Fred's newsletter 12.8.21

Good morning,

I hope you are all well and healthy. The last time I wrote to you was some 6 weeks ago and we are already nearly half way through August. Unbelievable how fast time flies.

Things are going quite well at l’escargot bleu. I think we’ve found a good balance between opening hours and numbers of seats for our small team. We currently have 32 seats (an increase of 4 from last week) and we’ll keep it this way for time being. It makes a pleasant, comfortable environment for all of you, and a safe experience.

Opening 4 days a week means that all the staff are working together and have days off at the same time, helping with communication and the overall organisation. This is the best way to operate when we have a limited supply of staff. I can see clearly now that there’s a ‘before Covid’ and there’s an ‘after Covid’. Many of us have had time to reflect on the reality and our priorities. I’m trying to preserve an enjoyable work and private life balance for the team who work a 4-day week, something unusual in our sector when I introduced it at l’escargot 15 years ago.

There is no doubt that after March 2020, having to close our businesses so suddenly, without notice, we realised how much restaurants rely on cash flow with little security or allowances for financials hits.

The concept of a cheap meal has to change. The public needs to understand that the price of a meal supports the whole chain behind it: the baker, the milk man and all the other individual suppliers as well as staff, gas and electricity, and waste collection. There’s also the upkeep of the premises, annual licence fees, safety trainings and fire extinguishers, insurance fees, equipment maintenance and many more hidden costs. I have probably forgotten a lot but one thing I am sure of is that £12.90 meals cannot possibly sustain this.

Many trades are protected by unions and have minimum charges and wages in force. When will we introduce similar rules and regulations to protect people working in the hospitality industry? Ones that will take into consideration the number of hours worked, including evening shifts and weekends. Please don’t get me wrong, I love my work and there’s nothing else that would fill me with as much happiness, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I just feel it’s time that the public realised the true value of a meal when going out. I am sorry about the above, you probably didn’t want to hear me moaning or grumuling about like a grumpy old boy.

On to a cheerier subject: unusual circumstances call for unusual decisions, and we have decided to go on holiday. All of us. We’re closing the restaurant for the month of September. It's important to look after our small team and make sure they get the holidays they have worked so hard for. So l’escargot bleu will do its last service on Saturday 28thAugust, and we will reopen on Thursday 30th September.

Of course, a restaurant is never really left unattended or without any life inside. There will be tradesmen in servicing equipment, also people with paintbrushes and screwdrivers doing bits and bobs. I am saying no more 🤐

Betty, the children and I will be going home, to our little Auvergne retreat. I’m sure there’s a fair bit of tidying up to do there as the house has been left unattended since July 2019. And being fairly remote, I have no doubt that a few mice (and other creatures perhaps) have made our home theirs! But I cannot wait to be there: splitting wood to fire the bread oven, riding around on the vintage motorbike, visiting food markets in the surrounding villages and of course, cooking earthy food for friends and family.

This newsletter wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t mention gardening, but I have to admit that I haven’t been able to do as much as I wanted to recently. There has been a lot of growing (messily and massively) at Newton but maintaining it has been a task. Mary and I have seen so many overgrown vegetables or salads this year that we could probably open a seed shop next year. The Spanish-style weather has helped in some ways but worked against us in others, especially the very dry spell. On the another hand, we both love the wilderness feel this has brought with overflowing borders full of colour. The harvests have been consistent and plentiful; the fruits of our labour enjoyed by many customers.

Monkton garden is also doing very well and the team behind it have been working extremely hard sowing, growing, planning and harvesting. The Austin family are determined to return Monkton to its former glory with the young generation so far proving that they will succeed. I’m so happy to be involved with (and influencing) a project starting from scratch. And I’m so excited for the years to come. The 3 or 4 acres there is enough to feed so many of you at l’escargot bleu. There are all sorts of issues and planning to deal with, water being one, and of course the weather is unpredictable and harvesting is time consuming, but the bigger picture is very rewarding in so many aspects. Next year should be very interesting, it looks very promising.

