Bowling them over
THE challenge for The Cricketers, situated on the village green in Downside, Surrey, is that although the pub is large, the "downside" is that the kitchen is a bit on the small side.
The pub can seat 100 people and the restaurant has 55 covers, as well as a garden with seating for 100. "So, in effect, we can seat 255 people at any one time," says James Clifton.
Food is available from 12 noon to 2pm and from 6.30pm to 10pm seven days a week, with the busiest times on Saturday night and on Sunday lunch-time. The pub serves, on average, about 250 to 300 meals a day and attracts an older crowd with a disposable income.
"This includes retired people and business people from Cobham," he adds.
Pasta is such an important element of The Cricketers' menu that it buys in fresh pasta direct from De Cecco, 713 in Italy including tagliatelle and spaghetti "It's the best you can buy," says James.
Lasagne comes from Knorr, 714, while rice is Uncle Ben's American Long Grain Rice, 715. "We find this is an excellent product - it's easy to cook and there are no problems with sticking," he says.
All soups and sauces are home-made, although James finds Knorr bouillon paste, 716 makes an excellent base.
The pub doesn't serve chips. "It's not in keeping with our image and as we have a small kitchen, there would be a problem having a fryer constantly on the go in terms of fumes. Instead we serve new potatoes or Potatoes Au Gratin, which we buy in from Peka, Holland, 717."
To make The Cricketers' own style of curry, Knorr curry paste, 718 is used.
Desserts are mainly bought in from Crisp Pastries, 719, in Woking, Surrey. This varies from cheesecake, strudel and apple pies.
Ice cream is Brake Bros own label, 720 in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavours, as well as Brake Bros sorbets, 721, in mango, passionfruit and lemon varieties.
For coffee, James serves Rombouts, 722 "as it needed to denote our quality image and we knew Rombouts would do this perfectly."
There are three Rombouts Pour and Serve machines in the pub, 723 - two in the restaurant and one in the bar. "As our turnover is high, these serve our requirements best and as coffee is popular with our staff as well, the machines are always on the go," says James.
Coffee sells at 80p a cup in the pub and £1 in the restaurant. Rombouts coffee is also used as the base for a range of liquor coffees, which sell from around £3 each.
For those who request decaffeinated coffee, One Cup Filters, 723, are used.
