Greenhouse is ready to flower again

Last year wasn't a good year for many people, including me. We had storms at the start of the year, followed by the foot-and-mouth outbreak, which didn't help anyone in this part of the world.

Now the local council is digging up the road outside the restaurant for eight weeks, and the village council is trying to cut the parking space in an already stretched village. What life would be like without red tape!

So what's life going to be like in 2002? By the time you read this, it will be our quiet time of year. I'm proprietor and chef of the Greenhouse, a beautiful restaurant in the heart of the historic town of Warkworth, Northumberland. It's very picturesque with a beautiful castle overlooking the village.

The restaurant isn't big by city standards, but we can seat 55. We always have a problem describing our style of cooking. We try to stay away from the bar-meal style of food - after all, there are already another five establishments offering bar meals and another four restaurants, so we always try to offer something different.

Warkworth has good summer and weekend trade, but winter can be very quiet. We open every day and provide breakfasts, snacks, lunches and evening meals. But this doesn't seem enough.

When you become your own boss in this trade, you suddenly realise that you can't go in to work, cook and go home again. It's no longer catering, but sales. When you take an order, you sell. When you write a menu, you sell. Now, only a small percentage of my time is spent cooking. Thank God for good staff.

The rest of my time is spent on paperwork, which I couldn't manage without the help of my fantastically talented mother-in-law, who not only does my accounts and babysits my three-year-old daughter but also runs her own business with her husband and her son.

So, while people count the cost of last year, we at the Greenhouse have decided we'll close for the week and have a big staff party: free booze and food, and a bit of a dance. After all, you've got to look after your staff.

Then I'll give them all a paintbrush and a screwdriver and we'll decorate.

I hope that, if we can manage the financial side, we'll use a space in the restaurant and turn it into a delicatessen. Just before Christmas, we produced a take-away menu with a delivery service. Now will be the perfect time to push this idea and set it in motion, so we're all prepared for the summer rush.

At the end of the day, you can sit around and moan and feel sorry for yourself - and I'll admit I can do that as well as the next person, if not better. But you can't let things get the better of you. It's time to put the past behind you and move on. n

HELEN CUTTS is chef-proprietor of the Greenhouse restaurant in Warkworth, Northumberland