A pub landlord who charged “entitled” customers more for his Sunday roast because of “excessive” leftovers has vowed to continue the controversial policy.
Mark Graham, 62, owner and chef of The Star Inn in Vogue, Cornwall, introduced the policy after noticing an increasing number of incidents.
Graham said customers were leaving large amounts of food “increasingly” and large amounts were being wasted.
But their draconian rules sparked fury after grandmother Verity Farmer complained she was being charged an extra £4.80 for her £12-a-head roast.
“I’ve never heard anything like that before,” he said. But Graham, not one to back down from a fight, responded by saying the couple’s leftovers were “excessive in the extreme.”
The leftover food incurred a charge of £2.40 per person at The Star Inn.
Mark Graham, 62, made the decision after noticing the two women leaving a lot of food behind.
The pub has a clear policy around the £12 all-you-can-eat carvery hanging on its walls.
He wrote on Facebook: ‘If you leave some potatoes etc, obviously no problem. Where the problem arises is simply pure waste.
‘It is simply not practical to allow such waste when the margins in the business are so tight.
‘If everyone did the same as you. “I would have to prepare enough food for 200 people just to serve 100.”
Backing up his claims to the BBC, Mark continued: “When we looked at this plate, they stacked it up so they could put a ladder and a flag on top.
“It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet, not an all-you-can-go buffet.”
The pub has a clear policy around the £12 all-you-can-eat carvery hanging on its walls.
Mr Graham said: “I think they had the right to do it and they thought they could do whatever they wanted.”
‘As well as being bar staff, I’m also the chef. “I went out and talked to them and explained that the charge was for excessive waste,” he added.
“One said she couldn’t eat it all and I told her I’d seen her pile up about two meals on a plate and then leave it all out.”
Graham explained that he introduced the policy after lockdown, when the pub sector was struggling to recover.
‘After COVID there was enormous waste. “We do more of an ‘all you can eat’ thing, we do curry nights, Indian nights and all sorts of things,” he said.
“People were filling their plates to the point where it was dripping down the sides and we started to see it as disrespectful.”
The Star Inn in Cornwall is an award-winning pub offering a variety of dishes for punters.
Graham, who has worked in pubs since he was 14 and has owned The Star Inn for 20 years, added: “I say what I think and that’s just the way it is.” That was the first time we had to load and the first thing I did was send my staff back to ask if everything was okay.
‘Customers said the food was delicious and that was it. I don’t care if there are a couple of potatoes left. What bothers me is simply stupid and excessive waste.
He continued: ‘We are just a village pub that time has not touched.
I have been told that I want to make a living, not kill. I don’t scam people. But it’s a two-way street and customers should play fair too.
“I was serving roast that day and I remember they loaded their plates sky high with food, so high they could have put a ladder on the side and a flag on top!”
He said the two women only went to the steakhouse counter once, but added: “There were easily two portions of food on each plate.”
Mr Graham took a photograph of the plates which showed they were filled to the brim with slices of meat, two roast potatoes each, lots of vegetables and some crackling.
He said the small surcharge would only help cover the cost of raw materials, but would not cover any costs of the equipment used to prepare the food or to pay staff.
Pub owner Mark Graham photographed outside the Starr Inn at Vogue in Redruth, Cornwall
‘You can take as much as you want, come back as many times as you want and, as the old Navy saying goes, you can fill your boots. “Do what you want, but don’t waste it,” he continued.
“We get people to eat a plate’s worth, then they come back for more and instead of eating it, they order a box to take away.”
He said the pub was happy to accommodate such a la carte menu requests, “as price is a consideration”. But he added on Facebook that the “excess food” policy was “all-you-can-eat, self-serve only.”
Verity Farmer, one of the customers who paid the surcharge, complained on Facebook saying: “Just went to a Sunday roast at the Star Inn, Vogue, St Day.”
‘We paid for our meal at £12 each, and when we received the bill, an extra £4.80 was added. When asked about it, they said it was a charge for not eating all of our food. I had never heard anything like that before.
More than 400 comments have been made since its publication, including one from The Star Inn account, which said: ‘We’re just trying to make sure there’s enough food for everyone.
‘I’m sure if you were a customer later that day and I had to tell you that I had no food left for your reservation because it had been wasted and gone in the trash, you wouldn’t be very happy and would have made another social media post too.’ .