This week's 1901 meal

[Blue Valkyrie]

Email from Barber I forgot to post last week, I sent him a pretty direct one outlining why I personally (when I do visit the Amex) don't buy food on the concourses, this was his reply.

Paul makes some very good points, and to be honest I can't see too much wrong with the concourse catering - if it is true what he says about early season agency staff - although personally I don't rate the cheeseburgers.

1901 from an outside perspective seems to be the problem, and the club simply has to find a way of maximising the catering profit from this area.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Sorry Husty. I attempted to read the e-mail, but by the fifth paragraph, thought that it was just management speak.

The fact is the club have not done their homework whatsoever and settled with Sodexo. A company with an awful reputation, and I have seen first hand their quality mass catering at the hospital. So being served lasagne and rice is nothing astonishing for me, and neither is the lack of a decent vegetarian option, or the fact that often there is no vegetarian option available on the wards.

Sodexo are a stack it high sell it cheap company, end of.

If you haven't bothered to read the email, then you're hardly in a great position to carry on debating this, are you. Take a couple of minutes to read it. It's hardly 'management speak', it's sentences, well constructed and reasonably easy to read.

 

[Dover]

Sorry Papa, on reading the mail, it just seems to me that Sodexo have put in the best tender for the club. Meanwhile the City College are pulling out of the Brasserie.

Why could there not have been a deal where the college and Club could have worked together on match days? The club nationally would have looked in a better light, and no doubt the food would have been much better.

 

[Bladders]

Management speak? I 'd say that email was as far from Management speak as it gets.

Good response as well. The anti-Barber brigade still baffle me though.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Reading Husty's email, I can honestly say that I have total faith in Paul Barber and the difficult job he's having to do.

I am afraid I have to differ. Suggesting he would consider changing the caterers yet again does not fill me with faith.

 

[Bladders]

I am afraid I have to differ. Suggesting he would consider changing the caterers yet again does not fill me with faith.

In who? Barber or the Board? Barber clearly stated in his email that he wasn't part of the tendering process.



Unfortunately, I was engaged in other urgent and very time consuming business for the club at the time of the catering tender process, so I was not involved in any of the pitches for our new catering contract, but I am told by other Board members who led the process (and of course from what I read after the presentations) that our tender process was highly competitive in every sense

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

In who? Barber or the Board? Barber clearly stated in his email that he wasn't part of the tendering process.



Unfortunately, I was engaged in other urgent and very time consuming business for the club at the time of the catering tender process, so I was not involved in any of the pitches for our new catering contract, but I am told by other Board members who led the process (and of course from what I read after the presentations) that our tender process was highly competitive in every sense

I did read that line. But, he's the CEO. The buck stops with him and he is paid to run the club...as he also said.

 

[fleet]

As he says, there is a directly comparable offer to what we had at Withdean, the £59 three course meal, which was very popular at Withdean, served professionally, and prepared to a high standard (for a football stadium).



And this is exactly the point for 2 seasons the caterers have failed to offer anything approaching the quality of product or service we had at Withdean.

As for the "buffet" offers, they are both too expensive, and quite laughable in content, Lasagne & Chips FFS. If the Club wants to sell the "buffet", it needs to make it a proper buffet, and reduce the price, and also think a bit harder about what they are serving.

The 59 offering at Withdean included the match ticket I believe. This one is much more plus VAT - makes it in the price league of a Michelin star restaurant that I went to a few weeks ago. The drinks there made that more expensive but very good value. The good at the Amex 1901 is very bad value, we already pay a large sum for the ticket and lounge access so the food should not be this price.

Agree that the buffet price is fine, but food needs to be much better for that.

 

[fleet]

Value is getting what you paid for. Similar price to the lunch at 1901, the stunning location of Coworth Park in Ascot, with outstanding cooking and outstanding service. Simply no comparison with 1901 and cannot be offered at the same price and regarded as the same value:

Restaurant
Coworth Park À La Carte Menu
Starters
Challans Duck pan-fried foie gras and roast breast, kumquat, spiced brioche foam

Soused Mackerel smoked mussels, fennel crumb, curry foam

Spring Chicken poached breast and glazed leg, pickled jerusalem artichokes, roast salsify, white bean purée

Black Pudding chorizo, chargrilled tongue, duxelles, baby watercress

Pea and Ham english garden peas, iberico ham, mustard emulsion, smoked butternut sorbet

Yorkshire Fettle (v) chargrilled fettle, lettuce crisp, olive crumb, tomato dressing, cucumber caviar

Mains
Swaledale Lamb roast loin, slow cooked neck and shoulder, girolles, rosemary crumble

Cornish Red Mullet bouillabaisse braised durum wheat, roast scallop, shellfi sh and basil vinaigrette

Slow Cooked Loin and Short Rib of Veal broccoli stem, shallot purée, barbecue onion

Heritage Carrot (v) salt baked and glazed, roast pearl barley, charred onions

Onion (v) confi t onion tart, lord of the hundreds, charred violet artichoke, herb vinaigrette

3 courses at £65.00
A discretionary service charge of 12.5% will be added to your bill.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Management speak? I 'd say that email was as far from Management speak as it gets.

Good response as well. The anti-Barber brigade still baffle me though.

That. People simply love a moan.

The 1901 is the area that really needs attention. money to be made, and at the moment its slipping through their fingers. It really isn't about the price though -some of the comments on these threads are delusional - "I'd only pay £6 for that", etc. Its a corporate / premium lounge. £14 for any full meal option is about as low as you'll see anywhere, in that kind of environment. They just need to get the quality right, now.

 

[Hillian1]

That. People simply love a moan.

