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









Life gets VERY exciting!

 

 

Oh My Goodness!!! Life is getting very exciting one way and another............. Just back from a fabulous 10 days in the sun and straight back into work.  But you know what - I'm so ready for it now!!

 

SOOOO here is the very exciting news I've been hinting at for a little while and it is that the Vic is going to have an absolutely fantabulous makeover in January 2014!!

 

Ever since we came to the Victoria Inn almost 5 years ago (My goodness - where has THAT time gone!!) we have done our best to make more use of the upstairs restaurant (yes, there IS one) and had all sorts of ideas. 

 

I always wanted to turn it into a set of 3 or 4 very fancy bedrooms to compliment the Hobbit House - but our brewery St Austell were never really in favour of it. I see why, because of course bedrooms do not sell beer - food does!  So, we also looked at a real Italian Pizza oven to sell our own authentic Italian Pizza's - but we just couldn't make it fit logistically. We have tried every which way to make more use of the space as a function room - but because of lack of parking etc - that never really took off either.

 

So in the last year or two as our business has got bigger and bigger, we have opened it up, almost as an overflow from the main pub and the garden (when the weather was poor) and it's started to become really accepted as a good extension to our offering - BUT -  always with the feeling its' a bit upstairs / downstairs.  Customers either like it or hate it - many have said it's too isolated, and with little or no atmosphere.........aargh!! To get to the garden you either have to know where the stairs are (despite signs) have staff point the way (can't tell you how many times a day in the summer we say stairs are that way Madam!) or else customers go 'Oh they're packed' and walk away!! It's all been most frustrating at times.

 

So, a couple of months ago SOH, myself, Head Chef James & Bar Manager Glo visited a pub in Cornwall with a spiral staircase and it was James (we will never be allowed to forget this!!) that said 'That could work well in the Vic'!

 

One phone-call and a couple of e mails later led to a meeting with our business development Manager Jim (from the brewery - St Austell) who thought we had the starts of a great idea.  But that actually, we were probably thinking a bit too small.................???

 

This led to a meeting with an architect, surveyor et al who agreed that a spiral staircase was not the answer - but that a whole approach to re-furbing the pub was!  How amazing that our brewery have the faith in us to think that big!!

 

So (pauses for breath!!) the long and the short of it is this;

• We'll close on or around the 6th January (to be confirmed) for 3 weeks
• A staircase will be put in from the entrance at the front of the pub right up and through to upstairs - with a bit of a mezzanine floor going on
• The upstairs bar and a cupboard will be knocked out
• Upstairs will have a reclaimed wood floor - not the existing carpet
• A wood burning stove with comfy seating
• Great new lighting
• Lots of arty stuff with pictures and mirrors
• Huge glass doors to the garden
• Some really high end garden furniture for the first terrace and finally;
• The whole pub will have a paint job

It's all going to be absolutely stunningly beautiful - and if you're in or around the area we have the plans and mood boards (see, I've got the architect language already!!) for you to look at and discuss with us. We met today with Matt from Trading Spaces about utilising furniture we have but making it 'shabby chic' (NOT shabby s**t!!) and I can't remember the last time I was this excited about any sort of project.......... (oh yes - getting married - but hardly a project!)

 

Already, we have had great feedback on this re-furb but there seems to be an over-riding fear that everyone's beloved 'Vic' will turn into some sort of corporate chained pub............. well let me tell you here and now that this won't be the case! 

 

We're simply going to make our Victoria Inn even more beautiful! I absolutely guarantee that you will be blown away by this re-furb - watch this space for more news as it happens over the next couple of months.

 

Liz x

 

Autumn? Really?

Yes - I think Madam Autumn is knocking on the door............. and with such a storm over Salcombe the other night!! I can't remember the last time I heard a storm like it - we didn't realise it was hailstones till we woke up the next morning to find pockets of ICE on the garden!!! Scarey as hell it was too with one clap of thunder seemingly directly over our house!!

So on the basis that all the children have cleared off back to school, the car parks are quieter and an influx of 2's and 4's have hit the streets - it must be time for Jam making and the introduction of new menus.

Seafood Platter

Ploughmans

 So here's a link to our website where you can see for yourself the new menu's - which incidentally the main ones will change every FORTNIGHT now and  specials will really be special and change daily.  http://www.victoriainn-salcombe.co.uk/Great_pub_food

We're also offering Sunday lunches cooked and carved straight from the oven alongside a 'special' roast - this week the special will be lovely plump Chicken legs. Last week we could not get over how many Sunday roasts we served.......... Cauliflower Cheese is new on with the roast as well as stuffing balls, and SEASONAL veg.

