03/07/2026
Time for a weekly update that's about 3 weeks late.. so it's a long one!
Let's talk Function Room:
🪑 Bar Stools 🪑
Thanks to the amazing margins on our Stir-Fry Sunday menu, I've been able to throw 100% of the profits from those dishes at the Function Room and finally get some bar stools! We have 10 in total for that room, five for the bar and the rest are for some poser tables that should arrive early next week. That will mark the start of the table replacements, as the current table-tops seem to have become more damaged in the last 2 months than they have since we moved in last April. This has forced me to bring forward the timeline for their replacement.
🎱 New Pool Table 🎱
The Function Room now also has it's own brand new pool table. The cloth is a darker-than-usual green to accent the steadily growing number of fake plants that have appeared in the room over the last few months. Sadly though, it's not a sexy Richmond table like the one in the main bar, so we have a rather plastic'y looking black frame.. which I may replace in the future. It's still set at £1 per game and details for when it can be used will be worked out over the next few weeks (as that room is a bomb-site when it's not in use for an actual function/event). We were supposed to get a trolley and a hardcover delivered at the same time but apparently the depot didn't get the memo. Hopefully they arrive before Thursday next week so we can move it outta the way ready for Lyric Lounge and the Sunday Jam Session. Finger's crossed! I have not yet purchased proper cues for this room yet - you will need to use your own cue or the provided council-sticks that came with the table.
🍸 Shelving and Displays 🍸
I finally managed to get around to finishing off the staining for the backbar and we got the shelves up - now we can start building our displays and positioning stock properly. For now we'll have one of the sections dedicated to O'Donnell Moonshine (and better presented than it's main-bar counterpart, in my opinion..) while we still use that brand for our cocktails. Once chaos has died down after the summer we'll start phasing O'Donnell out for something else, which will remain a secret for now.
🛋 Fixed Seating 🛋
I had a meeting two weeks ago with our BDM who was particularly impressed with what we're doing in there, and rather than just chucking a free barrel of beer our way (which is the custom) they're going to look at bearing the brunt of the cost themselves for the seating's upholstery. This is fantastic news, as not only does it mean I can use revenue on other projects further down the line instead of lumping £5k on some sofas, it also means we're doing well enough now for the brewery to provide some backing. When we took the pub on last April on a 1 year trade-at-will lease it was impossible for them to shell out any amount of dosh on the building because there was no lease security. Now that we've made it clear we're not going anywhere it's much easier for them to work with us.
🎯 Misc 🎯
Still no sign of this magic dart-board from the brewery, so I'll just get our own. I'm also investing in a "very" large TV for the corner. More news on that later.
Now let's talk foods!
🥡 Stir-Fry Sunday 🥡
As mentioned further north in this essay, the profits we've made so far on the Chinese menu alone has enabled me to purchase new bar stools for the Function Room. To further enhance this effort I've devised a box-deal (see photo) as "Box for One". Chinese Chicken Curry, Egg Fried Rice, Mini Sweet & Sour Chicken Balls, a Handful of Chips plus a can of drink for £13.50. We think this is a good deal and will allow me to continue working on the Function Room through to completion without restricting ourselves to timelines and funnelling other outgoings (the largest being the weekly beer order for barrels.. by a long shot!). There is also a Vegetarian version. This will be available from this Sunday.
🍖 Carvery 🍖 ???
I'm in the process of procuring some equipment so we can run a carvery on Sunday's throughout Autumn and Winter this year. Roasts have died a death and I'm not really sure why as they're always available and you haven't necessarily needed to book since March unless you're a large group. So we're looking at introducing a carvery and I'm opting for quantity control only on the meats - veg, stuffing, gravy, yorkies, etc will all be fair game under an "All you can eat" style arrangement. Thoughts?
❓ Other Menu Items ❓
The Spring/Summer menu has been out for a while now and there doesn't seem to be many clear winners for "most purchased" dishes. This is both good and bad - it's great that everyone is trying different things, but bad because I don't know if that's because it's all good food or you guys are figuring out what your favourites are. I'd really appreciate some feedback - let me know what you like, what you don't, what doesn't work for you, what could be added/changed/removed, etc as that will massively help me when the time comes to plan our Autumn/Winter menu later down the road. Marmite dishes are very much a hit though, so they will be staying regardless!
🎍 "What about outside" 🎍, I hear you say?
Matt has been doing a great job of keeping the outside of our premises tidy and weed-free and we're now almost in a position to obtain new benches. I'm opting for six-seater round-style picnic benches instead of the standard style, mostly to prevent pints going flying when two people decide to sit on the same side of the bench, not remembering how see-saws work.. which isn't necessarily my problem.. so I do this for you guys. 💜
📅 Upcoming Events? 📅
⚽️ We will not be open on Sunday night for the England game. We've given it a lot of thought and after talking with some of the regulars we've opted to close at the usual time of 10pm. No secret parties, no invite-only, just closed as normal. We do hope though that if you're venturing out into town to watch the match that you stay safe and don't get into too much trouble! Hydration is key.
🎸 Next Thursday is Lyric Lounge, then on the Sunday is our Car Boot followed by the Sunday Jam Session.
There's actually loads more going on behind the scenes, but rest assured that when it's time for any news to be made public, you'll hear it from me first.... not from the rumour-mill ran by Kettering's finest.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
~ Mike
