Ernst Van Zyl's Hanging Gate launches ‘no menu Tuesdays'
Ernst Van Zyl, chef-patron at the Hanging Gate in Cheshire, has launched a ‘no menu Tuesday' evening service concept.
The pub was closed Mondays and Tuesdays during the winter period and re-opened this week, offering a five-course tasting menu of dishes that are either brand new, being developed, or are just what the chef would like to cook that day.
At the end of the night guests are encouraged to give their honest opinions and feedback, and can decide themselves how much the meal and experience is worth.
‘No menu Tuesday' will be available until at least the end of October, although may continue during the winter period if successful, Van Zyl told The Caterer.
He said: "We are surrounded by six other pubs all within walking distance, so we needed to find an exciting way to attract new business that will be fun and quirky, and so no menu Tuesdays was born.
"I won't be using beef fillets or lobsters or langoustines on the no menu evenings, but instead ingredients that are ‘forgotten' or not getting that much attention, or that I've foraged from the forest. We don't have to spend a fortune on ingredients to produce five courses.
"It also gets rid of that preconceived idea we all form about a dish as we are reading menus. When that dish is delivered to you, so many times disappointment sets in as it's nothing like what you expected and sometimes not worthy of the price tag on the menu. But with a no menu evening, there's no menu to read and no price.
"Seeing how it went this Tuesday on our first no menu evening, I think the guests loved it."
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