Food for thought

I was reading an article on the Morning Advertiser website about a problem for some food-based pubs: people booking a table and not showing up. One phrase struck me about 'some customers allegedly booking four or more restaurants or pubs for the same time slot and infuriating all but one.' A licensee in the article said that he didn't think people were acting maliciously, and that it was simply because they didn't understand the implications of not turning up when they've booked a table.

I think he's being too kind. I was talking to a private hire driver recently and he told me that a significant cause of delays, especially at busy times, was the fact that some people phoned several taxi firms and took whichever came first. All the other taxis then had a fruitless journey and wasted their time hanging around for customers who had already gone, burning fuel and losing income into the bargain. I suspect multiple simultaneous bookings of tables are made so that the diners can leave deciding where to go until the last minute.

Such behaviour may not actually be malicious, but it is selfish in the extreme to book a service from someone whose livelihood it is and then not turn up. If you've made that commitment as a customer, you should honour it or phone to cancel, but I get the general impression that some people believe their own personal convenience takes absolute priority over all other concerns. After all, they think, I'm the one spending the money. The flaw in this attitude is that if you're a no-show, that's exactly what you're not doing.  Apparently 20% of diners fail to turn up for their reservations in big cities, so it's not a small problem: too many no-shows can render a whole evening's hard work unprofitable.

I've noticed that some people treat anyone whose job it is to provide a public service as servants. I've seen it in places such as shops, pubs and hospitals and occasionally experienced it myself in the DSS when my work involved direct contact with the public. Most people I dealt with were fine, but the arrogant few could really be irritating, especially those who didn't turn up for booked appointments. From that experience, I can understand some of the frustrations felt by licensees of food-led pubs and, of course, taxi drivers.

Gastropubs save the Universe

Geoff, my correspondent in Hounlsow, has e-mailed to me an article in The Guardian written by Zoe Williams: "Twenty-five years of the gastropub - a revolution that saved British boozers". I'm always wary of such sweeping statements that are no more than hype about the topic in question rather than any general reality. Similarly irritating are articles and books with silly titles like "X number of things to do/eat/drink before you die".

Ms Williams writes: "Before the Eagle opened on a corner in Farringdon, London, a quarter of a century ago this month, eating was different and drinking was different. The gastropub revolution has been chiefly held to have improved pubs, rescued us from a life of pork scratchings and wet sandwiches toasted in their bags, but it was of immeasurable benefit, too, to gastronomy." The question arises: "chiefly held" by whom, precisely?

So food in pubs other than crisps and butties began in 1991, did it? Ms Williams wouldn't know as she would have been 17 at the time and if she were going to pubs then, I seriously doubt it would be to sample the food. I can assure her that pub food beyond pork scratchings existed a long time before 1991. Her article includes other sweeping generalisations that I don't intend to refute point by point, but suffice to say it does not present the knowledgeable broad overview of pub life that she attempts to affect. Her hypothesis is undermined by the survival of many pubs that either don't serve food at all, or offer no more than traditional snacks. While the numbers of wet-led outlets has declined, were she right, these would have mostly vanished after 25 years of the gastropub 'revolution'.

I am currently writing pub reviews for the local paper (you may also have noticed them on this blog), and food is an important part of the business of many of these pubs, but I would describe none of those I've visited as gastropubs. All have been anxious to emphasise their pub credentials, with customers welcome to sit and drink without being hovered over, or even displaced, by diners. Some may have parts of the pub that are reserved for diners when meals are being served, but always retain areas for drinkers.

Ms Williams goes on to give a list of the "The top 10 UK gastropubs", derived from a survey across the country sponsored by the Morning Advertiser. It is clear from the methodology that it is "The Industry's Choice" (their phrase), so a place on the list is not unlike an industry award. While it may be of interest to gastropub enthusiasts, it should be taken no more seriously than any other gongs that insiders award to their own.

Some local papers around here have published lists of "the best local pubs" based on Trip Advisor reports. While Trip Advisor has a broader base, most of its reports are written by visitors, not locals. Ordinary drinkers wandering around their local pubs won't usually go tapping on-line when they get home after a night on the ale. Like it or not, the only selective guide to pubs of any kind that is based the views of thousands of ordinary customers across the whole country remains the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. 

So does Ms Williams have a point about boozers being saved by the gastropub? In my opinion, no. I assume she was given X number of words to write on the topic and doubtless she did her best, but I don't get the impression she really knew what she was writing about.

Posh pub grub

The Hop Vine in Burscough is well known
for its food, but is still a good real ale pub.

An interesting post on Curmudgeon's blog was about how some pubs have gone upmarket by switching the emphasis of their trade to food. Not just any old pub grub, but quality food that is correspondingly expensive. With the layout of the pub clearly arranged with diners in mind, such pubs aren't particularly welcoming if all you want to do is have a drink. I added a comment, which I reproduce it here:

I've just done a tour over two days of ten of our local country pubs [in West Lancashire], many canalside, to distribute our local CAMRA mag, and also to take notes and pictures for my pub articles for the local paper. I took friends with me as my drinking was seriously limited by driving; they were my surrogate drinkers, and we spent some time in each pub chatting to bar staff and licensees.

All the pubs did food, and only one, a residential hotel with a real ale bar, asked if we'd be eating, but there was no problem when we said no. All were welcoming and friendly, and I got the impression that all, including the hotel, had a core of regulars who came in just to have a drink. Perhaps that's the difference: when a pub ceases to have such regulars, it has completed the transition from pub to restaurant where drinkers are seen as table blockers rather than customers.

The Mount Pleasant, nearest pub to where
I live: good food, but still a real pub.

Although there are quite a lot of food pubs in the local area, I can think of only one that might fit into the upmarket food category described by Curmudgeon: the Sparrowhawk in Formby, which used to be a popular wedding venue and is now primarily a restaurant that serves real ale. I've never been because: it is out of my way; I prefer not to drink in restaurants; and I've no wish to pay the high prices for beer. I can drink elsewhere locally for 50% to 80% of the prices they charge. This isn't a criticism of the venue: the Sparrowhawk has its own market, and that's fair enough - horses for courses, after all. It was never intended to be a local.

For myself, if I choose to have a meal in a pub, I prefer the kinds of pubs I visited in Lancashire to any gastropub. Curmudgeon specifically mentioned Cheshire, which in parts is much posher than Southport. That may explain the number of pricey food pubs he has encountered.

I've just found a webpage called "Leading Gastropubs Southport". The nearest is 12.4 miles away.