Tips from the top

24 February 2000
Tips from the top

Dermott Slade feels in need of a little inspiration for his 16-month-old, 34-seat restaurant, Dermott's. While the restaurant is closed, he is heading east to Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham, where chef-proprietor David Everitt-Matthias has agreed to share some kitchen management tips. Slade is eager to see how a similar-sized restaurant copes with a similar-sized brigade, while earning some of the industry's highest accolades.

Slade is immediately struck by the design of Le Champignon Sauvage. "I'm quite shocked by the size of it," he says. "It's smaller than Dermott's, but it has a lovely lounge and the decor is modern and fresh." Although all the pictures on the walls at Le Champignon Sauvage now belong to David and Helen Everitt-Matthias, they explain that for the first 10 years their restaurant was decorated by paintings from local artists, who sold their work via the restaurant. Slade makes a mental note of the idea. "It's a fantastic way of livening up the restaurant with no extra cost," he says.

Everitt-Matthias's kitchen makes a big impression. It's at the back of the property and extends to a storeroom some 10 feet back. The cooking area is small but well organised, with crockery above the pot-washing area so that the pot-washer doesn't have to move about too much. Slade admits he is a little envious of the double-door walk-in fridge in the storeroom as well as a Rational combi-therm oven, which Everitt-Matthias received following the award of his 1996 National Chef of the Year title.

Building for the future?

Slade thinks Dermott's would benefit from a similar structure to house an equally large fridge at the back of the restaurant. "It would definitely be a bonus," he says. "It would give us more space in the kitchen and an additional area to store prepped food and wine."

Everitt-Matthias also uses the menu at Le Champignon Sauvage to keep the kitchen running smoothly. He explains that he is able to control service by sending customers complimentary dishes, such as an amuse-gueule or pre-dessert, which ensure that customers are not left tapping their fingers in anticipation of their next course.

"It's the sweet service where Adrian [Slade's sous chef] and I get into trouble," explains Slade. "Nine out of 10 customers wait 10 or 15 minutes for their sweet. Sometimes it is as much as 20 minutes," he adds, regretfully.

Everitt-Matthias thinks Slade could make some economies. "The ingredients you use tend to be more expensive than when we first started out," he says. "We couldn't afford to put fillet on the menu - we had to use rump, and we served wood pigeon instead of poulet de Bresse."

Slade believes that his customers expect certain cuts of meat, but Everitt-Matthias persists: "You will have to educate your customers. In time they will realise that the cheaper cuts have a far superior taste and they will learn to trust you. It's a very long process - it's not something you can do overnight.

"A complimentary course is an ideal way of broadening the customer's palate," he continues. "A customer is more likely to try something if he is not paying for it."

Slade and his wife Wendy get a chance to see these ideas put into practice over dinner, and Slade is knocked out by Everitt-Matthias's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. "David makes something out of nothing," he says, adding that the complimentary dishes cost hardly anything to produce.

Ideas in action

Back from his visit to Cheltenham, Slade wastes no time trying out some of the techniques gleaned from Everitt-Matthias. Canapés, served on arrival, have been reduced to two. An amuse-gueule (such as haricot vert, marquise potatoes and chicken sausage - a modern-day sausage, beans and mash) follows once the customer has given his order at the table. And a pre-dessert [for example, lime and golden rum syllabub] now gives Slade and Bennett more time to prepare and cook desserts.

"The only problem has been that some of our customers are not used to pre-desserts and are worried that they have to pay for it, so we have to make a point of saying ‘compliments of Dermott's' when we serve the course," says Slade.

"But generally it's going down a treat," he adds. "Because we are only charging £22.50, with the extra courses the customers really feel they are getting value for money."

Slade is bringing in dishes inspired by his meal at Le Champignon Sauvage, such as pork with chou farci ("the best pork dish I have ever tasted"), which was featured in Caterer on 20 January. And he is using the idea of a dish - seared scallops and baby squid, pumpkin purée and squid ink sauce - to serve squid tail stuffed with butternut squash purée, coral and diced scallop, which is poached and accompanied by a black ink fish cream.

He is also contacting local artists and discussing the possibility of an extension at the back of the property with his father-in-law.

Dermott's has lost a couple of staff since Christmas. One of the part-time waitresses has moved to Bognor with the pot-washer, and waiter Nathan Jones met someone via the Internet and has gone to live in the USA. However, two new part-time waitresses have been recruited.

An article in the South Wales Evening Post has claimed that "Swansea's ailing High Street could be set for a £4m transformation". Semi-derelict buildings just yards from Dermott's could be replaced by three-storey buildings with second- and third-floor flats, if planning permission is granted. Dermott's could find itself being catapulted from the city's most run-down commercial area to its most sought-after. Watch this space.

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