The 1901 is the area that really needs attention. money to be made, and at the moment its slipping through their fingers. It really isn't about the price though -some of the comments on these threads are delusional - "I'd only pay £6 for that", etc. Its a corporate / premium lounge. £14 for any full meal option is about as low as you'll see anywhere, in that kind of environment. They just need to get the quality right, now.

To be fair, if I was paying 1901 prices and getting the sort of offerings on show in this thread I'b be bloody well moaning too.

What I glean from all this is that people WANT to spend their money at the stadium, they WANT to feel like they are contributing to the club but are not prepared to spend their money on sub standard fayre, and rightly bloody so.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

To be fair, if I was paying 1901 prices and getting the sort of offerings on show in this thread I'b be bloody well moaning too.

What I glean from all this is that people WANT to spend their money at the stadium, they WANT to feel like they are contributing to the club but are not prepared to spend their money on sub standard fayre, and rightly bloody so.

Yes. I know.

But at the same as half of them are complaining about the quality and the choice, the other half are saying that £14 is 'too expensive'. They are never all going to be happy.

 

[trueblue]

I am afraid I have to differ. Suggesting he would consider changing the caterers yet again does not fill me with faith.

So if he said he'd stick by them regardless of whether they can meet the pre-agreed standard, you'd be happy? That would amount to telling the fans "tough, you're stuck with it. He can't win. And he made it clear that he really doesn't want another change.

 

[s e boy1968]

As always the response from Paul Barber was articulate, timely and well structured however....
The club are still missing the point.
In 1901 you have however many fans (some more Albion through and through than others) who given the right offerings will spend a lot of money at the club in the surroundings they have chosen to pay a bit more for to spend time in for comfort etc etc...
The resentment has built because there really has been a 'we don't understand your moaning' attitude even though I would say the majority of 1901 members feel the same .
Unfortunately the club has to work hard now to get the goodwilll back and £14 offerings just won't do it.

 

[trueblue]

Value is getting what you paid for. Similar price to the lunch at 1901, the stunning location of Coworth Park in Ascot, with outstanding cooking and outstanding service. Simply no comparison with 1901 and cannot be offered at the same price and regarded as the same value:

Restaurant
Coworth Park À La Carte Menu
Starters
Challans Duck pan-fried foie gras and roast breast, kumquat, spiced brioche foam

Soused Mackerel smoked mussels, fennel crumb, curry foam

Spring Chicken poached breast and glazed leg, pickled jerusalem artichokes, roast salsify, white bean purée

Black Pudding chorizo, chargrilled tongue, duxelles, baby watercress

Pea and Ham english garden peas, iberico ham, mustard emulsion, smoked butternut sorbet

Yorkshire Fettle (v) chargrilled fettle, lettuce crisp, olive crumb, tomato dressing, cucumber caviar

Mains
Swaledale Lamb roast loin, slow cooked neck and shoulder, girolles, rosemary crumble

Cornish Red Mullet bouillabaisse braised durum wheat, roast scallop, shellfi sh and basil vinaigrette

Slow Cooked Loin and Short Rib of Veal broccoli stem, shallot purée, barbecue onion

Heritage Carrot (v) salt baked and glazed, roast pearl barley, charred onions

Onion (v) confi t onion tart, lord of the hundreds, charred violet artichoke, herb vinaigrette

3 courses at £65.00
A discretionary service charge of 12.5% will be added to your bill.

What time does the football there kick off? How many people do they serve at once? What do their staff do for six days of the week?

 

[fleet]

What time does the football there kick off? How many people do they serve at once? What do their staff do for six days of the week?

More of a polo venue - not that I have watched that though. The staff per head rather higher there than at 1901!

 

[Hillian1]

Yes. I know.

But at the same as half of them are complaining about the quality and the choice, the other half are saying that £14 is 'too expensive'. They are never all going to be happy.

Nobody seemed to moan in the first season at The Amex, well 1901 anyway. It seems they have upped the price for the 3 course to £90 which is in my opinion a ridiculous amount of money and reduced the Buffet offerings to the sort of food you'd expect in a staff canteen.

There is a happy medium to be found, the club just need to find it, and fast.

One of the mantras used in customer service is that if you have a good experience you will tell 5 people about it, but if you have a bad one you will tell 15.

 

[ROSM]

Yes. I know.

But at the same as half of them are complaining about the quality and the choice, the other half are saying that £14 is 'too expensive'. They are never all going to be happy.

You are right. Not everybody will be happy all the time. But the concept of price is generally based on value and you have it spot on that quality across all the 'price points' is critical. If you want to pay £6 then something that costs £4 outside is reasonable. Of you want to pay £60 then something that is £50 outside will be reasonable.

Its when you get charged £19 for something that's £10 outside that issues arise.

There are some items in the mail response from him that a cynic could pick up on but lets not divert this thread away from the real issues

 

[mikeyjh]

I've enjoyed my visits to the stadium (can't recall which lounges I've been in), and I don't get to fussed by the lack of quality in the food (and it is bad), but I've never had to pay for it - I certainly don't understand why Barber et al think that realistically people want expensive sit down dinners at the football, doesn't stack up for me.

What I really don't understand is why a CEO takes so much time to write individual email responses? Some will say good on 'im, I'd say surely you have something better to be doing?

 

[Munkfish]

Email from Barber I forgot to post last week, I sent him a pretty direct one outlining why I personally (when I do visit the Amex) don't buy food on the concourses, this was his reply.

Nice Reply from Barber.

However to admit we that catering will never be the cheapest or the quickest is pretty shocking and to admit that he feels they are over charging people because they can, due to the seat being a few yards away is stupid. how about charge the same price as they would in town and you take the business.

People dont mind paying a premium on beer IMO pints in town are already as expensive, however to be ripped off for food people will go elsewhere as we are not talking 20/30p a pint we are talking 5/6 pounds. Big difference.