NEW VIDEO: ‘The thing I love about a great, British pub, is the shackles are off and you can pretty much do anything’

John Hooker is the chef owner of award winning, The Cornish Arms in Tavistock, Devon. The former, Great British Menu contestant took on the pub ten years ago with his wife Emma. He spoke to The Staff Canteen about taking risks, his food ethos and his plans to open another pub.

When the opportunity to take on The Cornish Arms came up, John says his wife said, ‘we need our heads seeing to if we don’t go for it’. So, they took a gamble and haven’t looked back since.

“We had no money whatsoever, so we blagged our way in really,” said John. “We literally went for it!

my mum to remortgage her house

“We rented out our house, we moved above the pub, I begged my mum to remortgage her house, borrowed some money off the brewery and maxed out every single credit card we had.

“That was in May 2013 and that’s when we started our journey as publicans. And it was the start of my dream to own my own restaurant, pub, eating establishment and put my own stamp on my own business.”

The risk for the couple was huge but at the time John says he was 31 and ‘we were young and fearless.’

He explained: “We just wanted to make something, and we wanted someone to give us a chance to run our own business and operate our own pub – it was huge.

working all the hours; 7 days a week

“We started off with 11 on the first rotas and from day one we were inundated. We were working all the hours; 7 days a week, 20 hours a day, it was carnage.”

After several years they built a good team around them, and they are now going from strength to strength ten years on. They currently employ 47 and John says they have a real core ‘who just love hospitality’.

“They eat it, sleep it, breath it! They love what we do here, love the casualness of a pub but still want accolades. They can be proud that they work here, and we do everything we can to pay good wages, look after them, be paternal, be kind – without the team we are nothing.”

He added: “This has always been a great pub in Tavistock. It was a bit spit and sawdust, but we shut it for six months and it had a full refit.

“I’ve got fond memories of coming here when I was 18 and having a cheeky drink down Skittle Alley which is now our beautiful beer garden. So, there’s a lot of nostalgia attached to this pub for Emma and me. It was just the right place, the right time – the stars aligned, and we went for it.”

The Cornish Arms is still a pub despite the spotlight on the food offering, they still have good wet sales and people come in with their dogs. On Fridays they get the builders in having a pint.

great plates of food which we keep simple

“It is still driven by great quality ingredients,” explained John. “And great plates of food which we keep simple.”

The pub also offers seven rooms which John and Emma made the decision to do develop after they moved out. It offered a new dynamic to the business, and it became a destination pub.

“They really gave us the expansion of the business. You do feel vulnerable when you are reinvesting and expanding but we went for it and we believed in it. It was a game changer in terms of revenue, and we added a breakfast for our residents which had to be of the same standard as our lunch and dinner offering.”

He added: “It was hard work and a bit of a risk, but it meant we could move off site and that gave us a better relationship with the business because we weren’t living it 24/7.”

The pub can sit up to 170 in the restaurant, bar and outside area so in the summer, John says it can be really ‘pumping’. Diners can expect a flavour-driven food offering, featuring real pub classics.

“The thing I love about a great, British pub, is the shackles are off and you can pretty much do anything from a prawn cocktail, to fish and chips, a gastronomic beef dish or fillet dish, braised cheeks, steamed suet puddings – we’ve done all of those dishes across the years.

“We stay true to it being a pub offer and it’s a lot of things to a lot of different people. The way the business has grown is that we’ve pushed some of those more gastronomic dishes and we’ve elevated the food offering.”

‘keeping the locals on side’

John says the key to the business was ‘keeping the locals on side’ and one of the biggest compliments for him as that ‘people move to Tavistock because The Cornish Arms is here’.

He said: “It blows my mind. I’m quite a humble guy and to think people would move here just because we are here, is absolutely amazing. We’ve kind of put Tavistock on the map a little bit and I’m super proud of this place and what we’ve achieved in the last ten years.”

The future is looking bright for the team at The Cornish Arms, John and Emma have just taken on another pub nearby called The Blacksmiths Arms. They have been looking for a second site for a long time but it ‘had to be right’.

“It’s a great opportunity for growth and development for our team and for ourselves. It’s a firehouse so it’s a game changer for how we can operate and purchase. It will be different to The Cornish as we will do proper pub classics like ham, egg and chips or fish pie.

“We’re super excited and maybe in this present climate we need our heads seeing to, but we follow our gut, and we back ourselves so it’s going to be an amazing pub and an amazing little sister to The Cornish Arms.”

He added: “Our intentions are never of stopping. We’ll always continue to reinvest; we’ll always continue to back the team and just make The Cornish Arms the best it can possibly be.”