Life and sole

The opening of the fifth Shoeless Joe's, in London's Dover Street, on 25 September, kicks off plans for a national roll-out programme for the restaurant chain. As group head chef, Steve Gomersall's job is managing food and staff as the company expands.

I'm up at 7am most mornings and, as I'm not one for eating in the mornings, there's no breakfast. I leave home in Finsbury Park at about 8am and take the Piccadilly Line Tube to work, but this is about to change, as I've just bought a house in Kingston, Surrey. It's really nice down there. It has all the shops you get in central London but the people are much more polite and friendly.

I arrive at about 8.45am at our flagship restaurant at Temple, and usually have a chat with its chef and operations manager about how business went the previous evening. I'll also talk by phone to the chefs at our other venues. After that, I'll speak to head office to set up various corporate and media events at our four units.

Apart from the atmosphere in Shoeless Joe's, our big selling point is our flexibility. We'll try to provide whatever the customer wants. We host sit-down functions for 300, cocktail parties for 900, barbecues and fashion shows - whatever.

Through the late morning and early afternoon, I'll normally visit a couple of the venues to be on hand to check that everything is OK with the customers and the personnel. Kitchens can be irate places and people burst into arguments quite easily, so sometimes I need to sort that out.

I stop for lunch at about 2pm and will eat something different from the menu each day. It's a good way to check for consistency. We have a big range of items on the main menu, such as smoked trout terrine wrapped in smoked salmon and fillet of Aberdeen Angus steak with chunky chips and b‚arnaise sauce, and they suit our customer profile. This is split mostly 50:50, male:female, across the age range of mid-20s to mid-30s.

The Dover Street restaurant will have a slightly more expensive, upmarket offering, as it's in Mayfair. With the Manchester restaurant, we're selecting some items to suit a more northern taste, such as chips with curry sauce and more fish and chips and burgers, etc. It will also have to be cheaper than what you pay in London. As I'm originally from Leeds, I can understand why chips and curry sauce is so popular.

In the afternoon, at about 3pm onwards, there is usually one weekly meeting to attend at each unit to discuss the previous week's business and what's planned for the coming seven days. We'll also talk about what promotions are planned, how we can lift sales of food or drink, problems with staff, etc.

I have 50 staff under me so there's a lot of man-management involved for those in the kitchen as well as those front of house. Most of them are from places such as South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka, as well as lots of Europeans. There are very few British workers.

Throughout the day, I liaise regularly with head office on menu planning for future events. Even though it's summer, I'm working on the menus for Christmas.

If I can, I'll leave around 7pm, but if there's a problem, I'll roll my sleeves up and go into the kitchen to help out. Otherwise, I might go out to dine with my partner or, twice a week, I head to the gym. Bed is some time before midnight.

Just a minute…

What message do you have for Tony Blair? Recognise the hospitality industry for what it is, and look at ways to help cut hours and improve wages at the lower end.
What is your favourite restaurant? The Square, London.
Who would be your ideal dinner partner? Geri Halliwell. She really makes me smile. Otherwise, John Burton-Race, who I used to work with.
What food do you really dislike? I despise tripe.
What has been your most embarrassing moment at Shoeless Joe's? A bad write-up from Fay Maschler, restaurant critic of London's Evening Standard, about the food which John Burton-Race and I were cooking at the Temple restaurant.
What food do you love? Foie gras with artichokes.

Shoeless Joe's

Ballymore Leisure, Third floor, 205 Wardour Street, London W1F 8ZJ
Tel: 020 7534 0250
Web site:www.shoelessjoes.co.uk

Owner: Ballymore Leisure
Chief executive: Adam Duthie
Group turnover: £6.3m (year to April 2001)
Projected turnover to April 2002: £8.5m
Outlets: four; fifth opens on 25 September

Interview by David Tarpey