Making sales at regatta

As you travel east through Suffolk to the coast, Aldeburgh is the last stop before the sea. A typical seaside town, with a population of 3,000 in the winter swelling to 20,000 in the summer, it offers plenty of scope for restaurants to make a killing in the holiday season, particularly among the families looking for somewhere to relax with their children at the end of the day.

One eaterie doing just that is the 100-seat Regatta restaurant and wine bar in the town's high street. Run by chef-proprietor Robert Mabey, it is housed in a Victorian building where nautical bric-a-brac adorns the walls. Flags fluttering on the yellow-painted outside walls reinforce the seaside ambience.

Mabey aims to make both the restaurant and the menu as friendly and accessible as possible. Fresh ingredients and uncomplicated dishes are his passion.

Diners come from a wide spectrum, ranging from young two-income couples down from London for a weekend to family holiday-makers. He can't afford to ignore the families with children in tow, as they form a large part of his customer base, especially in the summer season, so a fine balance between sophisticated dining and family dishes is required.

Mabey is no stranger to the fast lane, though. He underwent his apprenticeship at the Connaught in London, under the tutelage of Michel Bourdin. In 1981, he won the title of National Junior Chef of the Year, and three years later took the senior title. Travel beckoned, but was put to one side while he explored other options.

Later, with wife Johanna and a family in the picture, London no longer held the same appeal. His first venture, then, was Mabey's Brasserie in Sudbury, followed by the St Peter's restaurant in Ipswich. The Regatta was added to the Mabey stable in 1992, completing the current trio of dining establishments owned by the couple.

Mabey keeps a weather eye on the other restaurants, but these days his major concern lies with Regatta, which he says is his most profitable. Until 1996, it was run by a manager, but a decision by the Mabeys to pursue a more relaxed lifestyle with their sons, George (three) and James (two), prompted them to move to Aldeburgh and take over the day-to-day running.

Aldeburgh offers the opportunity for Mabey to enjoy fishing - in fact, he often goes out with one of his suppliers for the day. "Living here is easy," he comments. "I'm a lifeboatman, I fish, and I have time for my family - that often doesn't happen in big cities."

Life, Mabey believes, is clearly to be enjoyed. He is relaxed and informal, and smokes constantly while talking. "I talk a lot, tend to get off the point a bit," he jokes. He likes to have a chat with customers and build up a rapport to draw them back for repeat business.

Mabey wanted to create a restaurant with an informal air, where parents felt comfortable bringing their offspring. "Again and again, parents comment to us how lovely it is to find a restaurant that welcomes kids," he says. "It is rewarding to see harassed, stressed mums and dads begin to relax at the start of their meal because the kids are happy and contented.

"Families tend to come in around 6pm to eat. We try to get the kids' food out pretty quick, so the parents can relax a bit."

In Mabey's experience, children are especially attracted to food that can be picked up in their fingers, because it's easy to handle. He panders to the fast-food habit for financial reasons, but aims to take it upmarket in a bid to educate young palates.

So although Regatta offers a children's menu with all the usual "soft" options, such as farmhouse sausages with chunky chips (£3.95) and light and crispy home-made chicken nuggets in tempura batter with chips (£3.95), Mabey also includes more internationally based snack alternatives on the main menu to lure youngsters into experimenting with food.

"I think it is so important to encourage young children to be adventurous with food," he says. "They have fantastic palates and they take in such a lot in their first five years. If you've spent that time feeding them hamburgers and baked beans, how can you expect them to eat anything different? It's great to see a young kid tackling a bowl of mussels. They don't look particularly exciting but kids actually do like them."

Long-time favourite

Introducing new tastes through tried and tested channels seems to work, if the popularity of some of Regatta's snacks is anything to go by. Prawn and sesame toasties with Oriental dipping sauce (£3.95) is a long-time children's favourite, as it fits the "snacky" food profile which youngsters enjoy, while Mongolian twice-cooked lamb with "do-it-yourself" lettuce parcels and hoisin dipping sauce (starter £3.95, main course £6.95) appeals to youngsters "because it's crispy, kids get to assemble it themselves and they seem to like the textures".

Fish and chips are always popular at the seaside, and young diners order them often, according to Mabey. Pasta is another favourite - tagliatelle with tomato and fresh Parmesan is a popular choice, while Regatta's chocolate truffle cake is a hit with customers both young and old.

Other snacks that go down well with younger customers are smoked prawns with mayonnaise dipping sauce (starter £3.95, main course £6.95) and smoked sprats with dill mayonnaise (starter £3.50, main course £6.50), sourced from local supplier Butley Oysterage (tel: 01394 450227).

Mabey is also planning to introduce a hand-made Greek hummus with toasted pitta bread (starter £3.50, main course £6.50), which he hopes will go down well.

Desserts tend to be exactly the same for both children and adults, merely on a smaller scale to suit smaller appetites. Almond cake with honey and apricot sauce, blackcurrant sorbet, and chocolate truffle cake (all £1.95) all sell well.

However, Mabey knows that quality food in itself will not draw in families, so his staff are quick to offer pencils and drawing paper to young diners. In fact, the children's menu not only lists food, but contains puzzles and colouring shapes to stave off any bouts of boredom in young guests.

Generations

Mabey looks to build up a relationship with his customers. Many of them return year after year - Mabey terms them the "salmon people". "Customers return yearly and bring their kids," he says. "The kids grow up, bring their husband/wife, then their children. It's often generations of a family we are serving. So we need to cultivate a storehouse of good memories that will bring them back."