Apologies.....

I only went and forgot my login details for the blog didn't I? Coupled with not feeling too great the last couple of days I've been a bit neglectful with my bloggerations.

So I'm guessing you are all just dying to know what I've been up to these last few days?.......No.....well I'll tell you anyway.

Saturday night at Sakura was fun again, yet another 2am finish and some very strange requests from the crowd, some tune far too tough for the venue but they kept dancing so I'm happy.

In between updating my Football Manager 2010 game and attempting to take my 2nd most beloved team in the world (Watford FC) to glory I have been concentrating on all things pub related.

The one we are now looking at has completely grabbed us. It's a wonderful place and apart from the lack of riverside it has absolutely everything we are looking for plus more.

The goal now is to seek financing for the project and once that is arranged we can start to imagine ourselves as being publicans.

Decided that it would be best to have a business plan drawn up professionally rather than attempt one myself. I think the cost for doing such is negligible when you consider what it is for.

After my taking part in Reading, Steady, Cook I've been asked, along with the winner of the competition, to take part in a local radio interview which is a bit novel and rather fun. I don't think it's going out live but I'll try and get a link up to whenever it is going to be broadcast.

Food wise I have to comment on last nights Chilli Peas !! Phwwwwwwwwoooooar, massive amounts of hotness all thanks to the use of the worlds strongest Chilli the "Dorset Naga".

Believe it of not available readily at the larger Tesco's (Other supermarket chains are available)



8 times hotter than a Birds eye Chilli and around 100 times hotter than a Jalapeño. Now that's what I'm taking about ! When my stomach gives me hell I give it back to teach it a lesson.

You think you know hot then give these little beauties a bash.

Offers

So I have offers on the table from both the previous tenants and the Pubco involved in the pub that we want to show an interest in.

Both options are inviting but there is so much to consider. Thankfully there are some free resources out there to get you on the right track.

This one is particulally helpful as it's been created by people who have been there and either failed, telling you why or succeeded again telling you how.

Of course each business should be taken on it's own merits and what might work for one may not work for another but far better it is to heed the advice than it is to go in feet first only to end up bankrupt, jobless and homeless.

It also depends on how we really want to view this opportunity. Are we intending to stay here for quite a while, building up a good trade and basing our future on it? Or should we use it as a learning curve to see if we can adapt to life in the licensed trade, a stepping stone to bigger things.

I think I'm leaning towards the latter but then we have a 7 year old so would the thought of potential upheaval for her be too much for her to cope with? Seeing that big school beckons next term and from what I remember this is when her lasting lifetime friendships will probably be formed.

Lots of people quite rightly warning of the pitfalls of signing up with a Pubco which of course shows caring for our future but also getting tremendous encouragement from not only friends but from many of the pub regulars who think it'd be the best thing to happen for it, even given our intention (should we get it) to completely change the emphasis from a currently completely wet trade to a predominantly food trade.

Even changing that trading ethos has it's challenges. Firstly the overheads will be much higher which will have to be taken into account when going over the figures. Extra staff will be required. Kitchen equipment will need to be blast cleaned and serviced not forgetting all the extra table and table furniture that will be required.

How do you respectfully and politely tell people that a suitable standard of dress must be adhered to at all times? i.e. no dirty or dusty work clothes shaking debris into lovingly prepared homecooked meals. This would instantly outcast the majority of the previous regulars whom lets be honest ain't gonna be too happy about it.

Previous regulars can actually have a very damaging effect on the new business plans, especially as it was previously a drinkers pub. Yes it's very nice to have regulars but at a Pubco run establishment the profit margin is very low on beers so relying on these customers is not going to be a great business move considering the changes we want to make.

They can also feel like their local actually belongs to them rather than anybody else and that they have some devine right to choose the path that the business takes which is of course wrong.

I think this sums up how a relationship between tenant/landlord and customer should be - You should should be friendly with all your best customers but none of your customers should be your best friends.

Now the only other thing I can thing of at the moment is what I'm going to have on the menu......

Answer below please :-)

Bedtime Reading

I'm really struggling this morning to find something to ramble on needlessly about. Was going to describe how bloomin brilliant it was so see Cocoon recordings had linked directly to my last blog on Facebook......How good is that ?!?

Was going to add the super groovy picture that is on Carley's phone of yours truly at CITP wearing the same shirt as Sven but I forgot the camera :-(

So I've decided on the subject of bedtime reading.

Last night after watching that fantastic program that Griff Rhys Jones did on ITV 4 about New York I thought that seeing as I'd been yawning all day I'd grab myself a book and nip up to bed for some serious relaxing.

So I'd got to about 5 pages in and was totally enthralled. You know when you have a really good book and just the fact that you're going to be turning the page soon gets you really excited because you want so desperately to read the next bit?

Well anyway I was feeling very much like this.

I'm assuming now that you just want to know what book it was that I was reading?

Was it a tale of adventure? Pages upon pages of wonderous tales from exotic corners of our globes...............ERM................No.

Was it an epic romance? Unbridled love and passion that would tweak the heart strings of even the most brutal of men and make women swathe in a sea of eroticism, heart racing at the thought that one day this could all be a reality..............ERM............Not Exactly.

Oh how about a fast pace espionage saga? One man on a quest to find out the truth behind suspected government lies, ducking between the shadows of night, he'll stop at nothing to find and expose the truth that will ultimately save the whole of the human race...............WEEEELLLLLLLL.......ERM......No.

OK what was it?

It was the Good Housekeeping Institute's revised Cookbook......OH Yeah - Rock'n'Roll

Not an ounce of adventure, not a knob of romance, not even as much as 200g of espionage mixed with Vanilla sugar and Chantilly Cream. However I do know now how to save a Hollandaise sauce should it curdle and surely thats enough to give anybody sweet dreams?