Sunday 28 April 2013

Oh I say................


Oh I say - look at where the girl from Pompey is going tomorrow night!! We're (SOH & I) are going to the Savoy for dinner......... Well flip me sideways - who'd have thought THOSE words would ever come out of my mouth!!!  Am I excited?? Hell yes........... New long dress hanging up (Purple again!) but 3/4 sleeves and plain - but classy! I am excited but ever so slightly nervous about being out of my depth with the sorts of people that are likely to be there - the Dinner is for the National Restauraters of which we are a part of, and its a fund raising event.  The likes of Rocco Forte will be there as well as top chefs from around the country.

There is a 'silent' auction, which means SOH won't have to sit on my hands to stop me leaping up to bet on items like 4 tickets for Mr Buble's concert.................. which I'm sure will attract many thousands of pounds!!  The menu looks amazing (with matching wines) and has been devised by the Chefs at Claridges. but starting with a Champagne reception with Savoy Canapes......!!

I'm sure that come 11'ish the evening will be a bit of a blur but I'm really looking forward to yet another fantastic evening to remember.

The weather here in Salcombe continues to be grim but we continue to draw the customers with our fire still burning and attracting very cold visitors....... Will we ever get a proper spring or are we going to hit a heatwave??

The Victoria Inn remains busy, with some new staff learning the ropes - but nice young people who are eager to learn and bring added value to the Vic, and ensure that our customers have a great time with us. Talking of which, we've had some amazing Trip Advisor reports - which is always heartening!!

Fish has been a bit low on the menu as the poor weather has meant that the boats have not been out so much, therefore, fish catch is a bit short and what there has been has not been anything too spectacular - but right now Monk Fish tails and Petite Plaice are hot on the menu and the Scallops we had in flew straight out off the menu again.  Shouldn't expect to have Beef Stew on at this time of year but once again customers are loving it and it has to be said that the Dumplings Chef Tanya makes are the tastiest I've ever had. Whilst the Strawberry Pavlovas that Chef Stuart made are to die for............... So lucky to have such talented people working with us!

On that note, I'm off for my Sunday lunch of local Sirloin of Beef and gorgeous Roasties............... till next time darlings!

Tuesday 23 April 2013

The sun's out!!! Well, almost


And here's a great sign that spring is here - well almost!! The South Sands Ferry resplendent with flags. Still lots of customers about as well........... thanks goodness!

At last we have been able to start using our garden, and all the jobs we needed to do are at last starting to get done. The Chicken fencing is being tightened, tidied up and in some cases re-newed. The wiring has been a bit mucked up (to put it mildly!) as of course children are on the whole fascinated by the Chickens - that's when they're not chucking things at them or trying to poke them with straws (!) so of course they try to climb up the fence to get as close to them as possible............ :) Bending it beautifully out of shape.

Then there is the painting of the fencing out in the garden, next will come some planting. I'll take a quick trip out to a local nursery tomorrow to get some plants to brighten up the front of the pub and also at the top of the pathway to the garden. The bigger plants for the front of the pub have been ordered and will be coming in at the end of May - lots of bright colours this year and the lovely trailing stuff we have that causes so many great comments AND great pictures.

All jobs that we've been unable to undertake because of the flipping weather.

The Dipping Camembert now £1 cheaper and studded with Rosemary & Garlic is absolutely flying out the door!! Amazing........... the thing I've learnt most about this business is generally if we have what we think is a good idea, then generally we get it right. But sometimes, it may need a little tweaking - like the Camembert! Is it the reduced cost or the Garlic?? Who knows - all I do know is that now its selling!

Sunday lunch continues to be great, but here is a date for your diary......Sunday 5th May @ 12.30 in our upstairs restaurant we have The Cocktail Hour playing.

They're a fantastic jazz/easy listening mellow trio and we LOVE their music. It's the 1st Bank Holiday in May -  be sure to book a table so that you're not dissapointed. There's no cover charge - we just want to share this music with you - and who knows, if you like it enough it could become something we do more often??

Great food, a glass or two of wine, fantastic music - what is there not to like........ring 01548 842604 to make YOUR booking.


