Cluck ‘n Cow – the secret’s in the sauce

Ross Howard – the man behind Cluck ‘n Cow,  had been sitting at his desk in a finance job in London wondering what he was doing with his life.  His brother, Barney, of Barney And The Pizza, rang him to say that there were spaces opening up at The Goods Yard at Folkestone Harbour. Ross had worked in hospitality since 14 years old, pot washing and so on.  When at home, he was always the volunteer who cooked the meat, so the birth of Cluck ‘n Cow wasn’t really a surprise. Folkelife joined him for an introduction to the business.

Ross: “I was incredibly bored in my job and wondering how to spice things up.  When Barney called me to let me know about spaces at Folkestone Harbour we started to talk about ideas.  I put in a business plan to the Harbour team and Cluck ‘n Cow was  born.  We’re in The Goods Yard and we offer steak with three sauces, chicken wings which are everyone’s favourite and we also have a smashed burger.  I’ve always been happy to do the meat and have someone else do the veg.  We do have sides and little salads to go with our dishes, but my interest is the meat.”

secret is in the sauce

“Our steaks come with a choice of sauces which are all handmade by me.  There’s Cowboy Butter – a garlic and herby butter, Chimichurri or traditional peppercorn.  The wings have sauce and then there are some simple options with the burgers such as cheese and bacon.  It’s important that we can offer really good food that doesn’t take too long to cook, and isn’t too complicated. “

try our specials

“It’s useful to put on specials every so often as you can test out new ideas.  We did have a roast, potatoes and gravy sandwich over Christmas which went down well.  Our steak started off as a special and has become the best selling thing on our menu.  It’s good to have that breadth too so that all the family is happy.  The Harbour is such a place for everyone to enjoy, that I think it’s important our menu has enough for the kids – such as the chicken and burgers – and then steak for the grandparents. 

“The burgers go from the deliciously simple to our Triple Truffle Burger which has homemade truffle mayo and three patties and cheese.  It means we have a range of flavours on offer to suit a lot of people.”

local produce

“It’s important to be able to produce our food quickly so that you don’t have to wait.  When it’s sunny it’s just mad down here.  You can be so busy that the day flies by.  But I want people to enjoy the quality of what we produce too, so all our meat is sourced locally from family-run butchers.  We can get the numbers we need – 400 burgers a week – yet know that we’re supporting a local business.

“We started last summer in The Goods Yard and carried through over Christmas.  I’m looking forward to doing a full year this year and having a successful summer.  The business has grown since we started and maybe we can get to a point where we can become mobile too and take Cluck ‘n Cow on the road, but our first home will always be Folkestone Harbour.”