Guest Barbecues

[Barbel Bob]

Hi all,

We were thinking of doing a Barbecue night for our guests due to no restaurants being open locally on a Sun & Mon evening, after spending two days renovating the barbeque etc it has dawned on me that I will not be able to do this as I do not have a licence to do evening meals?

Is there another licence available other than the table d'hote one, as I really dont want to do evening meals?????

Do any of you fellow b&b'ers do a bbq nights and if so i would really appreciate any menu ideas and what sort of price you charge.

Thanks
Julie

[Quillan]

Getting a licence does not mean you have to serve meals. You never know when it may come in handy (like doing your BBQ) so if I were you I would go get one. It is free although some regions I believe charge a small amount for admin so why not?

Good luck with the BBQ.

[Cerise]

Yes - go to Douanes, you should be able to get licence straight away.  There is no obligation to do meals every night but you can offer them if/when you feel like it.  If your first barbeque is tomorrow I don't believe the world will end if you have it without the licence.  I know this is heresy, but in 6 years NO-ONE (including Tourist Office, Mairie etc) has EVER asked if I have a licence (I do) and I know several B & Bs who do meals who don't have/didn't have licences.  When I mentioned it to one French lady she looked blank and said no-one had ever mentioned it.

Hope the sun shines!

 

[nomoss]

Why not offer a selection of meat and sausages etc., make up some bowls of salads etc., lay out the tables, and let guests bbq for themselves for a fixed price?

We used to visit a restaurant (in Spain) which did this at weekends. Meat was served from a cold display to avoid people helping themselves to excessive amounts, salads etc. on a self service bar. It was no cheaper than regular restaurants, but very popular, especially with children.

I suppose H&S would prohibit this in UK, as they apparently don't even allow restaurants to put lighted candles on birthday cakes. Don't know about France.

 

 

[water rat]

We do BBQ's as table d'hote and charge the same price. It's v popular,but lots more washing up! Works particularly well if everyone is already acquainted.

W Rat

[Barbel Bob]

Hi,

I thought if i had a table d'hotes licence then this is how i would have to advertise etc, I got this from a conversation at the Douanes office, I must of misunderstood as my French is so bad [;-)]

So its off to the douanes for a new licence for table d'hotes, I do know someone who was doing B&B for 4yrs without any licence as they were unaware and they never got checked either, but its better being safe than sorry i suppose.

Regarding the food provided for guests, i was thinking the normal burgers sausages, but also porc & steak etc....as i dont eat fish i have never done this on our barbies but wonder if guests will expect a bit more variety???? Oh and brochettes.....seems there will be little profit in doing them???? 

Water rat can you tell me what you provide on yours??????????

Thanks for all the replies!

[Quillan]

Er, not wishing to be pedantic but you must have some sort of licence already as you have to have one to serve breakfast (or more to the point the orange juice, tea, coffee etc).

As to profit we reckon on 5 Euros a head on a 20 Euros dinner, probably less if you cost in gas and electricity to cook the thing, not to mention your time in which case we probably work at a loss. Tonight was a BBQ, all you can eat and drink for 20 Euros. Starter was smoked salmon salad followed by Sausage Toulouse, Pork Chop, Steak, salad, Jacket potato and calsaw (always have a problem with that word, I mean carrot rape and salad cream), followed by cheese and white wine followed by Strawberries and cream all washed down with 1ltr per head of house red. We had 8 people, I ate for nothing and we made  about 60 Euros profit. To be honest I would not do this sort of meal for less than four people because at that number there is less profit but the same amount of work and I would rather sleep (if you know what I mean). The more you have the bigger the profit.

If you want to do BBQ's then you need a freezer to buy stuff like pork chops in the winter when they are on special offer (2.50 Euro a kilo). We buy about 100 chops at a time, freeze them down and use them in the summer. Same with the sausage and steak.

Anyway, hope it goes well for you

[Barbel Bob]

Hi Quillan,

We do have the breakfast licence which we got for free before we opened, it was whilst i was getting this licence that i thought if you got a table d'hotes one then you had to advertise that way, anyway i will return for a table d'hotes one to enable me to do the odd barbeque.

Your barbie sounds wonderful by the way........very mouth watering all that for 20 euros! I would pay more for such a lovely meal!!! Sounds like your very organised and I have a lot to learn!!! [:D]

Thanks for taking the time as always to help!

