Many groups in the smart-casual dining sector operate on the creation and generation of a centralised menu produced and tested by a development team, delivered through the company purchasing policy list of approved suppliers. This should mean better cost control, improved.
consistency and enhanced bottom line ROIs. But does centralisation deliver ‘best in class’ food quality?
Good food = great ingredients + great chefs
The founder and CEO of Oakman Inns, Peter Borg-Neal, believes that it is not as simple as that, which is why he is changing his group’s menu policy. “Ultimately it is all about good food and there are only two things you need to deliver that. You have to put great ingredients in the hands of great chefs.
We are brilliant at the first of those, as we only use high quality suppliers – but attracting and retaining great chefs is a trickier proposition. We are tremendously lucky with the kitchen teams across all eight of our units.
Job satisfaction
However, if we are to retain our highly skilled personnel we have to ensure that they are getting job satisfaction. A big part of that is the need to feel that they are respected; that they are creative; and that they have the power to solve problems. That is a normal expectation for a human being and is particularly important to creative, skilled workers such as chefs.”
New structure
Having listened to the advice of his chefs and unit managers, Borg-Neal has created a totally new
infrastructure to support their in-house teams and at the same time has given individual Head Chefs total responsibility for some 35% of the menu – using local suppliers and producers wherever possible.
“Our Head Chefs have always had a free hand with their ‘Specials’ but now they are able to create a large chunk of the printed menu. This, of course, means that each of our Oakman Inns now has a unique menu that their individual kitchen teams feel passionate about.”
The Oakman Inns portfolio currently includes market town centre Coaching Inns with rooms like the recently refurbished and modernised Crown & Thistle in Abingdon-on-Thames, rural locations such as The Red Lion in Water End, and neighbourhood Inns such as The Beech House in Beaconsfield.
The company has now split that portfolio into two divisions each with their own Area Manager and Area Chef. Christine Wondracek, who has a hotel background, is Area Manager for those Oakman Inns with rooms and has a dedicated Area Chef, Carlo Tolu working alongside her. Rohan Aldcroft and Jamie Collins take those two respective roles over the rest of the estate. All four individuals have been internally promoted in line with a core Oakman Inns objective of promoting from within.
The new menus
The new menus introduced across the group retain the essential Mediterranean feel, synonymous with Oakman Inns and the vision of Peter Borg-Neal, with great ingredients, big flavours and plenty of charcoal grilled meats and fresh fish.
Among several new initiatives is the introduction of ‘Sharing Sunday Roasts’ to reflect the traditional values associated with family and friends eating together on a Sunday. These include a whole Dorchester Rib of Beef and a whole Aylesbury Duck.
A central part of Oakman’s approach is making sure they have the flexibility to keep all customers happy. A great example is that a huge amount of work is going into developing a glutenfree
Yorkshire Pudding to go with those mouth watering roasts!
About Oakman Inns
Founded in 2007 by its CEO, Peter Borg-Neal, Oakman Inns & Restaurants established the concept of the ‘modern public house’ by successfully transforming historic buildings into contemporary spaces which complement their traditional foundations. Their portfolio of eight properties comprises three in Hertfordshire (The Akeman, Tring; the Red Lion, Water End and the Kings Arms, Berkhamsted); three in Oxfordshire (The Old Post Office, Wallingford, The Blue Boar, Witney and The Crown & Thistle, Abingdon); two in Buckinghamshire (The Beech House, Beaconsfield and The Cook & Fillet, near Aylesbury).
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