Gourmet Central
Debate may rage among London chefs as to whether Michelin stars attract or hamper business, but in Ludlow they are welcomed. Ever since the town became the proud home two years ago of three Michelin-starred restaurants, hundreds of column inches have been published heralding Ludlow as being second only to London in its concentration of such establishments.
Not only have the accolades helped to raise the profile of the three current restaurants to hold stars - the Merchant House, Mr Underhills at Dinham Weir, and Hibiscus - but they have also helped ensure Ludlow's emergence as a centre of gastronomic excellence in its own right. With the town's annual food and drink festival every September, weekly markets selling local produce, monthly farmers' markets and a plethora of independent food shops, Ludlow has become a magnet for foodie visitors from both home and abroad. As well as creating full restaurants, the situation has helped ensure that there are busy hotels, shops and associated businesses too.
Concentrated excellence
Even so, it's still surprising that a small market town of just 9,500 inhabitants, nestled in the south Shropshire hills, can support such a high concentration of culinary excellence, while larger towns, and even major cities elsewhere in the UK, have been unable to achieve the same success.
Shaun Hill, chef-proprietor of the Merchant House, which in 1995 became the town's first Michelin-starred restaurant, says that it has worked because all the restaurants are small and intimate. "If you put all our restaurants together, it wouldn't even be as big as the cafeteria at the local Tesco's store," he says. "If we were three large Relais & Châteaux-style establishments, then it would not have succeeded."
Certainly, many a restaurant has failed where the owner has not got the economies of scale correct for the location, even when the food served has achieved critical acclaim and plaudits galore. In Ludlow, each of the three starred restaurants serves quality food in establishments that are appropriate in size and style for the area.
The Merchant House is the smallest of the three restaurants, with a maximum capacity of just 22 covers. Mr Underhill's at Dinham Weir can serve as many as 24 covers and Hibiscus, the largest, can serve a maximum of 28 covers during its busiest service.
However, the fact that three talented chef-proprietors have ended up working in the same tiny town at the same time appears to be more a case of serendipity than part of anyone's major game plan. Hill, who previously ran the kitchens of Gidleigh Park at Chagford in Devon, was initially attracted to Ludlow because it was the setting for AH Houseman's A Shropshire Lad. Nevertheless, he wasn't blind to the practical benefits of setting up in Ludlow.
"On arriving here, I sincerely believed that I had stumbled on one of the last undiscovered regions of the country," says Hill. "Not only is the property cheap, enabling us to set up without a posse of bankers, but Ludlow is also a pleasant place to live. It's not a dinky town like a lot of places in the Cotswolds, but a living town with a genuine market, lots of small, independent food shops and excellent local meat and produce. Most importantly, it is a realistic place to run a small restaurant, without the hassle of having to employ lots of staff, and make a decent living." Hill cooks alone, without even a pot washer, while his wife Anja has the help of just one member of staff front of house.
Hill's experience certainly proves that independent restaurateurs can get a good deal for their money in Ludlow. In 1994, using a domestic mortgage, he paid £150,000 for a 13-room river-fronted property, formerly a private residence. Despite initial objections from local residents to changing the use of the early 17th century timber-framed building, permission was eventually granted. After £40,000 was spent on converting the property, the Merchant House opened and has been constantly full ever since, turning over around £250,000 annually.
The owners of Mr Underhills, Chris and Judy Bradley, decided on Ludlow in 1997, having spent the previous three months travelling 15,000 miles across the south and heart of England, searching for the ideal property in which to open a restaurant with rooms. Having previously run the Michelin-starred restaurant Mr Underhills, in Stonham, Suffolk, for 16 years, they wanted the opportunity to expand their business, but were having difficulty in finding a property at the right price.
"We were sent details of a property in Ludlow and only decided to go and look at it because it gave us the excuse to eat at Shaun's," says Chris Bradley. "On arriving here, we quickly realised that there was huge potential in both the business and the town."
Set on the banks of the River Teme at the foot of the rampart of Ludlow Castle, and just five minutes' walk from the market square, the location of what is now Mr Underhills is superb. The property, though, was badly run down, enabling the Bradleys to snap it up for £235,000. As well as the 24-seat restaurant, it has six bedrooms which have all been refurbished, helping Mr Underhills win the title of Restaurant with Rooms of the Year in last year's Good Hotel Guide.
Of Ludlow's three Michelin-starred restaurants, Mr Underhills is the only one to offer accommodation. According to Bradley, however, this benefits the others, too, as it gives people somewhere to stay for two or three days while they sample all the restaurants. Indeed, the Bradleys' encourage their guests to eat elsewhere. "People sometimes can't quite understand our attitude," he says, "but we think customers are more likely to come back to us if we don't make them feel obliged to eat with us every night. It is, after all, in the self-interest of all of us to refer business to each other."
Hibiscus is Ludlow's newest recipient of a Michelin star, having been awarded the accolade in January, just eight months after the restaurant opened. Chef-proprietor Claude Bosi is not, of course, new to the area, having previously been head chef at Overton Grange, the country house hotel on the outskirts of the town which held a Michelin star until his departure.
