The White Lion: Turning on the tapas

23 February 2006
The White Lion: Turning on the tapas

The start of a new year gives many of us the impetus to think about change, and for Rob Gamble, owner of the White Lion in Stoke, some changes have been overdue.

"My problem has been complacency," he explains, but he is not referring to himself. "Some staff have been complacent to the point of it being a challenge. Looking back at the last six months it feels like it's just me and a couple of the senior chefs giving off any energy."

Gamble is looking at bringing "fresh blood" into his three venues in the hope that this will stimulate the existing team. Two new chefs joined in January to replace two who Gamble knew would be leaving.

But Gamble admits that staffing is an ongoing challenge. "We are in an area where there aren't many career-minded individuals," he says.

Six staff members out of a total full- and part-time workforce of 55 have received either verbal or written warnings over their performance. All the legal guidelines have been followed, but Gamble finds the disciplinary process uncomfortable to carry out.

At the same time, he reckons he is going to have to be more ruthless to make the business work. He calls it "being ruthlessly kind - because, otherwise, the business becomes unkind and we end up losing everything".

Still, the White Lion's financial performance in December was encouraging, with a turnover of £30,700, up from £17,000 in November. Turnover at the Noah's Ark was up by 17%, but at Red restaurant and lounge bar in Newcastle-under-Lyme it fell by 12%.

A quiet January has led Gamble to take a fresh look at his food offer, too. The White Lion is starting 2006 with a new chef and a leaner, simpler menu based on fresh ingredients.

Gamble appears to have done a U-turn on his belief in giving the customer a vast choice of dishes. Apart from a specials board and some sandwiches, the whole menu of 16 different baked potato fillings and 13 main courses, plus six grill dishes and side orders, has been pulled.

In its place, a simpler choice of tapas items, such as chorizo sausages in red wine and tomato sauce, Spanish meatballs, mussels, king prawns, and tortilla, is proving popular.

"I used to be head chef of a Spanish tapas bar," Gamble explains. "And the White Lion's chef also worked with me then, so the actual menu hasn't been hard to put together."

The White Lion has also started baking it own bread: sweet potato or rosemary and garlic focaccia, and sun-dried tomato or olive ciabatta.

"Everybody has thoroughly enjoyed the tapas, so I'm incorporating it into our new menu. Some will grumble, but we'll still have fish and chips and a pudding," Gamble says.

Returning to the issue of staffing, he reveals that his new "ruthlessly kind" approach is necessary because expansion is on the horizon.

"Come summer and autumn, I need a strong enough brigade to focus on venues four and five," he says. Gamble already has two properties in his sights but wouldn't give further details as Caterer went to press.

The story so far
The White Lion is Rob Gamble's third pub-restaurant in north Staffordshire - after the Noah's Ark, Hartshill, and Red restaurant and lounge bar, Newcastle-under-Lyme. Gamble acquired the derelict pub on an A-road outside Stoke for nothing in early 2005 and spent £175,000 on its refurbishment. From July 2005 he started paying a £25,000-a-year lease.

Working on the model of his first venue, the Noah's Ark, Gamble transformed the run-down property into a tastefully furnished neighbourhood food-focused pub with a menu split between traditional dishes and those "with a twist", including cryptically named dishes "lims" and "st2." The pub received favourable reviews in the local press.

Following a quiet trading period in autumn, the extensive menu has been overhauled with a new emphasis on classic tapas items and freshly baked breads.

Turnover rose from £17,000 in November to £30,700 in December.

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