Church service
"There is a potential conflict between overt commercial activity and the very being of the cathedral and its purpose as a place for worship and reflection," says Digby Trout, managing director of Digby Trout Restaurants. Earlier this week Trout opened the Refectory at Southwark Cathedral, a 70-seat self-serve restaurant that is part of the cathedral's new £10m development.
There is no doubt it is a commercial operation - Trout has a five-year contract and pays a percentage of sales to the dean and chapter of the cathedral. But he knows that, while much of the restaurant's forecast turnover of £500,000 is expected to come from the local business community, the cathedral will have other, less well-to-do visitors.
Offices of bank ANZ overlook the 50-seat outdoor café, and Trout is certain this will be a big draw for bank staff on a sunny summer's day. The menu is "sophisticated, quite grown-up, because we know there will not be many families", and he expects that average spend will hit £6. But at weekends there will be tourists, especially those using the Thames Riverside Walk, which passes the café's entrance, and those coming to worship at the cathedral. General manager Rod Kemp will ensure there are some less-expensive dishes on the weekend menu to cater for this market.
The whole idea of catering at churches and cathedrals is serious business across the UK as cathedrals have realised the financial revenue to be gained.
"The norm was for volunteers to provide refreshments, and the change has been the recognition by the dean and chapter that they have to maximise the use of their resources without compromising the main part of the building," says Tim Henderson-Ross, managing director of Millburns Restaurants. The company holds contracts at St William's College at York Minster, the Crypt at St Paul's Cathedral in London and the Refectory at Salisbury (left).
David Whittingham, director of Avenance, which runs the 100-seat Undercroft restaurant at Durham Cathedral, agrees. "At Durham they want to maintain free entrance to the cathedral. But they also want to maximise the value, and ultimately profit, and the restaurant and book shop are the main income generators," he says. The cathedral will receive the profits from the annual £320,000 turnover and is paying Avenance a management fee.
Salisbury, York and Durham are all featured in the Association of Ecclesiastical Caterers' (AEC) listing, Guide to Eating at Cathedrals and Churches around Britain, which it produces biennially.
"Our common theme is home-cooked, wholesome food and a warm welcome. We mustn't lose sight of who and where we are," says the AEC's secretary, Sue Croxson, who is also catering manager at Norwich Cathedral restaurant.
Most of the 42 members have kept the catering in-house rather than contract it out, and the operations have grown from the tea and scones of the late 1970s to food more familiar in the high street of today.
At Norwich the catering has been done in-house since 1975, when the restaurant opened above the cloisters. It is now an 80-seat restaurant with a £350,000 turnover, and Croxson is gearing up for the expansion of the restaurant to 150 seats by the end of 2002. The cathedral is in the midst of a £10m fund-raising campaign, which will include money for the new restaurant, and has begun the process of planning and design.
Another in-house caterer, Nigel Rogers, is the catering manager of Winchester Cathedral refectory, which he opened eight years ago. Today the team of 14 permanent staff and 2,000 volunteers clear tables and run a self-service café of 100 seats, with outside seating in the summer for 80, and the waitress-service Paul Woodhouse Suite with 80 seats.
Open daily until 5.30pm, the catering operation will turn over more than £1m in 2001, and all profits go back into the restoration and renewal of the cathedral. In the café, the price of one course varies from £5.50-£6.25, while three courses in the suite can be had for between £9.50 and £10.25.
It is not the visitors that Rogers depends on to make his targets, but the local community, which accounts for 80% of the business. Rogers estimates that 69% of his business is repeat trade. "We have some customers who come here five days a week for lunch," says Rogers. "It's nice to see on a gloomy Wednesday in February, but we do need more space."
The Paul Woodhouse Suite was built in 1999 and partly funded by the Paul Woodhouse Trust Fund (he was a former mayor of the city). The addition means Rogers can cater for functions outside the hours of the Refectory, such as meals for corporate clients after events in the cathedral. Rogers estimates that 35% of the turnover comes from corporate events, with the rest from individual dinners and private functions. The demand is clear from the 20% jump in turnover that Rogers saw following the opening of the suite.
Food reflects the heritage of the building, and head chef Greena Luke oversees menus based on a 75% gross profit and draws upon three themes: Hampshire, the cathedral and Winchester. The Winchester Cathedral Rose Pudding (£2) uses petals of the Winchester Cathedral rose, while Likky Pie (£6.25) is a traditional pork and leek pie that originated at the city's medieval St Giles Fair.
Organic sausages and mash, wild mushrooms and artichokes, and sheep's cheese and pesto are just three of the combinations that sit on freshly baked bread and go by the name of the Trencher (£3.95).
A conference-style menu (£18) could include sugar snap pea and pancetta salad with glazed chestnuts to start, stuffed whole quail with chicken truffle mousse as a main course, followed by beignet soufflé with fresh raspberry sauce.
Rogers's offering is indicative of the change in the British public's eating habits and expectations. And he is not alone in responding to the demands of the cathedral-going public.
"Five years ago you could have done coffee," says Henderson-Ross, "now it must be cappuccino, espresso, mocha, caffè latte. The traditional lunch of quiche and chips is not acceptable. People are visiting great buildings, and the food is part of that experience."
Southwark Cathedral development
The £10m addition includes the refectory and an open-air piazza, a new cathedral shop and an interactive visitor centre. There are conference facilities and a library with a view of the River Thames and new stained-glass windows. A covered walkway will house art exhibitions. The Millennium Commission gave £4.2m of the total and private donors the remainder.
FACTS
Winchester Cathedral Refectory and Paul Woodhouse Suite
Tel: 01962 857258
Web site: www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/winchester_cathedral_refectory.htm
Catering manager: Nigel Rogers
Turnover: £1m
Seats: 100 inside, 80 outside; Paul Woodhouse Suite 80
Southwark Cathedral Refectory
Tel: 020 8607 7244
Manager: Rod Kemp for Digby Trout Restaurants
Turnover: forecast £500,000
Seats: 70 inside, 50 outside
The Undercroft Restaurant, Durham Cathedral
Tel: 0191-386 3721
Manager: Helen Alderson for Avenance
Turnover: £320,000
Seats: 100
Norwich Cathedral Restaurant
Tel: 01603 766756
Manager: Sue Croxson
Turnover: £350,000
Seats: 80
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 15-21 March 2001
