FEATURE: FIRED UP

Fired up

The Saracen’s Head Hotel update included the addition of an outdoor smoker, offering patrons a unique dining experience that doesn’t break the bank.

WORDS Molly Nicholas

BACK IN DECEMBER, Duxton Pubs unveiled a major renovation for Adelaide CBD pub The Saracen’s Head Hotel, retaining its rich heritage while reinvigorating the dining and bar spaces.

Marking the first major renovation of the pub since Duxton’s acquisition in 2021, the update was intended to expand the pub’s reach, with a revised food and beverage offering being a significant focus of the overhaul.

Complementing the classic pub fare served in the dining room, the pub reopened with the addition of a Yoder smoker in the beer garden — introducing a new element to the traditional pub offer and making the pub more of a destination.

Initially, the kitchen team experimented with smokehouse dishes through themed weekend functions, before launching the Sarrie’s Smokehouse menu — a permanent addition to the daily food and beverage offering.

“We had the smoker around 2-3 months prior to launching the new menu and smokehouse offers to ensure there was time to trial, test, refine and develop the best and highest quality items for our customers,” said Brendan Boothroyd, executive chef and GM of kitchen operations. “For the chef team, this time period was a lot of fun — many a rib smoked, some brisket eaten, sauces custom made, and beers tried alongside — quality control at its finest.”

Operational considerations

Introducing such a specialised, expensive piece of cooking equipment can be daunting for any pub operator, but for Duxton Pubs, the experience has been smooth sailing. By creating weekend specials, the kitchen team were able to familiarise themselves with the smoker before developing the new smokehouse menu, and from an operational perspective, there have been very few challenges.

“[The Yoder is an] offset smoker with excellent thermostat controls to enable us to control temperatures which ensures consistency — this is why we went with the higher grade of technology. This was the key equipment purchased to execute the concept, of course along with high quality meat products from local suppliers,” said Boothroyd.

Because it is low and slow, we can utilise our skillset, like making our own rubs and sauces, and cooking slow allows us to be somewhat more cost effective.

– Brendan Boothroyd

“The location being in the beer garden [means the smoker] has not caused any troubles with ventilation. One of the challenges is ensuring we get timings correct in terms prep and planning, but compliance wise, the Yoder smoker is low and slow. It isn’t hot, we are not cooking at high temps — it’s actually become a feature in the beer garden space that customers enjoy sitting around, plus the additional flow-on benefit is the smoker adds a great smell element,” Boothroyd added.

A budget-friendly experience

Making use of the Yoder smoker, the Sarrie’s Smokehouse menu features dishes like pork pastrami ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork, Alabama half chicken and smoked cauliflower. On the menu, no individual dish costs more than $20.

Considering the initial outlay for the equipment, continually rising meat prices and ever-increasing operating costs, the menu is extremely affordable, and according to Boothroyd, the group made a conscious decision not to pass these costs on to the consumer.

“It’s not about expense to the customer with purchase of equipment or tools to deliver — it’s about delivering an exceptional product, experience, and value to the customer. Adding another layer to what we can produce and deliver is a point of difference to other venues not only in the CBD but within our group.”

With the pub itself absorbing these increases, cost management was an important consideration when developing the menu.

“Barbecue has become popular, so items like ribs have become more expensive as an example. Essentially, we have to manage the relationships with our suppliers, and how we engineer and develop our menu items,” added Boothroyd.

“Because it is low and slow, we can utilise our skillset, like making our own rubs and sauces, and cooking slow allows us to be somewhat more cost effective.”

Affirming the group’s decision, the Sarrie’s Smokehouse menu has been a hit since its launch, drawing in patrons with its rich flavours and affordable pricing.

“The smokehouse board has been a hit — the communal dining concept and sharing has been really popular and encouraged in the venue. Plus, being a CBD pub venue, our everyday pub menu has benefited by having some smoked elements in those core pub classics like burgers,” Boothroyd concluded.

This story originally ran in our sister publication Australian Hotelier.