More is merrier

Good food is not always enough to ensure a full restaurant, as Gary Witchalls is fast finding out. When he first opened Epicurus a year ago, Witchalls's attitude to his food was uncompromising. He wanted to cook at the top level, let the food speak for itself, and watch the bookings come in.

That might occasionally work. For some customers, it might work anywhere. But, as a consistent recipe for a full restaurant, it has major drawbacks, as Witchalls now acknowledges.

He says: "For one thing, the penny has now dropped for me about running a restaurant in a pub. Pub-restaurants are a completely different animal. Pricing is one of the key things. People who are really into their food will pay £20 or £25 for their meal in a pub, but that is not everybody."

Crucial changes
One of the ways in which Witchalls has come to realise this is by listening to his customers. Two in particular, a pair of businessmen who between them run 15 pubs, came and enjoyed eating at Epicurus but advised him to make one or two crucial changes.

He says: "One of the things I was thinking of doing was introducing more traditional pub food alongside my à la carte menu - cottage pie, and so on. But the two guys I spoke to both said that, whatever I did, it shouldn't be that.

"They basically made two observations. One was that I was under-marketed. They said, ‘You've got a fantastic product but you're a secret. Nobody knows you're there.' The second thing they said was that I was too expensive. Main courses at £13, with no options much cheaper, are very difficult in a pub."

Witchalls has acted quickly. He has already introduced a £7.99 two-course set menu at lunch, he is offering specials in the evening ("people just like to see things written up on a board") and he has forced himself to become more enthusiastic about events such as themed evenings. He says: "Because of my background, I saw special evenings and themed evenings as a bit tacky. But the reality is that people like them, and I can't afford to appear arrogant about it."

As well as the set lunch menu, Epicurus has introduced a lighter range of snack options at lunchtime. In addition, Witchalls has decided to extend Sunday lunch to 4pm, because it has always been busy, while scrapping Sunday dinner, which was not.

To bolster his marketing, Witchalls is about to send his first mailshot to 100 diners who have left their details after eating in the restaurant. Included is an offer of a 10% discount on weekday evenings in January. Epicurus will also be part of The Times newspaper's dining promotion, which runs in the New Year.

Witchalls is feeling more upbeat about prospects for Epicurus, partly because he feels he has found some of the answers to improving business, but also because business has increased recently anyway. The restaurant was packed last Friday and Saturday night and at Sunday lunchtime, while bookings for December are looking particularly good. Takings for the past couple of weeks have been about £5,000, which is slightly above the average the restaurant will need to hit its annual targets.

Covers are running at around 500 a week. Although Witchalls is less concerned with the number of diners than the total takings, he admits that if the answer to making more money is more people spending a little less, then he will welcome them through the door.

For the moment, Witchalls has set to one side plans to open another restaurant in addition to Epicurus - "my priority is making a success of this one" - but this does not depress him, because he now feels he may have the answer to future improvement.

"It's early days," he says, "but it's almost like I've woken up and had a revelation. I've been telling myself that I should have been considering these things earlier, but at least I've done it now."

Epicurus at the Leather Bottle

The Green, Blackmore, Essex
Tel: 01277 823538
Number of seats: 55
Current weekly turnover: £5,000
Covers per week: about 500

The story so far

Gary Witchalls has set up a fine-dining restaurant called Epicurus in the Leather Bottle pub, Blackmore, Essex. Critics have been flattering and it has already made it into the Good Food Guide, but Witchalls wants to increase takings to ensure he meets annual earnings targets.