Find Your Local Events - Community Pubs Week

Find Your Local Events - Community Pubs Week

There are more ways of supporting Community Pubs Week than downloading a pub walk or sharing a pub walk that is one of your favourites. CAMRA is publicising a whole range of activities being offered by publicans which you might want to try.

These range from treasure hunts to "Meet the Brewer" sessions, a special "Bacon Bash" menu to mark national bacon week too and of course some group pub walks are being organised too. Take a look at what is going on in your area by clicking on Events for Community Pubs Week.

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Community Pubs Week Starts Tomorrow

CAMRA's Community Pubs Week - Starts Tomorrow

Running from Saturday 16th to Saturday 23rd February 2008, The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is again organising Community Pubs Week to celebrate the British Pub and to encourage us all to support our pub heritage.

This is a great opportunity for pub walkers like us to put our own favourite pubs on the map and help their survival with a new pub walk to draw new custom through their doors. The general view is that there is a tough year ahead for community pubs and we've all seen the figures saying 56 pubs a month close for good. So if you want to support your local in this way then click on Submit a Pub Walk to find out how easy it is to add a pub walk to MyFavouritePubWalks.com.

There a plenty of other things going on this coming week and if you want to find out more just click on Community Pubs Week.

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CAMRA Announces National Pub of the Year Finalists

CAMRA Announces National Pub of the Year Finalists

The Campaign for Real Ale has announced the finalists for the prestigious title of National Pub of the Year.

CAMRA members visited thousands of pubs to select 16 regional winners which were then short-listed to the best four for the final. The overall winner will be announced on February 15th 2008, on the eve of CAMRA's Community Pubs Week (February 16th - 23rd).

I always think that award-winning pubs are always a great starting point for a new pub walk so if you want further details of the finalists visit National Pub of the Year Finalists.

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Finding the Best Children's Menus for Your Family Pub Walk

Finding the Best Children's Menus for Your Family Pub Walk

Is the quality of children's meals about to reach centre stage in pubs? That may overstate it but the recent launch of a new accreditations scheme and website Catered4thekids could certainly help.

The scheme will ask pubs to ensure their children's meals meet a set of criteria ranging from the sourcing of the meat to a healthier soft drinks range. It will include a mystery visit to test the pub's claims too before acceptance onto the scheme.

As we all know, even supposedly children-friendly pubs frequently have a children’s menu that is both uninspired and unhealthy. Chicken nuggets and chips prevail whilst fresh vegetables make rare appearances.

However recent research by him! shows we families are a free-spending bunch and families who visit pubs spend an average £5 more per person than the average pub customer. This makes the family pound an ideal target for pubs trying to make up their takings after the smoking ban, higher costs and a generally tough 2007.

To find out more about this initiative click on Catered4thekids-good-pub-food-for-kids.

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The Publican Pub Food Awards 2007

The Publican Pub Food Awards 2007

The Grapes, Limehouse, London E14 8BP is "Simply the best pub in Britain" according to The Publican magazine. It has just announced its pub food award winners in 14 categories with The Grapes winning the "Pub of the Year" title.

Sunday Lunch Pub of the Year and Pub Food Champion of the Year was the Royal Standard of England which also has two pub walks featuring on MyFavouritePubWalks.com.

To see a full list of the winners visit Pub Food Awards.

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Pubs Told "Forget Food if you Want to Make a Profit"

Pubs Told "Forget Food if you Want to Make a Profit"

It is often said that pubs make little money from the drinks they serve and it is the food that keeps them in the black. Well maybe not any more, if the audience at a Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) event is to be believed.

According to the Morning Advertiser, the event debated the motion "forget food it you want to make a profit". The audience were surveyed before the debate and rejected the motion. However, by the end, they had switched sides and voted in favour.

The arguments centred on the question of whether the market was becoming flooded (“supply is going to exceed demand quite soon ... unless everyone starts to have four meals a day...") and whether pubs could sell enough to justify the additional expenses in the kitchen.

I'm sure this was all just a bit of fun and I hope it is not taken seriously by our publicans. For me, the lunch menu in a pub is equally as important as its real ale, its atmosphere and its hospitality and service. The reality is most of us do not expect cordon bleu... just simple, wholesome, tasty, value-for-money dishes - oh and generous portions too of course!

