One Fell swoop
Neil Waterfield, the new chef at the Devonshire Fell hotel, has brought tapas to the Yorkshire Dales. Waterfield, who moved from sister hotel the Devonshire Arms in May to act as chef-patron at the Fell, has revamped the menu under instruction from managing director Jeremy Rata.
The menu offers 10 different tapas dishes, priced according to quantity. Three BBQ ribs sell for £3, six for £6 and 12 for £12. Other tapas dishes include duck pancakes, king prawns in garlic butter, and oysters with lemon and rock salt.
For those wanting a more traditional starter followed by a main course, there are starter-size portions such as salad of pan-fried chicken livers (£4.25) or chargrilled stuffed calamari (£5.95). For more voracious appetites, there is an artichoke and wild mushroom risotto (£11) and roast duck breast (£14).
The menu is a natural progression from events last year, when the Fell changed the layout of the bar and formal restaurant to offer a more informal food operation. The formal restaurant moved into the 26-seat conservatory and the bar area expanded to seat 30 people.
The menu was split into those for lunch and dinner in the restaurant, and a bar menu for the informal area. But, after a year, Rata felt it still wasn't working, despite retaining Bib Gourmand recognition from Michelin.
"We were not different and people were not coming here for the food. The tapas idea differentiates us from the Brasserie [at the Devonshire Arms]," Rata says.
There's now one menu, regardless of seating area, offering food in the "Simple", "Tapas", or "Considerable" categories, along with side dishes and salads. Average spend at the Fell is up at lunch from £5.50 to £9, while dinner has remained static at £16. But covers have increased by 3% at lunch to an average of 28 covers a day, and at dinner they have risen 9% to an average of 23 a day.
In fact, trade has been picking up since the events of last September, when people suddenly became keen to holiday in the UK. Rata says there was a noticeable increase in bookings within days of 11 September. By 31 March the Fell had increased its business by 7% on the previous year. The hotel made a profit of £13,000 on turnover of £500,000.
Rata is optimistic about the current financial year. He expects the Fell to post a pre-tax profit of £100,000 in 2002-03 on turnover of £600,000. This means the hotel will be able to start paying back the investment made by the trustees to get it up and running.
Rata has also rejigged the personnel side of the Fell, with Waterfield reporting to Stuart Procter, general manager of sister property the Devonshire Arms, which means better communication between the two hotels.
The team has been focusing on finding new business, and hiring the hotel on an exclusive-use basis has developed considerably, particularly for weddings and companies wanting to take staff away for a weekend. Rata estimates £100,000 in turnover comes from weddings, while a further £100,000 is down to corporate bookings.
This summer Harbour Films is filming The Calendar Girls, the real-life story of the local Women's Institute posing nude for a calendar to raise money for charity. The cast and crew have given the hotel £30,000-worth of business in room nights. n
Next week we revisit Porterhouse
The Devonshire Fell
Burnsall, North Yorkshire
Tel: 01756 729000
Managing director: Jeremy Rata
Chef-patron: Neil Waterfield
Bedrooms: 12
Seats in bar: 30
Seats in restaurant: 26
Turnover (2001-02): £500,000
Profit (2001-02): £13,000
Average achieved room rate: £75
Food spend: lunch £9; dinner £16
Covers: 28 lunch; 23 dinner
Food gross profit: 75%
The story so far…
The brightly decorated Devonshire Fell in Burnsall, North Yorkshire, opened in July 1999 with 12 bedrooms, a 40-seat formal dining room and 28-seat conservatory.
The hotel is owned by the trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement and has a sister hotel, the Devonshire Arms, in nearby Bolton Abbey. Since our catch-up last summer, the hotel's fortunes have improved considerably.
