Little chef re brand
20.5.11Looking for something to eat on a recent trip up north I found myself (family in tow) pulling in to a Little Chef. This just happened to be one of the chain of over 200 restaurants that had received the Heston Blumenthal inspired makeover.
Admittedly it's been some time since I last visited one of these roadside eateries, but I have to say I was a little taken aback at the transformation that has taken place over the past couple of years. It just so happened that this particular restaurant we visited had only just reopened the day before, following a full rebrand/refurb, so the staff were still coming to terms with the new technology that they had been presented with to enable them to process food orders. That aside they were very polite and helpful and had clearly been groomed on the way to engage with the customer. I wasn't totally convinced of their knowledge of the food on offer however.
So, what to eat - Well, I'm delighted to report that the Little Chef staple, 'The Olympic Breakfast' is still on the menu, although no longer accompanied with fried bread or hash browns (a concession to the healthy lifestyle lobby I guess) but this has been joined by a rather more exotic array of dishes. What did I have? well, ox cheeks which I was assured had been braised for 72 hours, my wife, steak & kidney pudding presented in a sea of mushy peas and my daughter sausage & mash.
As we were about to tuck in to our meal, the table behind us were being served with their fish and chips, which arrived at the table accompanied by a somewhat embarrassed waitress brandishing a small bottle labelled "the smell of the chippy". She explained that she had been told to spray the "perfume" under their nostrils as they eat. The resulting aroma, intended to enhance the flavour, was redolent of pickled onions apparently. They happily joined in the performance and we too were 'transported' to a virtual chip shop somewhere as the aroma wafted our way.
The food, I have to say, was excellent and I have since noticed that they have picked up an entry in the prestigious Good Food Guide 2011 (the second year running)!
On the whole though I found the experience to be just a tad too much of an assault on the senses - there's lots of red, I mean lots of red! and every shade of it. This is supported by a palette of other colours including 'mushy pea green, raspberry ripple pink, English mustard yellow and baked bean orange'. The menus make much use of the chatty copy style championed by the likes of Innocent which reinforces the tone of voice which the design group Venturethree (responsible for the re brand) believe is rooted in British humour. With a ceiling painted to resemble the sky, model butterflies on the walls an elaborate selection of sweets in jars and a soundtrack of bird song and cow mooing in the toilets, I have to confess that I found the whole thing a little too much. One good thing though,I certainly reckon it would wake you up on a long tiring car journey.
Julian SandersManaging DirectorSanders
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