Dining alfresco
There's something happening in British parks at the moment, something that goes against tradition, against much of what we've grown to expect and become used to.
It's this. If you go to any of the Royal Parks of London these days you'll be hard pressed to find a cup of instant coffee or stale bun. Potted shrimp and sparkling English wine or free-range sausage in organic bun - maybe. But chips, hamburger and stewed tea - not likely.
Inn the Park, Oliver Peyton's spectacular new caf‚ and restaurant, which opened last week in St James Park, is just part of this understated revolution. Commissioned by the Royal Parks, it has cost the government agency £3m and was designed by Sir Michael Hopkins, architect of Glyndebourne Opera House, to replace the park's 1960s caf‚, the Cakehouse.
Designer Tom Dixon OBE, creative director of Habitat, has created an interior space comprising two areas - self service and table service - with booths separated by marble partitions, housing chromed edged tables and leather chairs. The building is an eco-friendly haven of Scandinavian-style timbered walls, ceilings and decking with huge glass doors making up one wall that can be opened in warm weather.
It's the first Royal Parks restaurant to be open until 11pm, but offers breakfast from 8am with a lunch and dinner menu plus a selection of about 30 wines, the most expensive being a Chablis at £30. The coffee is freshly ground, the tea all loose-leaf - from Assam Tippy Bop to First Flush Darjeeling - and the ice-cream is made on site.
Suppliers have been painstakingly sourced by Peyton, produce is fresh, in many cases organic and traceable, but prices are low. A three-course lunch or dinner starts at about £17. It's expected to bring in £2m in turnover a year, a sizeable chunk to add to the park's current overall turnover from its catering operations of £7.5m.
Inn the Park is a milestone for the Royal Parks division and for chief executive William Weston, who has been instrumental in getting the project off the ground. It's part of a long-term strategy to evolve the catering in the parks to a world-class standard - something that seemed a long way off when Weston took up his job in 2000.
"Up to 2000 open air catering was like traditional beach catering - tea and bun operations selling chips and hamburgers," he says. "For 10 years catering was only a peripheral part of the park experience. When I arrived my personal focus was to think about the visitors and it was clear that we had a sophisticated clientele. I believe the park should be about the total experience with catering a part of the landscape and the horticulture. It was clear that we needed to upgrade our act."
He enlisted Laurent Trenga as catering concessions manager - a newly created post - to bring the catering in the parks up to date. Trenga, who had worked in food and beverage in hotels and contract caterers before arriving at the Royal Parks, made it his mission to raise the quality of the park's catering.
"The first thing I did was to make sure every single cup of coffee sold in the Royal Parks was bean to cup," he says. "There was a lot of instant coffee being served and I thought it was fundamental to serve a decent cup of coffee. In the high street you can get a decent cup of coffee, so why not in the park."
He has been responsible for the revamping of many of the other park operations, from introducing the free-range sausage sandwich stalls - the Honest Sausage - as an alternative to burgers, to upgrading the Lido and the Dell restaurants in Hyde Park. A refurbished Greenwich restaurant opened in March.
"We have encouraged all our operators to think about what's happening on the high street," Trenga says, "to take account of the best of seasonality, fresh ingredients and reflect British style of catering which is one of the best in the world. It fits in well with our green approach of the park and so is of interest to the visitors. It also establishes values and it makes money."
The changes have been incremental, Trenga admits, but then open air catering is not an easy task. "The park is the hardest place there is to make catering work," he says. "You've only got six months to make your year's trading. As soon as the skies open everyone disappears and if it's too hot all people want to do is eat ice cream or drink water.
"The trick is to get people into the parks to eat as well as to enjoy the landscape. By approaching it with a different attitude to quality and style, we have begun to make our caf‚s and restaurants somewhere where people will come for a dedicated trip. We need to get the trust of people to come back, but we also need to be sensitive to everyone in the park, from the old, the families, the young and those with special needs. We must serve the person who wants to spend £20 as well as the person who wants to spend £2."
So how does Oliver Peyton fit in with the Park's culture? "He was totally at one with the concept," Weston says. "I heard about his reputation for being a party animal and how he is now a reformed character with a family and it seemed this was what partly drove him to deliver this vision."
Trenga agrees: "I thought Oliver would be great for the project. He's a world-class operator with real passion and a proven track record. He was obsessed with every detail, from the coffee to the water and the packaging. He came up with the right thing with the menu. It's not shy food and he was aware of the cross section."
