For us caterers, Christmas sings atmosphere, countless turkey lunches, mulled wine and parties! Whether you love it or loathe it, it promises a busy time for all involved.
At Peach, we get started back in August, with a session planning this year’s festivities. All the pubs get together, pull on their Santa hats and enjoy a feast of the new menu whilst chatting about how we’ll make this one the best yet. There’s stuff to print, websites to set live, the ever important task of ensuring all enquiry information drops into the right spreadsheet so nothing gets missed, emails to set up, hats to order… The list is quite a long one (like any Christmas planning really). Each pub has a designated Elf to handle all enquiries from start to finish, ensuring no detail of your party is missed.
For our Executive Chefs, the planning starts even earlier. Armed with feedback from the last menu, and observing demand for more vegan-friendly options, a selection of dishes were tasted by tonnes of the team before deciding on the top scorers to make it on the final menu. Free-range birds from Worcester, British beef and responsibly sourced fish, we always serve the good stuff. Our Deli Plate starter is vegan, so is our Sweet Potato & Kale Pie and for pudding enjoy our Mulled Wine Poached Pear with Vanilla Ice Cream (a dish everyone was fighting over!)
It’s not just about the Turkey, it’s about the whole occasion, and we want to make sure your party is magical from the moment you step into the pub. As we enter November and the colder nights surround us, we light the fires, mull the wine on the bar, check we have all our Christmas decorations safely stored away and make sure we’ve ordered the tree – finding one tall enough (sometimes up to 11ft) is often quite a task! As the diary fills up with bookings, and Winter approaches, we gather the team in on the day of Christmas Menu launch for a festive tasting.
It’s all go from the very first weekend. With the teams running our Winter menu alongside our Christmas dishes, ensuring every bill is correctly charged, with no delays to service and ensuring everything runs as it should, and with a smile. The Santa hats are laid on the tables (wearing them is obligatory) and there’s usually an event or two to look forward to. Christmas Jumper Parties, Jazz Breakfasts or Live Music Nights, and not too far away New Year’s Eve – we hope the band or DJ’s booked! 
We salute anyone working in service over this busy period, not just those in hospitality. It’s all hand on decks, it’s non-stop, and the long days on your feet are well and truly here. There may be a few raised voices (usually in the kitchen*), but it’s all giggles at the end of the day with everyone pulling together to make our pubs the best place to be, for the team and our guests. It’s the people that really make the difference in the pubs, and we love being the place our guests choose to host their party or get together. All the planning and hard work pays off when we hear the natters and laughter, and see everyone having fun. Whether it’s your first time or thousandth time, everyone’s welcome and we’ll strive to give you a great time. From the moment the first plate of turkey is served, right through to the last, consistency is our goal. If anything does slip, tell us and we’ll be sure to put it right. When you do enjoy your visit, we love to hear about it, so do pop your words on a comment card or drop us an email, or leave a review – especially if one of the team did something to make your party that extra bit special. All feedback is shared with the teams, and it really does keep everyone in high spirits.
Everyone keeps pushing right through to Christmas Eve, when we’ll all join you in raising a glass to the big day itself. We believe Christmas Day should be spent with family and friends, so once the doors are all locked, we head off for a well-earned day of rest. For the pubs with team from overseas, our Chefs prepare their feast – no one’s forgotten at the dinner table.
There’s usually secret Santa, several late night after work drinks and then hopefully a celebratory, ‘we made it’ night out planned for January once the decorations get taken down.
Find out more about our Christmas plans here and we look forward to seeing you soon.
*Disclaimer – not all Chefs shout.