Julie

[water rat]

We usually get good quality burgers , sausages, pork and chicken fillets marinaded in various ways.Fish is lovely with fresh herbs olive oil, lemon, then wrapped in foil.I like to be a bit imaginative with the salads  maybe greek or morrrocan ,and how I serve the spuds ,maybe dauphinoise or layered with onions and a light stock (completely forgotton the name of it!). A local recipe is warm potato salad with lentils, bacon and goats cheese which we also do as a normal starter.Couscous is  good with lots of spices to soak up the meat juices, yum!! Carribbean bananas are v popular for pud and also cooked on the BBQ. When the main cooking is finished and the fire is less fierce. Peel a banana then wrap in foil with a good slosh of rum to keep it company along with lemon juice,brown sugar and cinnamon. Our BBQ is in an australian styleee ,with proper wood fire and steel plate over it  so there's no grill to drop through. if you ever get any venison given to you ( it could happen!!) the steaks are fantastic just shown to the fire. Sorry I could go on forever!

W Rat

[powerdesal]

Did you really have to post that?  You can keep the couscous but the rest.............[8-|]

[cooperlola]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Did you really have to post that?  You can keep the couscous but the rest.............[8-|]
[/quote]Seconded. 

Where are you, Mr/s Rat?  I'm on my way.....

[Quillan]

Personally I'm a 'keep it simple' guy when it comes to BBQ's and guests, when we eat on our own it is different and I like to experiment. The reason I tend to keep it simple is to ensure it all gets eaten, there is nothing worse than having to throw loads of stuff away at the end because guests 'don't fancy it'.

For salads I use just two types of leaves which are washed and mixed together, a few slices of tomato and cucumber and then one of Jamie's "Naked Chef" dressings followed by whatever I fancy, last night it was smoked salmon (on special at ED's, 2.99 for 6 slices). I buy a couple of tubs of coleslaw and microwave the spuds before putting them in the oven. Meats and fish for actual BBQ'ing are marinated overnight. I use a gas BBQ which I bought over from the UK, it's one of those big things but it cooks slow which saves on burning stuff. I have taken to throwing a handful of sage on the 'coals' when I cook just to give it a bit of aroma after watching that Australian chap do the same on "Saturday Cooks"

[oscar]

[quote user="Quillan"]

I use a gas BBQ which I bought over from the UK, it's one of those big things but it cooks slow which saves on burning stuff. I have taken to throwing a handful of sage on the 'coals' when I cook just to give it a bit of aroma after watching that Australian chap do the same on "Saturday Cooks"

[/quote]

Is it OK to do that?  A friend of ours always throws branches of rosemary on his wood BBQ, which I envy because it smells so fantastic and I didn't think I could do anything like that with a gas one.

[powerdesal]

If its one of those with the lava rocks above the gas jets it would be ok, if its exposed gas jets (like ours) then I don't think it would work very well.

[cassis]

If anyone is thinking about freezing stuff and serving it to members of the public (paying guests) at a later date, be careful that you don't fall foul of the hygiene laws and that the equipment you use for the freezing process meets the DDSV regulations and has been declared to them.  Otherwise you could be on the receiving end of a fine (or worse) if  you buy meat on offer from the supermarket and just stick it in your domestic freezer to serve at a later date.  No problem if it's just for your own consumption, of course.

If you do bend the rules, probably best not to mention it in public, and claim it is for your own consumption if you are subject to a contrôle. [;-)]

[water rat]

we're in the Indre 36 near Ste Sévère. Don't all come at once!

W Rat

[aveyron]

You are allowed to offer meals if you have your licence from customs for offering breakfast etc as mentioned below.

Here in the Aveyron they are checking on all B&Bs to make sure they are registered with the maire and also have the correct paperwork.

You cannot sell beer and wine separatly but can offer it as part of your meal.

All B&B should also have a little sign up outside with the rates showing for rooms and meals. (Like a hotel)

As times are getting tough hotels and restraunts are not happy about B&B offering meals and rooms so that is why the new rules are beginning to be checked.

 

 

 

[cassis]

Just out of interest, who's checking the registration with the Mairie, and is that all they are doing?  Or is it just a rumour?  There are so many bodies responsible for checking different regs I was wondering who would be handed this particular piece of crap.