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When we took over this little hotel the one aspect we intended to make a standout was the breakfast. We had travelled around the UK and Europe previously and had experienced various types of the morning meal; generally in the UK you get the cooked variety – bacon, eggs, sausage…

In Europe however the norm is the continental breakfast and, depending which part of Europe you are in, this can be anything from tiny rations to a full buffet spread.

Ask anyone who has experienced the French-style continental brekky and you will generally get the same description – a bread roll of the gum-lacerating variety, tiny pat of jam & honey and sometimes some butter (the French are not in the habit of using butter on their bread so they assume the tourists do not either), coffee/hot chocolate and a glass of juice.

Not exactly a meal to set you up for the day. Then again in countries like Germany or Scandinavia you will get meats, pastries, cheeses, fruits, yoghurts…substantially more than what the French serve up.

So we decided to ensure our guests set off each day from our place with a good tummy full; I think this is important in that, when you think about it, the breakfast is the last impression your guests will have of your establishment meal-wise. So I think it needs to be a good and hearty one. If you have a good number of guests from places like the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia then cold meats, cheeses and muesli always goes down well – choose good quality yoghurts to serve with the cereals and local fruit.

The Americans like a hearty meal and generally like to try the local delicacies so keep that in mind; don’t scrimp on the type of coffee you serve! a good cup of coffee means a lot to many people so if you want to splash out and get one of those espresso machines then go ahead, otherswise a filter machine will do fine…and serve top quality 100% arabica coffee. A selection of quality teas, both the ‘milk & sugar’ type (we offer Twinings) as well as herbals, will keep your British and Irish guests happy and think about offering the option of a cooked breakfast – many European and American guests love the idea of an English breakfast. But remember to charge a bit extra for the cooked option.

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The ‘elf & safety directives that continue to come out of Brussels might be intended to lift the game of the restaurant and accommodation industry in general but many claim they are actually pushing things too far in the other direction.

For instance one very popular Chinese restaurant in London is famous for it’s Peking Duck; the duck is hung to dry out and cooked in a certain type of oven according to traditions. ‘Elf & safety inspectors decided this was not the way things should be done and ordered the restaurant owners to get rid of the special ovens used and instead cook the ducks in accordance with EU directives. Of course the restaurant management went ballistic about this as their ovens were recently purchased for quite a sum of money and if the meat was not prepared and cooked in the usual way then the dish was simply not the dish.

The same thing has happened in Indian restaurants with regards to their clay ovens. Just what is this all supposed to achieve…?

‘Elf & safety should be concerned with simply that. Clean kitchens, clean dining areas, safe working environments – shining worktops, food handling and little things like clean cutlery and glassware. I once worked in a cafe where the pantry was in dire need of those little moth traps; everytime you opened the door out flew these little brown moths and this aspect alone should have been addressed. But ‘elf & safety were only interested in how far disabled folk had to travel to get to the toilets!

Get back to basics guys.

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