Weston and Trenga have plenty of plans over the next five years to look at other park locations and develop them, but the size of this project won't be repeated. Instead they are looking at smaller projects that the funding and sponsorship they receive will allow. Architects are being invited to submit ideas for a small caf‚ project in Bushy Park, a new restaurant in Richmond Park is being considered and the Dell and Lido restaurants in Hyde Park, currently run by Caper Green catering, are up for tender in 2005.
Whatever the project, however, it will be the same standard as Inn the Park, of that Trenga is sure. "Whatever we do it will be the same standard. It has to be because there has to be consistency throughout the parks. Outdoor catering is hard - I haven't seen it reach our standard anywhere else in the world - so that proves we can do it but we also have to grow slowly and organically - like growing plants."
Best of belfast…
Belfast Castle is an imposing late-Victorian baronial home on the slopes of Cave Hill with an uninterrupted view across Belfast Lough towards the Hollywood Hills. Malone House is a late-Georgian mansion in the rolling meadows of one of Belfast's most beautiful parklands.
Belfast City Council owns and manages both attractions and, for the past five years, the catering has been franchised out to Castle Catering at the Castle and Manor House Catering Services at Malone House.
Both contracts are currently out to public tender with a decision expected later this month. Together, the catering operations at both venues turn over £1.6m.
Belfast Castle has an … la carte menu and Malone House offers a brasserie menu. Both venues offer European and Irish dishes with an emphasis on local produce. Suppliers include Bass Ireland, Diageo, Crossgar Poultry, Northdown Foods, and Ewing's Fish.
The core business of weddings, seminars, meetings and training courses comes from the greater Belfast area within a 30-mile radius. There are 150,000 customers who use the catering or hospitality facilities between both venues each year.
General manager Brendan Toland says staff benefits include job security, variety, and working in lovely surroundings. Both venues have picked up Hospitality Assured, Investors in People, and the Charter Mark awards.
Inn the park
Seats: 80 inside/120 outside
Average spend: From £17 for three courses
Projected annual turnover: £2m
Proprietor: Oliver Peyton
Architect: Sir Michael Hopkins
Design: Tom Dixon OBE
Selections from the menu
Breakfast
Great British breakfast, £9.50
Duck egg on sourdough, £3.50
Poor Knights of Windsor, £5.50
Lunch and dinner Wild garlic and potato soup, £4
Oxtail terrine, sourdough toast and pickles, £6
British lop eared pork chop, pea puree and spring carrots £9
Gratin of flat field mushrooms, spring greens and Tymsboro goats' cheese, £7.50
Fresh mint and chocolate fudge ripple ice-cream £4.50
Carrot cake and chocolate sauce £4
Walk in the garden
Botanical gardens, Birmingham Redcliffe has run the catering at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham since 1987. Its contract was re-awarded last year for a further 14 years. Three banqueting rooms pull in annual sales of £2.5m.
The gardens cater for everything from small business meetings to a private dinner for Tony Blair and other international heads of state when the G8 summit came to Birmingham in 1998. All members of the Royal Family, apart from the Queen herself, have attended events at the Gardens. Most business comes from corporate dinner dances. The three banqueting rooms have capacity for 450, 170 and 60 people respectively.
Director of operations Colin Cook says: "We try not to do traditional banqueting food but rather provide a fresh restaurant-style service." Two chefs at the Gardens recently won regional awards. Commis chef Adam Grant, and sous chef Andy Kayiakio were respectively the Midlands Association of Restaurants and Hotels' young and senior chefs of the year.
The tearooms are open to the general public. June and December are the busiest months. There are 40 full-time staff, including 20 chefs who work between the gardens and the Centennial conference centre.
Glasgow winter gardens Encore Catering, the commercial catering division of Glasgow City Council, operates in museums, sports venues, and universities and colleges. Inside the Winter Gardens, Encore runs a 60-seat restaurant and is also responsible for marketing, selling, and catering for events at the venue. When the UEFA cup was held in Scotland in 2002, Encore created a golf course in the grounds for a final bash for the tournament's organisers.
The restaurant is open to the public from 10am to 5pm, and also hosts civil marriages, graduation ceremonies, corporate hospitality, concerts, and exhibitions. The venue uses Scottish suppliers including fishmonger Corrigan's, Campbell's for meat, and McGhee's bakery.
Up and coming summer events include the world's pipe band championship and the great Scottish run. In September, Glasgow hosts its largest medical conference to date. 15,000 delegates are expected for the European Respiratory Convention. Many will be entertained at the Winter Gardens.
Ian Boardley, development and hospitality services manager for Encore, says staff enjoy working in such a bright and airy location. "It's fun, and because the business is changing all the time - from coach parties visiting the gardens, to weddings, and outdoor events - it constantly tests and challenges the management team."
