Berni Inns in Bristol at The Rummer Hotel on Tuesday 17 February 2015
Posted on: 15 Feb 2015Those of a certain vintage will remember the glory days of Berni Inns and that unforgettable line-up of prawn cocktails and Black Forest Gateaux. Well, now - for one night only - The Rummer Hotel in Bristol is hosting an evening of food that defined an age with an original, unforgettable Berni Inn menu.
Tuesday 17th February will see The Rummer present an evening of truly nostalgic prawn cocktails, steak and chips, followed by Black Forest Gateaux for an incredible £24 (actually the equivalent of Berni's 1977 pricing). Liqueur coffees and schooners of sherry will also be available.
The event will also be filmed for the BBC, o not only will you get the chance to sample the gastronomic delights of some of the most nostalgic, retro food imaginable, but you might even get your mug on film too.
So, how did Berni Inns come about? Well, glad you asked, so let us tell you.
In 1947 Anglo-Italian restaurateurs Frank and Aldo Berni visited the States and became fascinated by chop-houses; low-cost restaurants catering for a family market, and which made their money through careful cost control. Frank saw the potential in the UK – where restaurants were the preserve of the rich – but had to hold that thought until food rationing was lifted in 1954.
When food prices came down, The Berni’s snapped up the derelict cellar of an ancient Bristol pub and put their vision into practice, offering an innovative, and then novel, three course menu of prawn cocktail, steak & chips and Black Forest gateaux for Seven Shillings and Sixpence (37p). Promising sophistication on the cheap, taking the family out was no longer an annual event to celebrate a special occasion. It became a monthly – even weekly – treat.
Berni restaurants had a simple set menu; the kitchens only needed a grill and a deep fat fryer. The staff did not need to be skilled and essentially it was a factory line. The manager was the only person that mattered, and he worked from an operations manual known as The Bible. They saved on the laundry bill by using place mats instead of tablecloths. The brothers kept a personal eye on the quality of their steaks and unheard of in post-war British catering – they encouraged customers to complain if something wasn’t good enough. At their peak they opened a new restaurant every month; they especially liked turning historic pubs into Berni Inns, blending American sophistication with olde-worlde charm.
By the time Frank and Aldo sold the company in 1970 for £14m the “going for a Berni” format – which had now introduced the much maligned chicken-in-a-basket – was entrenched in British culture, yet had also become an affectionate shorthand for, well, naffness.
Enjoy the nostalgia and relive that authentic Berni moment by booking your place and contacting The Rummer Hotel at their website or by calling them on 0117 929 0111.