On another topic, I was asked to write about a typical day in my life for a newspaper. Well, what is a typical day with Fred? There are never really two days the same. Could it be a Saturday when I’m woken up at 4am by the sound of a teaspoon in a mug? My son makes tea for us whilst giving a lecture on Pearl Harbour followed by the story of the challenger tank during the second world war. He is very passionate about such things! Eventually I will shower then take a fast drive to the garden to harvest courgette flowers and fresh salad leaves, with a stop at the Leith Farmers’ Market on the way back to collect veal fillets and shoulder from Peelham Farm, dropping off around 60 courgettes at my friend Tom Kitchin’s restaurant and making it back to l’escargot bleu just in time to start a day of cooking with the guys. It’s an 8am sharp start in the kitchen, beginning with coffee and menu planning. Then cooking prep until staff lunch around 11.30am (we always eat what’s on the menu that day) before service starts at noon. The last order comes in at 2.30pm, then it’s home for a shower and a quick nap (when time allows), a few emails and a cup of tea then back to the restaurant for dinner service. Some 50 covers later it’s 11.30pm and all the customers have gone home. At closing time the gang might have a glass of wine if it's Saturday, then it’s home, ready for bed.

Should we follow up with the Sunday? Ok, it’s another early start, I do sleep a bit longer though. I am meeting Mathieu (our kitchen helper and also my second garden companion) at the restaurant at 8am. We have coffee then load the car with cardboard, vegetables peelings and coffee grounds for the compost. Nothing is wasted. We set off to Newton to do some sowing and planting, and a fair bit of weeding as well. It’s 4pm by the time we head back to bleu. I am exploring the fridges to find something for dinner at home. Veal blanquette it will be. It’s an early dinner on Sunday, around 5pm followed by general chat with the family. That is also the time I speak to my parents in France.

Monday is some kind of a day off. Before 8am I will send my orders for cheese, and special fish orders like velvet crab or langoustines as they will come delivered on Thursday straight from the Isle of Skye or Orkney. Then it’s another day in the garden, followed by the same routine as the Sunday. Tuesday is admin day and one I try to spend with Betty. We might still pop to the garden to harvest a few things to be used the following morning as we will be cooking and serving for the next four days.

The balance between sowing, picking, planting and maintenance is hard and no matter how organised you are or how much planning you have done, the next day might not always be what was planned for. I guess that’s the joy of dealing with mother nature. I’m telling you, these bloody courgettes can grow overnight! And so can those weeds. Even on these days off, I will be emailing customers, suppliers, producers. I’m glad I have a phone that follows me everywhere so I can respond and deal with requests as I go, but often I wish I could leave that phone behind.

You will all have seen Coco mentioned in previous newsletters. He is the cat that Mary and I inherited a few years back when he was dropped off to stay at Newton for a few weeks until his owner would return to collect him. Well, 3 years have gone by and Coco is still there, and he needs a proper home. I don’t want to welcome him to our flat, as this wouldn’t be fair for him, so I’m looking for somewhere with a garden and good surroundings. He is a lovely, friendly cat and a great hunter. We will be sad to see him go. If you happen to know someone, or if you’re looking for a cat as a companion please send me an email.

Mes amis, I am looking forward to welcoming you at l’escargot. As a small team we strive to deliver a genuine experience in comfortable surroundings. You may have noticed that despite distancing measures being lifted, we are keeping the same layout we’ve had in place since we reopened last year as your safety and comfort is paramount to us. It also offers a higher quality of environment and sets a more realistic pace for us to serve you. The centre console for preparing steak tartare and desserts will also stay as it provides a lovely show for you to enjoy, as well as helping to keep your table well distanced from others.

As many have asked, I will try and keep up with newsletters on a more regular basis, but I have to say that writing often stirs up emotions. I am working on it.

Fiona Richmond of Scotland Food & drink is our guest writer for this newsletter. The pike fishing trip with her is a thing I will remember for a long time. Her small pink beach boots on a winter's day was a sight! Fiona has been a great support of l’escargot and its philosophy, I couldn’t be more thankful, and for the kind words in her blog. Read it here.

Thank you for reading and thank you for all your feedback.

Love to all, à bientôt,

Fred