria shows 50% of consumers are buying street food at least once a week, with 81% of those customers eating it for lunch.

Santa Maria foodservice marketing and business development diretor Steve Kent says: “Street food is changing the way people eat by providing consumers with an easy way to try different tastes and flavours. The profit opportunity street food offers is clear, with many operators already hanging their hats on it.”

The company is offering a range of 10 World-To-Go sauces, which can help pub caterers create interesting summer wrap ideas.

Menu ideas include pulled pork in tortilla wrap, made with Santa Maria’s chipotle sauce; tortillas with chicken braised in kaffir lime leaves, and roasted tomatoes and shallots on toast.

Flatbreads​

Flatbreads are also still on-trend, offering customers a lighter alternative to sandwiches for summer.

Drake & Morgan’s Folly near Monument on London’s Embankment offers flatbreads including its Mediterranean flatbread with hummus, baba ganoush and roasted marinated vegetables and Borough Market flatbread with brindisa chorizo, piquillo peppers, rocket and sun-blushed tomatoes.

The menu at new Anglian Country Inn’s site, Water Lane Bar & Restaurant in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts, also has a strong focus on flats, which come in two sizes. Options include butternut squash, pear, spinach and Ballyblue cheese (£6/£12) and air-dried ham, artichoke, rocket and truffle oil (£6.50/£12).

Director of food at Anglian County Inns Harry Kodagoda said: “The flatbread offer at Water Lane has been very successful as it creates a seasonal, accessible light dish, appealing to all generations, which seems very popular with the lunch trade as well as a more encompassing evening meal.

“The flatbread section sits alongside our offer of starters, seafood, grills, salads and desserts, and flatbreads make up 35% of our food
sales. I expect the sales of flat-breads to rise as we build up our reputation for this offer and deliver value using quality, fresh British and seasonal toppings.”

Rice​

An ideal ingredient for summer dishes, rice can be used in a diverse range of ways.

With more and more diners now seeking healthier menu options, rice offers a good level of nutrients while remaining low in calories.

Eaten hot or cold, it can make up a side dish or accompaniment to a main meal or act as a main itself, alongside other ingredients such as vegetables and meat.

Mark Lyddy, head of foodservice at Tilda, says: “Rice is really versatile as it takes on a number of flavours, meaning it is a great ingredient to bulk up salads as well as serving as a side dish.”

Customers aren’t just looking for plain rice, either: the demand for flavoured rice is shown via Tilda’s recent consumer research involving 300 respondents, in which 76% of people would like to see a flavoured rice such as Mexican or pilau on a menu,with 54% saying they would be prepared to pay more for it.

Risotto​

Risottos are also a popular summer dish due to their versatility and offer operators the chance to experiment with a range of ingredients. Usefully, they are ideal for both starters and mains.

Two West Sussex pubs are making the most of fresh summer produce. The Cat Inn, in West Hoathly, is offering a spring risotto verde with asparagus, samphire, wild garlic and broad beans, served with rocket drizzled with pea, lemon and Parmesan truffle oil (£13.30).

The Duke of Cumberland Arms in Henley, West Sussex, serves a pea, prawn and crayfish risotto with Parmigiano-Reggiano and pea shoots (£16.95).

Assistant manager Lexi Fox said: “The risotto is one of our most popular dishes and always sells. It’s the only dish we serve on both our lunch and dinner menu and almost every table will order one.”

Other ingredients such as cous-cous and tabbouleh also work well in summer dishes appealing to health-conscious customers or those looking for an alternative to rice. Dishes can be dressed up with vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, peppers and courgettes as well as various herbs to create a light vegetarian option.

Paella​

Paella is another great option for summer events at your pub.

At the Saint George’s in Brighton, the head chef created a pop-up paella concept where guests were treated to a six-course Spanish feast, while at the Five Bells in Colne Engaine, Essex — part of the Saint Arnold Group — a Paella Party menu is available for up to 100 guests and features chicken, chorizo, king prawns, mussels and squid in saffron paella rice.

At a recent street party celebrating its second birthday, the George Payne in Hove, East Sussex — winner of Best Turnaround Pub at last year’s Great British Pub Awards — served up a meat and vegetable paella in giant pans.

Enterprise tenant Zoe Rodgers said: “Paella is always popular. We served a chicken, pork and chorizo paella and a vegetarian option. We also held a charity event in Croydon recently, when we served paella with hot sauce on the side and a wedge of lemon to add flavour. It’s a great alternative to a barbecue and is very social as people gather round and watch it being made. You can build an audience with it.”

Seafood​

A must for summer menus, seafood helps you ring the changes with a rich variety of ingredients such as salmon, tuna, crab, lobster, sardines, prawns, mussels, monkfish and oysters all great to feature.

Dishes can be artfully dressed up and presented in original ways, such as on wooden boards, in small pans and on various shapes of plates.

