ON TRADE INTERVIEW: Winning partnership

With the hugely successful Arbutus restaurant in Soho and a second London venue planned, Will Smith explains how he and co-owner Anthony Demetre make it all work. Clinton Cawood reports

Will Smith makes the process of creating one of the most successful and talked about restaurants of recent times in London sound like a straightforward process. Pressing him for the secrets of the success that he and business partner Anthony Demetre have achieved elicits a response that is disappointingly obvious, yet fascinating in its simplicity.

As one of the two owners of Arbutus in Soho, Smith admits to playing a part in most aspects of the business. Before making himself comfortable to discuss the creation of Arbutus after a lunch sitting he pulls a waiter’s notepad from his back pocket. Demetre is nowhere to be seen – presumably in the kitchen where he performs a similar hands-on function.

Awards and accolades
Arbutus has not even been open for a year, but has already achieved a number of accolades such as being named best newcomer in most recent restaurant awards, and was awarded a Michelin star in January. The latter is, of course, not new to Demetre, who gained a Michelin star as head chef of Putney Bridge restaurant. It was there, and before that at L’Odeon in 1998, that the partnership between Smith and Demetre was established.

This is one of the key ingredients, it seems. “It’s the nature of this business that someone’s always leaving to go somewhere else. You just don’t get partnerships like this,” Smith explains.

Arbutus is a different proposition to restaurants like L’Odeon or Putney Bridge, in part owing to the fact that this is the first time the duo have been owners as well. Smith believes that “it was time for us to do our own thing, to put in what we think makes for a fine dining experience”. The result is a less formal restaurant, but with no compromise on quality.

In addition to the acclaim it has received for its food offering, Arbutus’s wine list has garnered its fair share of attention. This is primarily due to a policy of offering almost all of its wines in 250ml carafes, all priced at the cost of a third of a bottle.

One of the only truly innovative additions to the sale of wine in the on-trade in recent years, the idea has been well received. As Smith says, “I’m surprised that after ten months no one else has copied us.”

There are a number of benefits to selling wine by the carafe, but the benefit for diners is the most obvious. Without requiring the investment in an entire bottle, experimentation is encouraged. Smith believes that wine drinkers are “penalised in many restaurants. You might want some wine at lunch, for example, but might not want a full bottle”. Only having a choice of house wine by the glass is limiting, he explains.

The extent of the benefit for customers varies. As Smith confirms, some take full advantage of the concept, trying a number of different wines throughout a meal. But with a large glass of wine amounting to 250ml in some venues, some diners hardly notice any difference at all.

“We definitely sell more dessert wine. Elsewhere, who buys dessert wine?” asks Smith.

The downsides of the carafes are minimal. “I don’t think people spend less on wine,” says Smith, estimating beverages to account for 40% of the business. He admits that some wastage is unavoidable, but this is limited by briefing staff on which bottles have been opened, as well as discussing food pairing opportunities. “We’ve got 55 wines by the carafe, and right now we’ve got up to 45 bottles open,” he explains. “The advantage is that the first carafe sold covers the cost of the bottle.”

Lack of pretension
As for the wine list itself, Smith, who is responsible for this, is consistently self-effacing. “If a job has to be done, I do it, but I don’t pretend to be a sommelier.” Trying to understand why the eclectic (and reasonably priced) list is so well received, Smith reasons: “It’s possibly because I’m not a sommelier, and possibly because I’m British. I love all wine and don’t have an affinity. We’re maybe a bit heavy on France.”

The menu at Arbutus changes constantly and is retyped and printed in-house twice a day. “I don’t think Anthony could have a three-month menu,” explains Smith. The wine list does not change at this pace, but does evolve. “We had more rosés in the summer, for example,” Smith says.

With wine, as with everything else, he is “trying to lose the pretension”. This attitude definitely has an effect on diners’ experience in the restaurant. “If someone’s unsure, we’ll let them taste it – it’s such a trifling issue.” Smith acknowledges that “it would be different with someone who had to worry about margins. Despite still having a budget, we take a bigger view.”

Business-minded
This is something that Smith emphasises, however: despite there being a number of factors to consider in creating and running a restaurant, it is ultimately a business. A number of distinguishing features of Arbutus are financially motivated. The mats on tables that replace traditional white tablecloths help to set the restaurant’s more informal tone, but they also serve the practical purpose of reducing initial capital outlay, as well as laundry bills. The emphasis on using seasonal ingredients is, in part, a financial consideration.

Arbutus also offers a number of spaces for dining at the bar. In many restaurants like this, the bar is typically underused. “The barman may as well be serving from the kitchen,” says Smith.

Much of Demetre and Smith’s inspiration originated from extensive research. After the owners of Putney Bridge sold the freehold (a two-year process), the two began to search for sites for what would become Arbutus, an endeavour that took a full year.

Visits to Paris and New York provided no shortage of ideas, with one of the most striking features, for Smith, being the level of knowledge of the service staff in New York. This plays a part at Arbutus as well. There may not be a sommelier, but at most pre-service meetings, for example, waiting staff taste one or two wines, ensuring that they are informed about the products they sell.

After a year, a venue was found on Frith Street in Soho – hardly the most predictable location for one of the most successful restaurant openings of 2006. And there is no doubt about its success. With the restaurant full for almost every sitting, seven days a week, there has been no need for any outright marketing, nor the use of booking agencies. “And long may it last,” says Smith.

Smith and Demetre’s vision is simple, and unwavering. As it approaches its first birthday next month, the combination of factors that contribute to this “modern bistro”, as Smith calls it, is obviously a winning one. db 

SECOND VENUE

“People could say we’re moving too fast,” says Smith. And they could be justified in saying that. Having only opened in May 2006, the team behind Arbutus are opening a new site as early as next month.

Smith justifies this decision, however. “The venue was offered to us – we weren’t actively looking. We realise we have a good brand, and we love the room. It’s a great location.” At the end of last month, Smith and Demetre took the keys to what was the Drones club in Mayfair.

“It’s a very different crowd in Mayfair compared to Soho,” says Smith, “but the same principles will apply there, like casual relaxed service; it will be open seven days a week, and we’ll have plenty of lunchtime business.” Other features such as dining at the bar are likely to remain, but there will, of course, be differences. “The name will be different, and the head chef will be Colin Kelly, currently a chef at Arbutus. There might be some more wine as well,” says Smith.

This is not the extent of the pair’s ambitions. Smith smiles: “We think there’s a lot of mileage here. You could have a restaurant like this in every town.”

© db April 2007