Should Children be allowed in Pubs?

Recently, enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon pint in peace, my peace was disturbed when a family entered the pub with six children in tow, who quickly proceeded to entertain themselves running around the premise like it was a playground.

Now I know that Sunday’s are often a family day and often on Sunday’s that family too feels the urge for a Sunday pint but where should the line be drawn? My quiet Sunday pint was no longer quiet and much less enjoyable. Should I have gone somewhere else? Should kids be allowed in pubs with their families? Should there be a separate area for families and individuals? Or is it the publican’s responsibility to keep the peace when children are on the premises? Send us your thoughts.

 

Send them home happy…

Speaking to a publican during the week, he mentioned how in his town he was doing his bit to reduce the tension and potential rows that erupt as all pubs empty their customers on to the streets at the same time. His contribution? Simply play happy, feel good music at the end of the night instead of provocative, edgy music that would send customers out onto the streets all fired up.

Town centres have experimented with something similar in the UK by playing Barry Manilow over the outdoor speakers where gangs and groups of youths traditionally hung out! Might be worth a try over here!

 

Has your Pub been reviewed lately?

With more than 450 pubs reviewed by two busy “regulars” in the Munster Area, it might be worth checking out whether your pub has received a mention on Munsterpubs.com.

It looks like they also do requests if you want your own pub reviewed!

 

Why should I serve drinks for you?

In a bar yesterday for lunch, it reminded me that staff need more than a basic wage to sell your drinks and serve your food. After all, staff rarely have the same enthusiasm or drive for their work like you do as the business owner. I was reminded of this when a staff member came to remove my empty glass in the mddle of my lunch, but didn’t offer me a refill. Had she offered, I would have taken another soft drink.

With staff members on duty, serving additional drinks doesn’t cost any more. So what can you do to make them more productive? Well training is obviously the first step; showing staff that upselling and increasing sales is part of their duties is the first step, followed by supervision. However, in my experience incentives work the best.

Modern cash registers/POS systems can track sales per staff member so that at the end of any shift, you will see at a glance which staff members are generating revenue. Why not offer a monthly bonus to staff based on the revenue they have generated. Perhaps a small percentage of their takings? Staff members who see that heir upselling results in increased wages will certainly make more of an effort with customers. You will see then which staff are motivated and which staff are not buying into the system.

What else should you consider?

Make sure to rotate where you assign staff so that all staff get a fair share of customers and that no staff member is left working in areas where they have no chance to generate extra takings.

Let us know how you all get on….

 

South Kerry Publican in for a windfall

According to reports in todays Irish Independent, one Jackie Healy-Rae is due to scoop a €20,000 windfall! but for what? Full story here.

 

(Don’t) take a chance on pub food?

I recently attended a Dubliner magazine debate on food at which an expert panel including Kevin Thornton (Thornton’s), Ross Lewis (Chapter 1), Ernie Whalley (ex Editor of Food & Wine magazine), Helen Lucy Burke (well, Helen Lucy Burke), Eoin Higgins (Sunday Tribune foodie) and Asheesh Dewan of the Jaipur Indian restaurant chain, referred to pub food during the course of the discussion.
However they quickly dismissed pub food as being ‘non-existent’ in terms of quality.
“Is there such a thing as a Gastro Pub in Ireland?” they asked.
– “We don’t think so, pubs can’t cook” they answered themselves before quickly moving on…. I was disappointed to hear this as I don’t necessarily agree. One of our industry reports this month deals with a survey of food in Dublin pubs. Look around at the successful competition. Stylish venues and cocktail bars have become a noticable feature of the pub trade purely as a result of the more demanding customer emphasising the importance of having high standards. Bar food follows suit.
But God is in the detail of the overall offering and it’s surprising how frequently one can enter an establishement and have to wait at a table piled with empty glasses and used plates to ‘enjoy’ the dubious pleasers of overcooke, over priced food. Frequently I’ve adopted the role of clearer-up and collected these and landed them on the counter out of pure frustration. That’s on the rare occasion that I haven’t already left the place.
So how’s your food operation really doing? If you don’t know, you can do one of two things. You can send in a couple of people to assess your outlet’s strengths and weaknesses via a mystery visit or you can print up comment cards and try to ensure they’re used by offering some kind of incentive (it’s cheaper than hiring the services of a research company). It’s amazing the feedback this can generate. But is anyone out there listening?
While there are quite a few pubs doing a great job in promoting good quality pub food, contrary to the widely held belief as posited by the panel, sadly to my mind they find themselves in a minority when put alongside the truly terrible chancers still out there.

 

From Glastonbury to Finland(ia)

Glastonbury wasn’t the only venue celebrating the Summer Solstice. Renards nightclub in Dublin didn’t let the occasion pass without colourful comment in the form of a Finlandia Midnight Sun party recently.