Thinking outside the box is important when offering fish and customers are looking for a more sophisticated culinary experience.

Young’s pub the Alma in Wandsworth, south-west London, serves Devon crab cakes with gooseberry salsa as a starter and pan-roasted Dover sole fillet with Jersey Royals, pea shoots and sauce Grenoble as a main. Also on the menu is tarragon-steamed sea bream with mussels and button mushroom served in a coconut milk broth (£17.25).

Blue Skies Bars’ the Railway Tavern, in Tulse Hill, south London, also offer sea bream, pan-fried with sweet potato, leek, baby corn and a tomato and coriander salsa. Customers can also opt for a swordfish steak at the outdoor barbecue.

At Noble Inns pub the Princess of Shoreditch, in east London, diners can start with cod cheek, scampi and wild garlic aïoli before moving on to pan-fried plaice, served with Jersey Royals and caper beurre noisette.

Manager Marsha Renner said: “We have fish and chips on the bar menu but more customers now are choosing the sole, which we serve in the dining room upstairs.”

Seafood sharing Boards​

Seafood sharing boards are also a great summer option. At freehold the Bull in London’s Highgate, the seafood platter features hop and oak smoked salmon, gin, lime and cucumber cured salmon, roll mop, mini fishcakes, smoked mackerel pâté, agave & mustard dressing (£10.95).

The Square Pig in Holborn, City of London, offers tapas-style plates, including potted salmon and prawns with toast and baby gem salad and mackerel with new potatoes, broad beans, soft boiled egg and mustard dressing (price). Or why not offer a special seafood event or weekly night during the summer?

Olive Inns pub the Olive Branch in Clipsham, Rutland, has a Fruits de Mer month during August and prepares a seafood platter for two with fish and shellfish, including rock oysters, pickled cockles and whelks, crevettes and lemon aïoli, devilled whitebait and grilled sardines.

Salads​

With customers looking for healthier menu options, now is a good time to start introducing salads as a main course, not just as a starter.

Hot salads are becoming big news this summer — so try offering meats such as grilled chicken, crispy prosciutto and steak, leaves such as spinach and wild rocket and earthy products such as beetroot and chanterelle mushrooms.

Try a steak salad served with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado, lime and chilli or a warm spinach salad served with either grilled or pan-fried bacon, tomatoes and toasted pecans.

Mitchell’s & Butlers Nicholson’s pubs offer a rare roast beef and mushroom salad with peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and a horseradish mayonnaise dressing

Antic-run pub Hagen & Hyde, in Balham, south London, serves a spiced beetroot, goats’ cheese, walnut and watercress salad ,while the Antelope in Tooting, south London, also run by Antic, fuses Serrano ham with chargrilled English asparagus, blood orange and Parmesan cheese.

Manager at Hagen & Hyde Emily Caley said: “On hot days salads are a popular choice and we serve them on the specials menu. We do a pan-fried sea bass fillet salad which is very popular. People always want fresher food when the sun is out.”

Lighter pies​

You may think of pies as a more wintry option, but supplier Pieminister has launched a new range of lighter pies baked in a Cayenne pepper, poppy seed and hard cheese crust, topped with a seed and herb crumb.

Each pie contains just 440 calories — ideal for health-conscious customers, and is designed to be eaten either hot or cold.

Flavours include Kooky Chook: free-range British chicken, sweet potato , chili and coconut; Chickalito: chicken and dry-cured ham with shredded courgette and celeriac, and Light as a Feta: butternut squash, sun-dried tomato and feta cheese.

As well as lighter pies, quiches can also be a great lunch menu option, giving scope to create flavours and toppings that appeal to both meat- eaters and vegetarians. Why not offer a quiche of the day?

Ploughman’s​

This traditional favourite has been featuring on pub menus since the 1950s, but the traditional Ploughman’s lunch can still be a popular option if you give it a modern kick.

Think of creative serving ideas such as wrapped in a napkin or with a carved apple as decoration.

The Sun Inn, in Dummer, Hampshire serves a ‘posh’ Ploughman’s lunch with ham, home-made piccalilli, pickled onions, a pork pie, baby leaf salad, mature cheddar, Brie, Stilton and baked breads.

Barbecue tips​

Barbecues are a great way of catering for customers when the sun comes out.

UK barbecue champion Andy Annat offers some tips:

Infuse pork loins on the barbecue by injecting the meat with orange juice or spraying with beer. Place whole oranges and lemons on the coals for added flavour.

Slow-cook ribs for six hours and coat them in a home-made rub to create a ‘bark’.

Serve meat in wooden wraps packed with vegetables and marinade.

Use a brush made from various herbs to coat the meat in sauces and marinades.

Place meat straight on to the coals for a more intense, smoked flavour.

Serve on wooden planks garnished with vegetables.