SOH is busy making jams and I'm busy packing as I hit the shores of Menorca at the end of this week for a well earnt break (don't worry - SOH has his when I come back!)

This morning the new chimney fan has been installed and is ready for the first fire of this season to be lit -  judging by the weather out of my office window, that moment is not too far away!

So, its adiós de mí durante un par de semanas - cuidar - see you all in a couple of weeks

Liz x

Strawberry jam in the making

Almost over and its goodbye to.........

 Yes - the Salcombe Summer Silly Season is almost at an end and its goodbye (for now) to the Dragon and the Snow (you had to be there to see it!) to the choices of Hot Chocolates and Chips (and why not??) and summer Strawberry Pavlova's (as we shortly change to fortnightly menu's and a bit of an Autumnal twist)

As we say goodbye to hundreds upon hundreds of children who've whooped with delight at seeing the playground in the garden and the many who screamed as they were carried out who actually wanted to stay all day and all night!

To all the parents who were glad of respite and enjoyed a long cool drink whilst their children were entertained by Mark Fraser ( and occasionally SOH ) who read his stories and generally made a great space for performing art right here in our stunningly beautiful garden.

Its also goodbye to so many of our fabulous young summer staff who carried, lifted, shifted and cleaned up after a record breaking summer. To Honor, Aussie, Rachel, George, Harry, George 2, Lily, Will, Lucy, Ed, Blake, Aaron. Those who now go back to start sixth form, or university with a whole new set of skills under their belt.  To our fabulous full time staff who took the summer in their stride and are now knackered - you all did a fantastic job!

To our customers who loved us and came back in droves - thank you...... We're so glad you liked us enough to return time and time again.  Many of them have stayed down here for most of the summer (the weather has been so glorious) and firm friendships have been made yet again.

 

On the occasions when we were so busy that waiting times were longer than we would have liked - I'm really sorry............. we will look at the way we work and try to do better next year.  But you know, how ever hard we work to get enough staff on our rota absolutely NOTHING can factor in that on Bank Holiday Sunday we were 2 members of staff down through sickness! Despite a couple of us doing morning till night shifts we still weren't able to work as fast as normal with absolutely record breaking numbers of customers.

 

Here at the Victoria Inn we hope that all our customers are going home refreshed, re-newed and rested - if so, then Salcombe will have worked it's magic!

 

Liz x

Trials and tribulations!

This is going to be a very honest blog today, I often use this blog to 'advertise' the Victoria Inn and there is no doubt that a blog is what many people use for just that purpose! However, when I started this blog almost 5 years ago, it was very much about MY journey as a landlady and the trials and tribulations of a career change (at an advanced age).

As an individual I've always been highly competitive and have always held high standards in my working life, and I like to think that it's mostly a good trait - certainly many customers over the years have said what 'a tight ship we run', how 'well organised the pub is', and certainly the growth of the business to much extent gives those remarks credence. 

So it was something of an upset when we received our Taste of the West award the week before last. As you can see, I've proudly put it at the top of the page (it's also now on our website) but actually at the time I was totally and utterly gutted!! I fully expected us to have been awarded a Silver at the very least................

Do you know how upset I was - I went home, wailed on good friends shoulders and then opened a bottle of wine! In the lunch hour!!!! Jeez!!
But once I'd had a day or two to digest the news and read the report for the umpteenth time and re-read the accompanying e mail for the 20th time, I realised we'd actually done quite well on our first attempt - but you know what? Quite well doesn't cut it for me.

So after a period of reflection, staff avoiding eye contact with me (!) and soul searching talks with each other and our valued members of staff we've instigated a number of plans to ensure (hopefully) a Silver next year in the TOT awards as well as more success in any other competitions we enter. But also to ensure complacency in the business is vanished, customers will hopefully appreciate our commitment to achieving the best for them as well as challenging ourselves and our staff to succeed and succeed and succeed.

We acknowledge as a business in Salcombe and in the pub business generally, we do extraordinarily well (particularly in a business where pubs are still closing every single day) we have many loyal customers (& now they are friends) who come in every time they're on holiday or visiting their holiday homes) often many times a week or so, we have a good following of locals - particularly in the more mature / couple bracket, and this summer we've once again broken all existing records for meals cooked and people served (with very few complaints!).  We are still No 1 on the dreaded Trip Advisor, and feedback from customers is usually very good, but, like any feedback, this TOT Bronze Award has given us the opportunity to look at our business and make changes where we think best.

This week has seen torturous meetings with the Chefs (trust me, NO-ONE in the entire world hates criticism more than Chefs!!) and a bit of a reality check.  But, once ego's had been lovingly restored and personal issues were extracted from the mix, then as usual my guys (& Gal) stepped up to the challenge.

