Visitors to The Flour Pot Kitchen are treated to the sights and sounds of the seaside, from crashing waves to squawking seagulls, accompanied by the smell of freshly-baked loaves, pizzas and coffee.
Located on the Brighton seafront, it presents a twist on the business’s Flour Pot bakery concept by serving an all-day menu of contemporary, seasonal dishes, artisanal pizza, signature coffee and a spot of booze, alongside traditional bakery items found in the company’s five bakeries in the city.
“One advantage of this model is spend per head is higher,” notes founder Oli Hyde. “It is licensed and we make food to order, so it is generating new revenue but also new interest in our business.”
The new menu additions – which include hot skillets filled with ras el hanout spiced lamb and Sicilian fish stew alongside sourdough pizzas and charcuterie – draw in the tourists as well as the locals. The latter are particularly important as The Flour Pot Kitchen committed to staying open year-round as part of the tender process for the seafront site.
“This is the model that will be able to travel beyond the city limits,” adds Hyde, noting the potential to expand into nearby towns including Worthing, Eastbourne and Haywards Heath. It is also looking to capitalise on its signature roast coffee, made in collaboration with Small Batch, with a potential coffee site on the seafront.
The key to delivering the kitchen model is the efficient flow of products from the company’s main bakery to the site, and the on-site work flow.
“We developed a menu around the oven for speed of service,” says Hyde. The
oven in question is a three-deck, six-tray Polin. “It was the first bread oven I ever bought,” he adds, noting that it is an ex-show model. The top deck is primarily used for pizza while the bottom is used for warming the skillets before they’re browned off in the top.
Hyde also bought a pizza dough roller to increase uniformity and speed up the process of getting food to the table, which he describes as a sound investment.
A large number of friendly, motivated staff also aid this, from dedicated chefs and a barista to the floor staff. “We have a great team who want to stick with the company, so we have good staff retention and, from their point of view, there’s security in working for a company of
this size.”
The Flour Pot Kitchen, Brighton
Who: Oli Hyde, founder and managing director of The Flour Pot Bakery
What: The Flour Pot Kitchen is a new twist on the company’s traditional bakeries. Alongside bread, sandwiches and coffee, this licensed café also serves up a selection of seasonal specials and pizzas
Where: 85-90 Kings Road Archers, Brighton Beach,
BN1 2FN
When: The kitchen opened in July 2018, but The Flour Pot has been operational since 2015 after branching off from high-end catering company and hospitality consultancy Juniper Catering, which Hyde founded in 2004
Why: “It’s very much a bakery and a coffee shop in the morning, but what we wanted to do was offer made to order food from midday.”
What a view: Hyde believes it would have been “crazy” to pass up a location on Brighton seafront, particularly one with a view of the city’s most photographed monument – the West Pier.
Caffeine hit: The Flour Pot serves up its own unique blend of coffee, which was produced through a collaboration with local roaster Small Batch.
Logo: “Simplicity is synonymous with The Flour Pot,” says Hyde, who notes the clean lines and stylish design of the interior was inspired by the logo and previous sites.
Dough-licious: All bread sold at The Flour Pot Kitchen is baked freshly off-site at the company’s bakery and production kitchen in the Fishersgate part of the city.
Pizza the action: The Italian classic forms a core part of the all-day menu, with dough fresh from the main bakery topped with a selection of ingredients.
Design: The furniture, cabinetry and lighting were made by hand and the copper piping, used for shelving and light fixtures, is a core part of the design.
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