Conditions here were a hell of a lot more comfortable than those at Glastonbury – we were indoors for a start – and there was little mud but much merriment with a full house of specially-invited guests sampling a range of Finlandia cocktails throughout the evening.
In keeping with last year’s Finlandia celebration, something had to change on the hour every hour and this year it was the range of Finlandia cocktails on offer as opposed to the lighting.
But above and beyond all this, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise in this day and age to be asked for a non-alcoholic cocktail at such an event.
Yet initial requests by yours-truly for a non-alcoholic cocktail were met with blank stares from the bar until champion cocktail barman Paul Heffernan heard of my plight and quickly took over, mixing up a tasty delight for this driver.

Current Finlandia Vodka Cup Champion Paul Lambert was there as was Darren Geraghty of Kudos Bar, Clarion Hotel, Liffey Valley and others in the licensed trade such as Geoff Morrissey and Marc McLoughlin from the In Bar in Dalkey and Johnnie Karagiannis from the Morrison Hotel as well as Morzena Twavdziszewski from Sweeney’s Off-licence in Glasnevin, Dublin and Pietro Stoccoro, Bar Manager at the G Hotel in Galway.
Renards itself was nearly unrecognisable, caped as it was in a blanket of Finlandian synthetic snow and ice. Not only that, but the cocktails went down a treat.
Made from barley, Finlandia Vodka pre-dates Absolut (which actually followed on the success of Finlandia) but considering the nature of the product and where it comes from – The Land of the Midnight Sun and all that – shouldn’t Finlandia consider repeating the experience during the Winter solstice?
What better winter warmer could one wish for? At least we’d be in seasonal mood, I thought, as we reluctantly made our exit through the assorted white robed fire breathers, jugglers and nymphs back onto Setanta Place and the warm summer downpour that had gone on all day…..

 

Silver Hill Foods gets another first

It’s quite a mantle of responsibility to be carrying for 45 years but I have to hand it to Silver Hill Foods (and the Steele Family behind the Silver Hill company) which recently celebrated 45 years as Europe’s only hand-produced premium quality duck company at the higher end of the market. Silver Hill Foods’ name travels. 80 per cent of its product is exported to England, France and Europe in general.

That’s why the serious food publican should take another look at this company. These products could lift the menu excitement quotient quite considerably. Best of all, these products come delivered oven-ready fresh or  frozen – the choice is the publican’s.

 

Size does matter….

We keep hearing otherwise, but when it comes to portion control and cost management, size really does matter. What reminded me of this was a recent visit to a local carvery for lunch. I was initially surprised at the prices with no mian course over €9.00 despite it’s city centre location. However closer inspection revealed how this particular business was able to charge these prices yet still make a profit: Portion Sizes.

The main course plates were slightly smaller than normal though not immediately noticeable. The natural inclination for staff is to fill a plate with as much food as possible and indeed many customers will insist on a full plate.

By having a smaller, plate, it can still be piled high with food, yet does not cost as much as the larger plate to serve.

Result? The customer is happy that they have received good value with a low price and a full plate. Waste is also reduced because the customer has not been “over-portioned”.

Try this also with soup, chowder, ice cream and all carvery meals to achieve a consistent portion size.

 

The No Smoking signs are the same

The signs are the same. The Government declares the initiative a success while the licensed trade examines the remains of the day following Scotland’s going ‘No Smoking’ in the pubs and restaurants nearly a year ago.
You could really write this one yourselves.
Question: What type of pub has been hardest-hit by the smoking ban introduced last July in Scotland?
Answer: That’s right, the rural pub.
Question: Are publicans thinking of getting out of the trade there now that business has taken a drastic downturn?
Answer:  Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?
Reports of business being down 30 per cent have put it up to the Scottish licensed trade but it need only look across the pond to find out what the future holds.
Initially when the smoking ban was introduced here, sales decreased as publicans wavered in deciding how to deal with it. Same story in Scotland of late.
In the initial stages, customers prefer to stay for just the one and then move on with a smoking break separating the pub march.
Heard it before? Heard it here first.
Other customers come in later and leave earlier.
Used to be Ireland, now it’s Scotland.
Confusion with the local council regarding planning permissions for smoking shelters has added to the Scottish dirge.
Ah! Memories…..
Applications for the provision of suitable outdoor smoking areas are taking a long long time in some parts of the country while detailed advice on what constitutes a smoking area remains conspicuous by its absence.
Uncomfortably similar.
Some Scottish publicans are threatening to turn their pubs into apartments if they don’t find a way out of the present impasse.
It’s here! It’s here!
Wholesale pub shutdowns are putting a genuine fear into the trade in Scotland.
Snap!
Units without food offerings and/or outdoor provision have certainly been suffering. And as with the situation here, the ability of forecourt retailers in Scotland to supply alcohol is not helping stem the homeward tide of business.
But they should take (brave)heart. Ireland is slowly getting back to its licensed trade feet. Business has picked up again for those who took the smoking ban and ran with it.
Scotland can expect trade to pick up too for there are already those there who’re getting on with it, making it a success with the provision of a food offering.
And there are those enjoying a boom in trade who’d not only prepared for the ban but had anticipated it, making their premises No Smoking areas well in advance of the ban’s introduction.
Success in the licensed trade, it seems, can be replicated on either side of the Irish Sea if the good publican only prepares for it, accepts the inevitability of the Ban and moves on into that brave new non-smoking world out there.