10 QUESTIONS FOR CHEF TOM KERRIDGE ON NEW PUB THE COACH
1. Tell me about your vision for The Coach - what's the idea behind it?
The idea is to offer high quality, value-for-money food in a very simple, relaxed environment. We are trying to give a new face to the British pub scene, with a flexible service and food style.
2. What will be on the menu - is it true you'll be able to get a takeaway hot dog?
We will be open from breakfast all the way through to late evening. There will be a breakfast menu that will run until 10-10.30am, as yet undecided, that will perhaps have two or three takeaway items on it for people in a rush. A breakfast hot dog or a rotisserie roast bacon bagel are two of the options that we are looking at, nothing is set in stone as yet.
3. What will the prices be like?
The prices will offer value for money and be competitive, but at the same time, just like The Hand and Flowers, the emphasis will be on quality-led ingredients, but you can rest assured that they will be in an affordable price bracket.
4. I have booked a table for The Hand and Flowers for next March! Will people have to book in advance for The Coach?
The Coach will run completely with a non-booking policy, solely working on a first- come-first-serve basis. Most of the seating is at the bar and it is all about a social experience, rather than intimate, refined fine dining.
5. What else can you tell us about the look/feel of the place?
The look will be trying to embrace all things great about British pubs, a wonderful bar, leather seating, low wooden beams, and warm hospitality. Perhaps the most eye-catching feature will be the bar itself, with some handsome chefs stood behind cooking over a beautiful bespoke made French stove, and a classic rotisserie.
6. What's the idea behind the kitchen being in the pub so customers can chat to the chefs?
The whole idea is to create an all-round sociable feeling, like you are in a pub rather than a restaurant. It is flexible and unstructured, you can call in and just have one dish and be gone very quickly, or you can spend the evening there talking to the chefs and barman about interesting drinks and food concepts.
7. How exciting! I can't wait... When will it open?
We hope to have the builders hand over by the end of October, but like all projects, you don’t know anything until you start taking things apart, before you realise how long it will take to put things back together again. The Coach has been sat for 16 years without a refurb, and we can’t wait to give it a new lease of life, and make it a wonderful, vibrant and fun place to be, and a firm fixture in Marlow town centre.
8. How will you divide your time between your two pubs?
Over the last few years, we have been offered many sites, most of which are London based and all of which I have turned down. The Hand and Flowers has been open for nine and a half years, with members of staff who have been with us for a long, long time. People who I have worked with and known for up to 14 years. We have grown very much hand in hand as a family and as a team of people together, and feel very proud to be part of the community of Marlow and surrounding areas. As The Coach is on the same road, this is just an extension of The Hand and Flowers team, key personnel are returning both back to The Hand and also to open The Coach. Between both sites, we will employ nearly 65 members of staff, all of whom are professional and capable. My main love will always remain The Hand and Flowers, with The Coach being a very exciting extension from The Hand and Flowers foundation. Nick Beardshaw is head chef and manager of The Coach and has been senior sous chef at The Hand for the last four years. He has a phenomenal understanding of food and is also a really nice bloke!
9. Any other interesting news?
The second series called Tom Kerridge’s Best Ever Dishes will be out in the autumn on BBC2 and the accompanying book is out on the 28t
h August in the same vein as the first book - beautifully photographed handwritten dishes that are all from my heart. You never know, some of which may make an appearance at The Coach.
10. It sounds so good. Can I come and work for you?!
We are always looking for good staff. If anyone would like to join our exciting team of people, all you have to have is a work-hard ethic and a smile. For front of house, please email gm@thehandandflowers.co.uk, and for kitchen, please email kitchen@thehandandflowers.co.uk.
For more information, visit http://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk. And to read our previous interview with Tom Kerridge, visit
http://www.mumsaboutcookham.com/#!tom/c1wxz