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For part two of “Chefs During Lockdown”, we are speaking to Punch Pubs Menu Development Manager, Andy Briggs, about the impact of Coronavirus, unpredictable frustrations and what the future looks like.
 
How has life changed for yourself and Punch Pubs during this unprecedented time?
 
We have never known anything like this before, the world that we now know is certainly different. This period has given us the opportunity to find the time to work on projects that we haven’t got round to for quite a while, however it feels that menu development has been put on the back burner for many companies; people are concentrating on rebuilding back to where they were, prior to the pandemic.
 
A lot of angles have been difficult to understand from an operator’s perspective, which has been quite frustrating, especially when we launched a brand new menu and suppliers production schedules changed or lead times were extended, this meant that we had to take certain items off the menu.
 
Naturally, communication has been affected by the pandemic which has resulted in products going out of date or delivery times changing. When you are so reliant on certain products it has been difficult to adapt whilst everyone else is also trying to do the same thing!
 
Now that we have seen pub doors re-opening, what can we expect to see on the menu at Punch Pubs?
 
It’s classic! We have gone with the good ‘old classics’, whilst also ensuring that we have vegetarian and vegan options available. We have done takeaway menus and single servings for over three months now, so we want to explore the options of adding more to this or looking at reintroducing our full menu. We will be listening to the public, for them to decide what direction we will move in over the next couple of months.
 
We are already thinking about Christmas and thankfully we have a fantastic menu in place, we have used last years menu as a template, with the introduction of some new elements. We have also discussed in great detail our Autumn / Winter menu which will feature some great winter warmers, it will see the return of a popular dish from last year; Mushroom and Tarragon Suet Pudding.
 
Our Sunday roast is still a weekly feature at Punch Taverns!
 
Do you have any advice for chefs to make life easier for them during this period?
 
We are always looking for ways to make life easier for our chefs, it is never about putting hurdles in place. We have made it easier for our chefs by reducing the menus, including the Sunday menu to allow chefs to do the Sunday Roast which we feel is a staple!
 
Do you want to share your experience as part of our new blog feature? If you are interested in sharing your story, please email sophie.higgs@essentialcuisine.com for more details.