All good things (even work) come to an end, so after a few eventful and enjoyable years in California I returned to Sheffield, not knowing what lay ahead.
It was now the early 80’s (the decade, not my age!). Pubs didn’t really serve food, aside from bags of crisps and nuts with your pint or port and lemon; eating out was the domain of cafés and restaurants. Slowly Ploughman’s Lunches, maybe prawn sandwiches, chicken-in-a-basket and chips crept in – a culinary revolution!
There was a country pub just outside Sheffield in the Peak District. The pub was busy in the evenings – still in the era before the realisation drinking and driving wasn’t a sensible thing to do – but lunchtime trade was poor. The proprietor had an idea the local farmers and workers could be tempted by a pie to go with their lunchtime pint. Now who could he get to produce the appropriate meat and potato fare?
In a conversation with a friend who worked there my son said his Ma had just returned from working the America and perhaps making these pies would suit her. After meeting and talking through ideas the owner decided this was worth a try and – Bingo – busy lunchtimes ensued!
The increased trade drove the demand for more variation on the menu. As the clientele were predominately male (and this was still the 1980’s!) shepherd’s pie was added. This was supplemented by a new idea of mine, Hot Spicy Beef sandwiches – huge joints of brisket slowly cooked overnight in beer (what else!), then thickly sliced and served in fresh crusty bread.
Word quickly spread, so food-service was expanded to early evenings to boost trade further. Of course the customer base also evolved – a wider mix of ages and (especially) more female customers – so more dishes and options were needed.
The lunchtime eaters were mostly farm workers and businessmen passing through. I was told plain, tasty food was the order of the day – meat pies being a perfect example.
One elderly gent gave fair warning and in no uncertain terms that he didn’t hold with “them there ‘erbs an’ stuff – and none of that garlic an’ all!”.
As I used both liberally I conveniently forgot to mention and kept my fingers crossed as he tucked into whatever pie was on the menu that day. Fortunately no complaints ever came to my ears!
The evening food still needed to be fairly simple; I was working alone in a cupboard-sized kitchen. The bar staff served, cleared tables and helped with washing up but there was only me cooking Monday to Friday. I did get Saturdays and Sundays off (seems strange nowadays doesn’t it?) as the bar staff dealt with sandwiches and ploughmans at the weekend. As my confidence grew, and having learned the art of lasagne and spare ribs in California, they were now included. Customers seemed more prepared to accept ‘erbs an’ that there garlic in the evening. Food was served until 7.30pm, seemed to work fine!
When the business was sold (at a healthy profit of course) I had a new boss, a lovely lady who took over with her husband and two grown up children. This was a happy spell for me. Busier than ever, and I had help! Brenda was really supportive and hired an assistant, the wonderful Nora. Here background as a school dinner lady and mother to a large family of grown up kids was the best training she could have had!
Business boomed, so much so that it was again sold on at a healthy profit. In came another new owner, wanting to go further into developing a bistro restaurant style. Much work was done extending the kitchen, food preparation and storage areas and – onwards and upwards – more staff. I like things small but done well, and this was getting too big for my style.
Reluctantly, and after much deliberation, I decided it was once again time to move on; I was going to go it alone.
Bye for now.
Gran E Bakes 