Saturday 13 April 2013

Heavens!!!



Well the weather may be rotten, but here at the Victoria Inn we've been rocking it out!! Two gorgeous children (Madeleine and William) above enjoying our Hot Chocolates - and given the weather we've had here, we've been making an awful lot of these!!! I feel so sorry for all our holiday makers with so little to do at what traditionally should be the start of the seaside festivities!!

We turned our upstairs restaurant into an extension of the garden with some nice cheery music, blinds up (to get at least a view of the Estuary) and lots of great food!!

We had a couple of very good meetings this week - took a booking for a delightful Salcombe couple who will be celebrating their Golden Wedding with us. That's always a lovely thing to organise - any sort of celebration - always so lovely to make something like that so special for people.  We always put our heart and soul into occasions like these as they only come round once in a lifetime (for the customer anyway!) 

The other meeting was with St Austell Brewery representatives and some very exciting changes which we hope will happen early next year, but until they're cast in a bit more certainty I can't really talk about them as such yet - but suffice to say, it's incredibly encouraging to see the confidence and faith the Brwery have in us as a business and as individuals.

The Fishermen are unable to get out much in this weather so our fresh fish dishes are a bit depleted to what we normally expect at this time of the year and we can't even have Mussells at the moment as they are apparently spawning................ but we still have some great Hake, Mackerel, and Cajun Salmon today. The sharing platters and the pulled Pork have proved sooooooo popular!! But the Dipping Camaembert is trailing behind........ why I don't know?? So we've re-branded it studded with fresh Rosemary and Garlic, and dropped the price by a £1. Lets see if it moves any quicker.

We have our new Summer Polo shirts ready for a few weeks time - this time round we've done a great deal with the lovely people of Henry Lloyd next door to us - so this summer you weill see our staff in gorgeous pale grey, very posh Henry Lloyd Polo shirts........... pictures to follow.

We are almost staffed us for summer as well - so if there are any of you out there still looking for summer work - make sure you're quick to contact us!!

So on this very vile day - I'll wish you a happy weekend from all of us here at the Vic,
Fish sharing Platter

Thursday 4 April 2013

Belated Happy Easter

 

Good afternoon my lovely people, and belated Happy Easter greetings to you all! Yet as I sit at my dining table typing this, I can barely believe that it's snowing out there...........

What awful, horrible weather we're having - and I don't know about you but I am craving warmth and sunshine!!  The first person to moan about the summer this year WILL get a slap! Having said all of that, the Victoria Inn has enjoyed an exceptionally good trade - with all tables, upstairs and downstairs regularly being fought over - but with staff turning them over with exceptional speed and professionalism.  

Prosecco has been a huge seller this weekend, as has our new light lunch menu including new Pulled Pork Rolls, sharing platters and Dipping Camembert!

Great entertainment with the Old Gaffers, a young Barbershop quartet - BarberBay, and Mark Fraser who offered 2 interactive book readings Easter Sunday & Monday for everyone
1 to 100.................. It was apparently hard to say who enjoyed the readings more; the children or parents!! Here's a really short YouTube clip which doesn't quite do the session justice - but is a good indication of the type of mayhem that happens!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1wySu18WDE

Still busy even now, and I'm so glad that we offer food all day!! Proving to be soooooooooo popular.  I'm saying this all with the great authority of my SOH as I happen to still be off sick and will remain so for at least another week or two. So on that note I have decided to write another blog about my Asthma, keeping my professional and personal life a bit more separate. The link to my other blog is here http://ashortintakeofbreath.blogspot.co.uk/ and its up to you if you want to follow it or not. I hope you will, as I hope it will educate, help others and follow / aid my journey through what I hope will be an eventual recovery.

SOH has just returned home with the cheery news that we only have a couple of free tables tonight - so despite the rubbish weather, the Victoria Inn remains a great pull!

I think that will do for this posting - next week we have 2 interesting meetings happening, which I'll hope to be able to tell you about next time.  Till then, keep warm, keep dry, stay germ free! You never know - we may have a little warmer weather next time I write!!