Menuwatch: Tailors, Warwick
On its tenth anniversary, Katherine Price visits Tailors to see how Dan Cavell and Mark Fry are putting the fun back into food
Chef Dan Cavell has a philosophy: "Dining out is a pleasure, not a chore. What's there not to enjoy about going out for a meal?"
With business partner Mark Fry, who oversees the front of house, the pair are putting the fun back into food at their 20-cover, two-AA-rosette restaurant, Tailors in Warwick.
"There's no better feeling than putting a plate of food down in front of someone and them seeing smile," agrees Fry.
ell previously worked at the Michelin-starred Star Inn in Harome, Yorkshire, and as a private chef in California before meeting Fry at a Midlands Association of Chefs event while at the Mallory Court hotel in Leamington Spa.
Fry started as a kitchen porter at Simpsons in Birmingham and spent four years at the Michelin-starred 1 Lombard Street in London before moving to the Michelin-starred Edmunds in Henley-on-Arden. After working together at the College Arms at Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, the pair started talking about opening a restaurant together.
"Dan had money to invest, I had backers," says Fry. "We said once we had a plan we can look. But we looked, and we found this place."
They got the keys on 1 August 2007 and opened the same month. They struggled to find good staff, and then one night the front of house manager didn't turn up. "I've never worked as a waiter, but when it's your own business, you do everything you possibly can," says Fry, "so I put on a suit and came out. All I knew was how I would want to be served. It was the best thing we've ever done. I've been out front ever since."
y do 10-12 lunchtime covers and average about 20 a night across the week, with a 50%-60% return rate on customers.
They use local suppliers when possible: vegetables from AM Bailey in Stratford-upon-Avon; herbs from Westland in Evesham, Worcestershire, white fish from New Wave Seafood in Fairford, Gloucestershire.
"We use as local as we possibly can, unless it's just not good enough," says Fry. "New Wave get the fish up to us within two hours. We can't do more than that. Their fish and shellfish are fantastic."
A commitment to seasonality means a regularly changing menu for the restaurant, which they say focuses on well-cooked food with a hint of playfulness and nostalgia, offering a tasting menu and à la carte with around five options.
"We try to be a little bit different without pushing the boundaries too much. We know our clientele, but we try and have fun," says Fry.
y also have a corned beef hash 99 dish. Fry explains: "There's a picture of us halfway through the renovation of the restaurant. We're exhausted, we're sat on a door, and Dan's mum had cooked us corned beef hash." Years later, Cavell invented a corned beef hash that looks like a 99 ice-cream. He makes his own corned beef, adds pea purée made from marrowfat peas, a potato mousse and beetroot sauce drizzled on top, all inside a cone.
y says: "It was fun and people loved it. It's our most-photographed dish on TripAdvisor. We always throw in a dish that's a bit different, but not everybody's going to want to eat dishes that are a bit 'out there', so we also do things like scallops cooked really well."
They say their food has become more refined over the last 10 years, and the fun element to their food developed over time.
"We originally pigeon-holed ourselves as 'modern British', and I wish we hadn't done that," adds Cavell. "We just do whatever we can to the best of our ability. You can't get away from global influences; the world has become a smaller place. But we know we never wanted to go down the white tablecloth route. What we can do is take good, local ingredients, do the best we possibly can with them and give what we feel is value for money and hopefully an experience our guests will remember."
They have no plans to expand, and although they'd like to go for three AA rosettes and a Michelin star, it's not the be-all and end-all.
"We've taken little steps over the past 10 years and we've been patient," says Fry. "But it's all about making sure people enjoy what they have, and that's the reason we keep going - because people enjoy what we're doing."
From the menu
Starters
- Cornish crab crumpet, yuzu, sea herbs
- Rum and muscovado-cured chalk stream trout, mint emulsion, raisin purée, rye bread
Mains
- Roasted haunch of venison, butternut squash, black quinoa, gouda cheese
- Belly pork, white pudding, parsley root, red cabbage, lime jelly, wholegrain mustard
- Shetland cod, pearl barley risotto, dill, Roscoff onion, gentleman's relish
Desserts
- 'Marathon': milk chocolate, caramel, salted peanuts, nougat
- Lemon meringue, tarragon ice-cream, brown toast, whey caramel
Two courses, £29.50; three courses, £39.50.Six-course taster menu, £60; wine flight, £40
Tailors, 22 Market Place, Warwick CV34 4SL
01926 410590
www.tailorsrestaurant.com
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