To read more on the debate see Pubs told "forget food if you want to make a profit"

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British Food Fortnight - Local Events

British Food Fortnight - Local Events

British agriculture really needs our support right now. The devastating effects of Foot and Mouth Disease, recent flooding and the poor summer, and now the Blue Tongue threat, have been well publicised.

So the British Food Fortnight, running from 22 September to 7 October 2007, could not have come at a better time. It is described as "the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces". The thousands of activities taking place across the country range from food and drink festivals, promotions, tastings and special menus in pubs, restaurants and shops.

To enjoy a pub walk with a difference, why not look at the events in your area for inspiration? You might want to try a "Cotswold Food and Drink Trail" or combine your walk with an Everards "meet the brewer" session.

For more information click on British Food Fortnight.

Today's Pub Walk: Fort St. George in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

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Search is on the for healthiest children's menu

The Publican magazine should be congratulated for launching a search for the healthiest children's menu. All of us with families have experienced the dire quality and choice offered to our children in many pubs with a high quality and nourishing meal a rare find on the children's menu.

The Healthy Children’s Menu competition 2007 requires pubs to show what improvements they have made to the children's menu and the winner of the title will also get an outside play area worth over £5,000.

Let the battle begin and we can all watch our kids enjoy the benefits.

Today's pub walk: The Grandstand in Hereford, Herefordshire.

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Value For Money More Important than Quality of Pub Food?

According to a new study of eating habits by the British Pig Executive (anyone heard of them?), value for money is the main factor for 25% of consumers when they choose a pub to eat at. The Publican covers the story and says that quality of the food is a lower priority at 18%.

It is interesting that the report, ‘Pork in Foodservice’, highlights convenience or location as the primary factor for eating out generally (rather than for pubs specifically) and this is thought to be due to time pressures.

It leads me to wonder whether pub walkers would place a greater emphasis on the location, or should I say walk, rather than elements of the pub. Certainly I would but maybe this could be an interesting survey to carry out later ...

Today's pub walk: Ye Olde Whyte Harte in Hamble, Hampshire.

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Gastro pubs that spend £1.16 on your meal

Saturday’s Telegraph included an item on pub food with the headline “Gastro pubs that spend £1.16 on your meal”. This was apparently the average cost of the food in a typical pub meal in 2006 and the article laid into pubs on the basis that they were making excessive profits from their customers.

Well, sorry, I have to disagree. The article ignored the fact that the ingredients are just one of the costs of the meal, that the chef and serving staff have to be paid, and that every business has to also cover its overheads if it is to survive. The fact is, as with everything, there are bad ones and there are good ones with the best pubs offering great value for money while serving up good, wholesome food.

So let’s all share our experiences, good and bad, and help avoid all pubs being tarred with the same brush.

Today's pub walk: Ye Olde Bull Ring Tavern in Ludlow, Shropshire.

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5000 pubs to close by 2011

According to the caterersearch website, a Price Waterhouse Coopers report just published suggests 5000 pubs could close by 2011 if current trends continue. This is a significant number when compared to the total of around 58,000 pubs in the UK. The reason given by PWC is a combination of the smoking ban, a clampdown on drinks promotions and declining beer sales.

Readers of this blog will know I have a real concern over the decline in the fortunes of our pubs and the effect the loss of a pub has on its community. However the report indicates that those establishments hardest hit will be those relying only on drinks and those not providing outdoor areas for smokers. Hopefully most of our community pubs will already be planning for the smoking ban and will ensure they do not fall into either of these categories. After all, if they are really pubs that support their communities then they need to provide food and smoking areas anyway.

Today's pub walk: Fort St. George in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

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Posted: SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2007

The Publican Awards - Winners

The winners of The Publican Awards have been announced and include the following two:

Pub Food Pub of the Year - The Fox, North Waltham, Hampshire
Family Pub of the Year - The Rose & Crown, Snettisham, King's Lynn

Hampshire is my home ground so I shall certainly be looking up The Fox to see if there is a good walk from there, so it could be featuring on MyFavouritePubWalks.com soon!

If you would like to see the full list then visit The Publican.

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