Call to Armouries
The ravens at the Tower of London (left) are particularly pleased by the arrival of Digby Trout Restaurants in the New Armouries Restaurant. The raven master, Derrick Coyle, comes down at the end of each day to collect the remains of any cakes, which he duly feeds to the birds.
"The ravens are pleased all right," laughs Kevin Maher, general manager. "We'd only throw it away, so the birds enjoy it. Maybe it'll keep them here a while longer."
The 240-seat restaurant, which opened in mid-January, is the first of its kind at the 900-year-old property, although managing director Digby Trout jokes that Nell Gwynne probably wandered round selling oranges.
The restaurant is in the New Armouries Building, left empty following the transfer of armour and weapons to a purpose-built museum in Leeds, which opened in 1996.
Three-month delay
The restaurant was due to open in October, but building work overran by three months. Trout thinks that's not bad, considering it has taken five years to bring the project to fruition and has cost Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) £6m, with the help of Digby Trout Restaurants, TriCon Food Service Consultants and architect Stuart Page.
Digby Trout Restaurants has a five-year contract and pays a percentage of the sales to HRP. The operation runs on a profit and loss basis and the caterer provides the light equipment. The self-service restaurant will feed 1,200 people a day, mostly between 11.30am and 2pm, although much will depend on when visitors arrive at the Tower and how much time they have there.
"If they come too early on a package tour, they're likely to be elsewhere for lunch, and if they arrive at 3pm they'll already have eaten," explains Trout. "Then there are variables like how long the queues are for the Crown Jewels and whether there's a coach waiting for them."
But he is fairly certain that the restaurant will attract some of the Tower's 2.4 million annual visitors. With 80% of visitors from overseas - 60% of them American - menu planning has been a key issue for Trout.
"Steak and kidney pie is fine for the British visitor, but Americans associate pie with sweet things and they aren't usually keen on offal," says Trout. "English mustard is much hotter than American, so if they put the quantity on they usually use, it would blow their taste-buds away."
Pasta, noodles and rice feature on the menu, as they are dishes that most nationalities feel comfortable with. And an open-plan servery means visitors can see what they are getting, which is easier than reading a menu.
The team will track the quirks of international eating habits during the first year. From their experience at other historical sites - Digby Trout Restaurants handles 15 sites, including the Orangery at Kensington Palace - they know Italians eat lots of bread with their meals, so they will need to boost stocks when the Italians are likely to be around.
The food is all produced on site by the team of six chefs lead by Daniel Jeans. Three hot dishes change daily, with variations such as Lancashire hotpot, smoked haddock fish cakes and vegetarian crumble ranging from £5.50 to £6.50. Maher and his team rotate dishes daily and plan three weeks in advance.
A carvery serves traditional British joints (on granary baps or baguettes, both £4.75), or there are composite salads such as chicken Caesar and salad niçoise (£5.50). A range of six to eight varieties of sandwiches (from £2.60) are made daily, and light snacks such as muffins, brownies, cookies and home-made flapjacks start from 80p.
Cakes (from £2.25) are "proper British cakes with icing in the middle and on top and not the French gateaux", says Trout. The company has more than 100 tried-and-tested cake recipes, such as mead cake, orange and lavender, banana and walnut and Belgian chocolate.
There is pressure to succeed for Maher and his team. With the Tower a must-see tourist destination, Trout is aware that bad catering can have a negative affect on the enjoyment of a visit.
"We need to think about the needs of the guests," he says. "While this won't be a nice, relaxing place in August, we still have to offer good-quality food and service."
Trout is also aware of the often-held perception that the food in such places is more expensive. The average spend in the first two weeks was £4.20, which was higher than originally predicted.
"People do not always expect great quality food. But, here, we use fresh ingredients and it is important that we establish a standard and sell at an appropriate price," he says.
At present there are 20 staff, but Maher expects this to rise to 30-35 in the summer months. The transient nature of catering staff has caused some security problems.
All staff members must be cleared by Scotland Yard before they can obtain a full-time pass into the Tower of London, and this can take up to three months. Maher originally thought this would be a problem, but the company has come to an arrangement for temporary passes to be issued while the Yard conducts its investigations.
The restaurant opens half an hour after the Tower gates are opened and closes half an hour before visitors have to leave. In winter, this means restaurant hours are 9.30am to 4.30pm except on Sundays and Mondays when the gates (and the restaurant) open one hour later. In summer, the restaurant will stay open for an extra hour (it will also open at the earlier time on Mondays).
Above the restaurant is a large banqueting hall that can hold 240 for a full banquet or 300 for a reception. During the daytime, Digby Trout Restaurants is the approved caterer, but for evening functions they are one of eight on the approved list for clients to choose from.
The next floor up holds conference rooms and meeting rooms and, again, Digby Trout offers day delegate packages for their use.
In the first year of operation, Trout and Maher believe only 15% of the business will come from corporate functions. However, as the Tower begins to market the availability of these rooms, Trout expects business to pick up. He anticipates the whole operation will reach a turnover of £2.5m in 2001.
He believes the relationship between contract caterers in heritage sites is different from that of a caterer in a white-collar environment. "There, the client is king. Here it's the customer that is important. They are visiting the site, but they need refreshment. We can't compete with the Crown Jewels but we can enhance the visitor's experience."
New Armouries history
1663 New Armouries built as storehouse for Office of Ordnance to contain arms and provisions
1668-1825 Became known as Horse Armoury, with carved wooden horses and monarchs encased in royal armour
2001 New Armouries Restaurant opens featuring the pediment from the Great Storehouse
FACTS:
New Armouries Restaurant
New Armouries Building, Tower of London
General manager: Kevin Maher
Covers: 220 seats
Average spend: £4.20
Average daily covers: 1,200
Projected revenue: Year one £2.5m
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 8-14 March 2001
