Local celebrity
The Vine, a village pub in Cumnor, Oxfordshire, is known for its exotic food offerings. Having ostrich, kangaroo or springbok on the menu is what landlord Robert Patterson considers to be a unique selling point.
"The pub was known for good food in the past, so I had to think about another marketing strategy. We have developed the menu so that people know they will get ostrich and kangaroo," says Patterson.
The pub needs to be all things to all people. At one end is the "local" with a pool table, fruit machines and villagers having a drink. In the conservatory, the garden room and, in the summer, the garden itself are young couples and retired folk enjoying an evening meal.
At lunchtime the business set, out for the four-mile drive from Oxford's city centre, come to sample some of the unusual fare.
All food is freshly prepared by one of the three chefs in the kitchen and the menu incorporates seasonal changes.
The local clientele is boosted by the 10 or so guesthouses in the vicinity. Patterson estimates he gets between 50% and 75% of the B&B customers for either lunch or dinner.
Average spend for a meal at the Vine is £15 per head, with the restaurant averaging about 90 covers an evening. But Patterson does not take bookings unless the customer is coming from far away specifically for a meal at the Vine.
"This is a village pub that does good food - not a restaurant pub," says Patterson.
In contrast is the Chequers, in Weston Turville, near Aylesbury, where Swiss-born landlord Christian Wioland is in charge of a "restaurant with a bar". Here, a 60-seat restaurant is the main focus with food also being served in the 35-seat bar.
The average spend at Chequers is £23 per head and clientele is upmarket. "We are not about the £5.95 Sunday lunch," says Wioland.
Like the Vine, Chequers' reputation has been attained mainly by word of mouth, and business people come for lunch and dinner from the surrounding towns of Amersham, Maidenhead and Windsor.
The pub trade is good, but 55% of wet sales are wine, reflecting the tendency for most drinking to accompany a meal.
The pub area does provide a constant flow - even if only a trickle in mid-afternoon - of revenue.
"The advantage of a pub with a restaurant is that if it is not busy with food, there is always someone at the bar," says Wioland.
But revenue is not pursued at any cost. Trendy London restaurants may be able to insist customers eat within two hours and then leave so a second sitting can come in. Not so in a country pub restaurant.
"We do not try to turn tables - it does not always work," says Wioland.
At both Chequers and the Vine, which are both leased from Vanguard Lease Company, there is the common problem of finding staff.
At Chequers, Wioland employs 21 staff full-time and six part-time. Patterson, at the Vine, has seven full-time, including his four chefs.
Finding accommodation is difficult in the countryside and staff need to be local or have their own transport.
The seasonal summer surge means Patterson needs to hire more staff, but only for a few months. "I wish I could have permanent staff, but the business is not there," says Patterson. Local students help get the Vine through the summer, many returning each year to work.
Wioland says he has a problem retaining staff, despite his efforts in feeding them and throwing parties.
