What a night..................

 

If you're anything like us, I bet most of you don't give a thought as to where or how the food gets from the menu and onto the plate?? So, I thought it would be interesting to share with you a picture from Kingfisher of Brixham who supply almost all of our fish. This was sent to us today by them, (along with prices for the fish on sale) and is one of their day boats at sea yesterday............... unbelievable isn't it, the danger these men put themselves in to ensure that we have fish on our menus. That's why, when we get the opportunity to support the Fishermen locally and across the world we do so wholeheartedly!!

 

Talking of Fish, at the moment we have our great seafood sharing platters & Haddock & Chips on the menu as well as a great Fish Pie, and then specials today are Turbot pan fried with a tomato, courgette & aubergine Herbes de Provence dressing and served with a delicious creamy spring onion mash, as well as Mussels from the River Exe.  Chef is sautéing them with ginger, garlic & spring onions (spring onions must have been on offer with the Veg man!!) finished with fresh coriander, flat leaf parsley and white wine. Two of our chefs - Stuart and Adam went to the Rick Stein Cookery School last week to do a day on cooking with fish so I think these specials are their creation. 

 

Back to the 'storm' then.......... we 'battened down the hatches' last night, storing everything that could blow around or safely stowed away, the chickens were put away early and all noticeboards in with side entrance doors securely shut!  Luckily, Salcombe had little to show for there having been a massive storm other than some flooding in the street and effluent in the street - yet again!!!  Here at the Vic we are indeed fortunate to be just above the level in which other places seem to flood, but it was still pretty nerve wracking last night as gusts of around 115mph whipped round the buildings.  I drove out round South & North Sands today and their were lots of surfers enjoying the bonus of surfing waves!

 

So all in all, thankfully, the great storm didn't really seem to affect us and in actual fact I think it's given holiday makers (of whom there are lots here at the moment) a taste of living somewhere so beautiful when it wild and windy and at one with nature. Thankfully, we don't fly to Paris until next weekend in which time hopefully, the weather will be a bit calmer!

 

Till next time - stay warm & dry,

 

Liz x

Exciting times

Gosh it's all happening at the Victoria Inn at the moment.......... Firstly we have an awards ceremony to go to at Exeter Chiefs stadium on 7th November as we have found out that we're shortlisted for an award with the highly prestigious Devon Life magazine in the 'Best Family Friendly Dining Experience of the Year' category. We are delighted at being nominated for several reasons - firstly we've been voted for by YOU our customers and friends, secondly its great that its for something local! So think of us on the 7th - just in case I don't blog again before that. After that - SOH is whisking me away to Paris for a weekend birthday treat - how very lucky am I!  

Next on the barometer of excitement is the planned re-furb of the Vic on January.  We understand that the tenders for the work are now back, there'll be a bit of decision making by the brewery chiefs and then we're anticipating a meeting late October/early November and a pre-contract meeting in December. We've had the plans and the mood board downstairs in the entrance of the pub and it's been great to see the excitement they've generated. Customers are as excited as we are and our next bug step in conjunction with the lovely architect is to decide colours............. SOH wants to keep a traditional red or green but I'd like to go with something a bit more contemporary. Our aim is to keep the traditional side of our pub, but just that bit more contemporary! Farrow & Ball paint charts are sitting waiting to be poured over............& no doubt argued over!!!

Trade at the Vic whilst obviously quieter is not dreadful by any means - but erratic! It's really hard to tell from one day to the other at the moment just what that days trade will be like. We're back to No 1 on Trip Advisor (yay0 always a nice place to be, but as long as we're in the top half dozen I'm happy. 

SOH and I are having some great Management Coaching from a lovely chap called Guy Arnold who assists business's in ensuring they're growing their business in the right way and to help achieve excellent customer service and reputation. http://www.greatorpoor.com/ It's working as well - he's helping us look at things from different angles, and working through the millions of ideas that we both have - particularly, in light of this re-furb.


Scallop starter with Cauliflower puree



Lemon Sole with Scallop Sauce



We've had some great fish on the menu again this week - none more so than the fantastic Lemon Sole pictured here with Asparagus! As the colder weather creeps in so we go back to winter warmers such as great home-made steak & ale pies, fish pie and some lovely stews!! As well as some of the prettier more delicate dishes such as the scallop starter.

Amazingly, our Mojito cocktails are still really popular - in no way are they proving to be a seasonal drink at all.

I too have had a bit of a makeover - I responded to an advert on Face Book for hair models - didn't know if old & grey was any good?! Surprise, surprise it was - and I have to say that (with no offence to any of my hairdressers past or present - and they've ALL been lovely!) this was an amazing experience at the Sarah from the Hair Advice Centre in Kingsbridge  http://www.hairadvicecentre.net/ It was fascinating listening to
Sarah teach her apprentices Fiona & Emily  and also to hear a little about the great Vidal Sassoon with whom she has worked with. I am delighted with the cut and the colour and just loved the whole process.............

So all in all, it's proving an eventful time here at the Vic and only 10 weeks to Christmas - or so I'm told!!!

Liz x