When Bosi and his fiancée, Claire Crosby, first decided to open their own restaurant, it was in Warwickshire and not Ludlow that they looked for a site. "Apart from Simpsons in Kenilworth, there are few good restaurants over there and I felt that there was a gap in the market," says Bosi. But properties were too expensive, particularly close to the M40, where he was looking. When Kenneth Adams, owner of the Oaks restaurant in Ludlow, decided to relocate, the opportunity for Bosi to open in the town at a realistic price fell into his hands. A 25-year lease on the former 16th-century coaching inn cost Bosi £40,000.
Five-year plan
Although Bosi has long-term plans to eventually open in Warwickshire one day, he knows that Ludlow will provide him with a good steady business for at least the next five or six years. Almost every Saturday night until June is already fully booked.
Bosi recognises the uniqueness of Ludlow, despite having being brought up in France, where there are a total of 505 Michelin-starred establishments - compared with the 103 in Britain. "I don't think even France has a town as small as Ludlow that has the same concentration of starred restaurants," he says.
The Ludlow food phenomenon is one that has certainly captured the imagination of the public, both at home and abroad. Questions relating to the Michelin-starred restaurants are among the most frequently asked at the town's Tourist Information Centre (TIC).
"It has been great news for the town," says Anne Holland, manager of the centre. "The publicity has all been about promoting Ludlow as a quality destination, which is excellent for attracting people to come and spend money here." About 135,000 people visit the TIC every year, but Holland believes that the total number of visitors to the town is three to four times higher.
As well as the restaurants, there is the historic attraction of the town itself, with its Norman castle, half-timbered buildings and St Laurence's church, claimed to be one of the finest parish churches in the country. Then there's the cultural aspect, with the Ludlow Festival (held this year from 23 June to 8 July) fast becoming one of the most significant arts events of its kind in the UK.
And now, spurred on alongside the rise of the Michelin-starred restaurants, is the rapidly growing Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival, which will be held this year from 7 to 9 September. Hill, Bradley and Bosi all took part in last year's event, which was attended by 12,000 visitors.
Enthusiastic articles in magazines such as Bon Appetit in the USA and various Scandinavian publications have helped encourage people to travel to Ludlow from far and wide, although the limited accommodation in the town - there are only two hotels in the centre, the Feathers and Dinham Hall - probably restrains the potential.
But the British short-break market is very buoyant, with domestic visitors happier than their foreign counterparts to use the selection of guesthouses in the area. Keen foodies like the idea that they can stay in one place for a couple of days and visit three starred restaurants, all within walking distance of one another. Accommodation at weekends and during festival times is always full. Mr Underhills doesn't have a room available on a Saturday night for several months. At the Merchant House, customers are split between 80% locals and 20% visitors in the winter, while in the summer it switches around to 40% locals and 60% visitors.
What of Ludlow's culinary future? Can it sustain more restaurants? With Koo, a Japanese restaurant, opening at the end of last year and two major planning applications for restaurants in prime locations on Castle Square having been recently lodged with South Shropshire District Council, plans are certainly afoot to expand the culinary offering in the town.
Press coverage
The council's head of planning, James Caird, says that hardly a month goes by without the appearance of a major article in the national press eulogising Ludlow as a wonderful place to live and visit. "While that continues, there is always going to be interest in developing new restaurants," he says. "The top end of the market is, obviously, now very well served and there are lots of pubs and tearooms, but what is missing are restaurants aimed at the middle market. We have granted permission for one of the sites on Castle Square, while the other one has gone back to the architects, as the contemporary design of the plan caused something of a public outcry."
Gaby Fletcher, who with her property developer husband is owner of that site, believes that there is still room for more restaurants in Ludlow. "The town receives a huge number of visitors, but a large number of them are not catered for," she says. "We intend to create something that doesn't currently exist - a 100-cover mid-spend brasserie style of operation that will be open all day. It will be elegant, but casual, with a modern interior."
Fletcher is currently in talks with national chains, such as Ask, about the running of the restaurant.
Meanwhile, the publicity surrounding the Michelin-starred chefs knows no bounds. The three of them - together with Adams, whose restaurant, the Waterdine, at Llanfair Waterdine on the Welsh Border, holds a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin guide - are currently filming a series for the Carlton Food Network, called Michelin Impossible.
LUDLOW'S STARRED RESTAURANTS
The Merchant House
62 Lower Corve Street, Ludlow, Shropshire
Tel: 01584 875438
Chef: Shaun Hill
Owners: Shaun and Anja Hill
Seats: 22
Dishes: Scallops with coriander and lentils; rack of lamb with haricot, bacon and red wine sauce; rhubarb tart with ginger custard
Menu price: £31 for three courses
Annual turnover: £250,000
Mr Underhills at Dinham Weir
Dinham, Ludlow, Shropshire
Tel: 01584 874431
Chef: Chris Bradley
Owners: Chris and Judy Bradley
Seats: 24
Dishes: Warm smoked salmon with ginger and coriander noodles; breast of barbary duck with cinnamon and cumin and a quince cream; creamy rice with Yorkshire rhubarb compote
Menu price: £27.50 for three courses
Annual turnover: £265,000
Hibiscus
17 Corve Street, Ludlow, Shropshire
Tel: 01584 872325
Chef: Claude Bosi
Owners: Claude Bosi and Claire Crosby
Seats: 28
Dishes: Velouté of white beans with a fondue of egg and black truffle; roast squab pigeon with sweet potato and pineapple; avocado soufflé with chocolate ice-cream
Menu price: £32.50 for three courses
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 15-21 March 2001
