How one pub made a killing from Champagne and food matching

Where: ​The Star Inn, Harome

Website: ​www.thestaratharome.co.uk

Twitter: ​@TheStaratHarome

The Idea: ​Run an evening dinner event matching Champagne and food.

How it works:​  The Bruno Palliard dinner was run in conjunction with wine supplier Bibendum. The event, which was charged at £95 per head including canapés, four course dinner matched with Champagnes and coffee. It allowed the Champagne to be matched with the menu designed by Andrew Pern. Francois Cola from Bruno Paillard Champagnes came and introduced the wines.

Marketing: ​The event was promoted by both the Star Inn and Bibendum essentially by eflyer but also leaflets available in the restaurant.

Be prepared: ​The venue has two separate dining rooms but they capped the numbers to 20 to ensure that everyone was together in the new dining room area.

Pay off: ​The venue already has an extensive wine list, which allows it to offer wine matches, including a wine package offered with to its Tasting Menu (5 courses lunchtime and 7 courses dinner). This event offered those regular customers something different

Key benefits: ​The main benefit was gaining an appreciation and comparing a selection of different champagnes and appreciating their varying qualities - obviously with a view to considering suitable food matches. The secondary benefit was that staff training was carried out in the same visit.

Advice: ​The main thing is to make sure there are enough Champagne glasses. A good relationship with wine suppliers is essential to be able to have a good programme of staff training. The numbers for the event were capped at 20. Andrew Pern, licensee and chef, said: “​It was also something new for us so 20 people was about the right number.”

Best Outcome:  ​The pub has customers who are very interested in wines and it was good to be able to offer something different with the added factor of the Champagne producer.