• From the 10th September we will be introducing fortnightly menus, and those menu's will be reduced by about 5 items - this will give Chefs the scope for their growth in cooking - not just cooking the same dishes week in week out, but also more importantly it will give our customers the opportunity to enjoy really great food but still at reasonable prices   
• We will also be changing our Specials board to be more 'Special'  - that DOESN'T mean more expensive - it just means more what I've said and there will be changes made almost daily according to what Fish is available. We will only have 4 specials a day with 5 at the weekends
• We use fantastic local West Country produce and we want to turn the spotlight back on to the X-Factor of great fresh produce with great flavours and beautiful presentation 
• We're going to put the 'WOW' back into Sunday lunches but still keeping them at £10.50 Watch this space!!
• SOH and I are engaging a management consultant to help us look at our business through fresh ideas and help coach us to develop even stronger as a business - we've done this once on a one off basis and it really helped, so we're excited by this!
• We're also employing a 'Mystery Shopper' at regular intervals to ensure our quality, consistency, customer service and VFM is always at a high level (almost anyone can be a mystery shopper - so if you fancy it, contact me, the broader scope of the customer the better)

So all in all, achieving the Bronze standard for Taste of the West IS a great coup, I am grateful to Taste of the West for having been awarded it and I'm equally grateful that it's given us the opportunity to review our aims and aspirations for the business and we both feel re-vitalised and excited by changes we are putting into place on the food front for the Victoria Inn.

In terms of the business itself - planning permission has been given for HUGELY EXCITING changes to the building - and when I know more about the whys, how and when - then I'll tell YOU!!!

I hope this blog post has been a bit of an insight for you and I'll write again shortly...................

Liz x

Summers Days (and nights!)

Fresh Plaice delivered to us by Kingfisher in Brixham

Well - the silly summer season of 2013 is finally here, schools have broken up properly and of course - the rain has arrived as well!

Every year since we've been here and every year we all (Managers and ourselves) sit down and try to figure out staffing levels based on what has been in previous years and how the year has been so far - bless me if every year we almost get it right!!  

Almost of course being the operative word.......... last year we lost three staff for various reasons in the first week of the season, which left us desperate and pining for wine from an early stage, and this time a key member of staff was unwell - leading to unparallelled limits being reached by several members of the team!! (ourselves included) because actually Salcombe at the moment this week looks and feels like Salcombe used to look when we first came down here nearly five years ago!! The streets have been wall to wall people and the sun has (until late last week) been shining and generally giving a feel good factor. So any variance in staffing levels is not good news for anyone.

As usual, guests visiting a pub in a seaside town expect to see fresh fish on the menu and this year is no exception - beautiful fresh Plaice from our supplier Kingfisher in Brixham http://www.kingfisherbrixham.co.uk/ has been on the menu alongside beautiful Sole, Hake, Cornish Sardines, Mackerel Fillets etc. and of course our award winning beer battered Fish & Chips. Steaks (Fillet & Sirloin) are as popular as ever as is the Double Baked Pork Belly.

Drinkers have been going for the Tribute, Proper Job and Dartmoor  - as strong as ever from St Austell, but Rattler Cider and Devon Northcotts Cider making a good showing! Ladies are loving the Pinot Grigio and new for us this year we've been making Mojito's (jugs & glasses) of which I can safely say are the cheapest in town at only £3.80! Again - hugely popular and alongside Pimms great summer drinks.

I always find this summer rush such a double edged sword (I think we all do actually) because we are pragmatic in understanding that it's this short sharp boost that helps support us massively in the rest of the year (although the Victoria Inn does now have a good all year round trade) but its just so exhausting keeping up with the constant demands of it. Yesterday for example, we were fully staffed up and it was looking like a usual 1st Sunday of Regatta week here in Salcombe - but the rain came and within minutes we were 4 deep at the bar and ended up serving well over 200 lunches............ quite a lot more on the entire day than last year, and today has been similar - yet this afternoon...........??? Dead as a dodo!!

James, Tania & Stuart - our 3 great Chefs!

But. back to our brilliant staff and this year again we're being supported by young people, some of whom have never had a job in their life - but their work ethics are amazing and they are doing incredible jobs of clearing, tidying and running the length and width of our garden delivering food and smiling strongly!

Most of our staff are local people but a few of the University guys are of course from far and wide - but right now, we are giving employment to about 20 local people (local in terms of the South Hams area) not bad is it...???  The wages sheet for this week shows 27 people relying on us for income (as much as we rely on them) an awesome responsibility I often think.  

So - almost time for the evening rush - a pretty full booking sheet reflects tonight could be hairy.............. laters darlings!