A tale of four cities

The opening of the first Hotel du Vin & Bistro in 1994 was described as "a Winchester wonder sadly lacking elsewhere in the country". These words, written by John Lancaster and published in The Observer's Life Magazine, could not have been more apt.

Until the arrival of Hotel du Vin, hotels in provincial English towns were not generally renowned for quality food. In search of a good restaurant experience outside London, customers with discerning palates were more likely to seek out a country house hotel or any one of the increasing number of excellent, independently owned restaurants sprinkled across the land.

For many, the usual preconception of visiting a restaurant in a group-owned hotel in a regional town centre was of finding a menu that offered either standardised fare relying on frozen, preprepared products, or dishes which attempted to recreate intricate Michelin-style food without the technical know-how. From the outset, the Hotel du Vin group, which now numbers four hotels, has directly challenged this theory with great vigour.

Its philosophy of offering quality food using the best ingredients, prepared by first-class chefs, but without pomp and ceremony, has been a winner - with both the public and the press. The group currently serves around 600 covers a day across its four hotels (135 in Winchester, 145 in Tunbridge Wells, 145 in Bristol and 170 in Birmingham). And while effusive reviews from hard-to-please critics such as Fay Maschler of London's Evening Standard and Jonathan Meades of The Times have helped to draw business into the different venues, there is no doubting that Hotel du Vin has struck a chord most resonantly with customers - which had always been the intention of Robin Hutson, joint-founder with Gerard Bassett of the company and now its chairman and managing director.

Further recognition duly came at the 2001 Cateys, when the Bristol property was named Group Hotel of the Year, the judges praising Hutson and Bassett's capture of the traditionally difficult Bristol dining market.

"We came on the scene seven years ago, at a time when there had begun to be a shift in the public's expectation of what they wanted from dining out," says Hutson. "People wanted great food, but also honest food. They didn't want food that had been mucked about with and turned into a quenelle of this and a mousse of that. Everyone was looking to Antony Worrall Thompson at 190 Queen's Gate, Bruno Loubet at Bistrot Bruno, and Alastair Little."

Hutson and Bassett's timing could not have been better. "At that time," says Hutson, "many hotels in the provinces were stuck in a groove, serving badly conceived, poncy food - always with an amuse-bouche and a fanned napkin. But in most cases it didn't work, as it lacked the substance of a kitchen with the necessary technical capabilities."

Central to ensuring that food of a high standard is cooked and served day in, day out at his four hotels is Hutson's insistence on employing talented young chefs, either with a good pedigree or who have worked their way up within the group. Indeed, all four head chefs have previously worked in top establishments.

Gareth Longhurst in Winchester was at Alexander House in Turners Hill, West Sussex, before moving to Hotel du Vin in Tunbridge Wells as sous chef, and then on to Winchester as sous chef and later head chef.

Graham Ball, who heads the kitchen in Tunbridge Wells, previously worked at the Lygon Arms in Broadway before moving to London to work in a succession of jobs at the Greenhouse, the Blueprint Café, the Square and Chez Bruce.

Bristol's head chef, Andy Clark, has enjoyed stints at Claridge's, the Lanesborough, and The Canteen, all in London, as well as in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, and in Melbourne, Australia, at Paul Bocuse's restaurant. He was initially appointed head chef in Winchester, moving to Bristol nine months ago.

Eddie Gray, now in Birmingham, has also worked in Winchester, as sous chef, and Bristol, as head chef. Before joining Hotel du Vin, he worked at the Ritz Club, the Lanesborough, The Canteen, The Restaurant at the Hyde Park hotel with Marco Pierre White, and Bank, all in London, as well as Fischers in Baslow, Derbyshire.

While Hutson insists that his chefs work within a broad framework when writing their menus - for instance, always using great raw products and including two or three simple dishes such as smoked salmon, rib-eye steak with pommes frites and a plainly grilled piece of fish - he recognises the importance of allowing them the freedom to express themselves in the style of the food they cook. "I don't particularly care where a dish comes from - although food from France, Italy, Spain or Britain tends to fit in with our business better than anything from the Far East - but I do care that it is reproduced authentically," he says. "Coq au vin is a great, traditional French bistro dish - I don't want to see a modern reinvention of it."

Hutson will chat through major menu changes with his chefs, and occasionally do tastings with them - "but I don't control things so tightly that they can't put new dishes on the menu as and when they want to," he says. "It's important to encourage creativity, but within an unpretentious, authentic framework. Otherwise, there is the danger of becoming too formulaic. What we don't want to do is end up with some kind of centrally developed menu concept, costed by an accountant."

As far as the head chefs are concerned, they all regard themselves as working in individual operations which just happen to be part of a small group. They enjoy the support they get from Hutson and each other, but also feel very much in charge of their own kitchens.

"Robin is a good boss," says Clark. "He's a pleasure to work for as he takes an interest in what we are doing and is very knowledgeable about food. He organises lunches for us in London, when we talk about food and any problems we might be experiencing. He likes to keep us on the same wavelength, and it's useful for developing new ideas. We all understand that he's looking for simple, fresh food, not Michelin-starred dishes."

Longhurst says: "No one likes being told what to do, and Robin certainly gives us freedom to get on and do our jobs. When we arrive, he spends a lot of time settling us in, then he generally lets us get on with things and sees us once or twice a month."

Ball adds: "I always bear in mind that Robin wants to see a couple of certain dishes on the menu. Otherwise, I write the menus for myself and my customers in Tunbridge Wells."

Since arriving in Birmingham, Gray has had to take into account the different clientele, compared with his experiences in Bristol and Winchester. "Their choice of dishes is generally less sophisticated here," he says.

For all the chefs, a major advantage of working for Hotel du Vin has been the opportunity to rise through the ranks and take on a more senior position every time a new hotel opens. With Hutson actively pursuing locations such as Brighton, Windsor, Guildford and Cambridge for future expansion, the career opportunities for chefs within the company will continue to grow.

In his role as chairman and managing director, it is Hutson's job to look after food policy, sales and marketing, and new developments. He is only too aware that, as the group expands, so the pressure on his time looking after all three areas of his job will increase - but he would be very reluctant to relinquish his direct involvement with the bistros. "I would hope not to have to employ a food and beverage director," he says. "It's certainly something I would fight very hard, as that would lead to too many levels of management between me and the chefs, and that's when I think we could start to lose something in the translation of the philosophy that we've worked hard to build up."

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 19-25 July