For Executive Chef, Joe Walker, a great gastropub should still be somewhere you can walk into simply for a pint. It might sound straightforward, but it is an idea that sits at the heart of Joe’s approach as he takes on his new role as Executive Chef of Herts Pubs Company.
Leading the kitchen at The Cock in Hitchin while helping shape the food direction of the growing group, Joe arrives with 14 years of experience spanning fine dining, hotels, gastropubs and one of Europe’s fastest-growing food businesses.
“Great food is only one part of it. The best gastropubs still feel like pubs. You should be just as comfortable walking in for a pint at the bar as you are booking a table for dinner. Great hospitality, atmosphere, drinks, food and consistency all have to work together.”
It is an ethos well suited to Herts Pubs Company, which is preparing to build on the success of its first venue, The Cock on Hitchin High Street, with further expansion planned.
For Joe, the appointment is also particularly personal. As Hitchin local, he had been following The Cock since its refurbishment and opening, recognising its potential long before joining the team.
“I’d watched The Cock from the outside since it began its refurb and always thought it had huge potential. It had a great location, a proper pub atmosphere and already felt like somewhere that could become an important part of Hitchin’s culinary offering.”
“Being local definitely made the opportunity more personal for me. You know the area, you understand the people you’re cooking for and you inevitably hear what people are saying about the pub.”
Joe’s career has given him a broad perspective on what makes hospitality work. Previous leadership roles have included Hermitage Road in Hitchin, The Dial House in Reepham and leading the brigade at the fine-dining, two AA Rosette Wernher Restaurant at Luton Hoo Hotel.
Then, in 2020, his career took a different direction when he joined Simmer Eats at its inception. Starting from a small kitchen in Hitchin, Joe became Head of Food Operations and helped oversee its development into what would become Europe’s fastest growing food business by 2025.
Each experience, he says, has influenced the chef and operator he is today.
“Every part of my career has provided me with something different. Fine dining taught me precision, discipline and attention to detail; hotels taught me structure, consistency and how to operate at scale; whilst gastropubs taught me that ultimately food has to be delicious and generous.”
“As Herts Pubs Company has grown, I’ve also had to look beyond individual dishes and think much more about people, systems, and ongoing development to create kitchens that can consistently perform. I think all of that has made me a much more all-rounded chef and business operator. I still obsess over the details, but never at the expense of the overall hospitality.”
At The Cock, that experience translates into food Joe describes as modern British, produce-led and highly seasonal. British ingredients sit at the centre of the menu, with dishes evolving according to what is at its best.
Rather than filling plates with unnecessary flourishes, his preference is for a handful of elements, each with a clear purpose. Technique is important, but it should sit quietly behind the food rather than becoming the reason for the dish.
“I like dishes that are technically sound but don’t necessarily shout about the techniques involved. I’d rather have three or four things on a plate that all have a reason for being there, rather than add something simply because we can.”
“British produce is at the centre of what we do, and the menus evolve constantly around what is at its best. There’s refinement, but it still needs to feel generous and appropriate for a pub. Flavour always comes first.”
That philosophy can be seen in the Dry-aged Herefordshire Beef Tartare with shallot, cured egg yolk and beef fat brioche, a dish Joe believes best represents where he wants to take the food at The Cock.
“It’s built around great British produce, is technically precise, but still feels generous and familiar rather than overly complicated.”
“The beef is really the focus, then the cured yolk, shallot and the beef fat brioche adds richness, acidity and texture around it. That’s where I want the dishes at The Cock to sit – refined and considered, but still rooted in flavour and seasonality.”
Rather than building the menu around an expected checklist of traditional pub classics, Joe and the team look towards nostalgic British reference points – familiar flavours, combinations and dishes that diners already have an emotional connection with – before reinterpreting them in their own way.
“We don’t really build the menu around traditional pub classics at The Cock. Instead, I like to use nostalgic British reference points. Flavours, combinations or dishes people already have an emotional connection with, and reinterpret them in a more refined way. That approach gives the kitchen team plenty of room to be creative, whilst still keeping the food approachable. The aim is that a dish feels familiar enough to make you want to order it straight away, but there’s enough detail, technique and personality behind it to make it feel distinctly ours.”
His new position, however, stretches far beyond creating dishes at The Cock. As Herts Pubs Company looks towards future expansion, Joe will be responsible for helping develop and execute the food offering across the group while overseeing the training and development of kitchen and front-of-house teams.
The challenge is maintaining quality as the company grows without creating a collection of identical pubs.
“For me, you standardise the standards, not necessarily the menus. There should be non-negotiables across every kitchen, the quality of produce we buy, how we treat it, how we train our team, cleanliness, organisation, consistency and the expectation that we’re cooking properly from scratch.”
“However, each pub still needs its own identity and I believe the customer, building, location and team should influence what appears on each menu. My job isn’t to create one menu and duplicate it across Hertfordshire, but it’s to build strong kitchen teams with the same values and give them the framework and confidence to make each site brilliant in its own right.”
That ambition comes during an incredibly challenging period for British pubs and restaurants. Joe points to pressures ranging from food and drink prices to employment costs, energy, business rates and taxation, while customers remain increasingly conscious of their own spending.
The challenge is ensuring those pressures do not become visible in the guest experience.
“The difficult bit is that you don’t want those pressures to dilute the experience. You still have to invest in good people, buy great ingredients, train your teams and offer genuine value. That’s the challenge, protecting all of those things whilst running a sustainable business.”
Value, he believes, has consequently become fundamental to the modern gastropub – but value should not automatically be confused with being cheap.
“Guests understand that quality produce costs money, but when they spend their money with you, the experience has to feel worthwhile. People have more choices than ever, so you have to give them a reason to come back.”
Joe is also supportive of the VAT is the Problem campaign, which has been calling for a reduction in hospitality VAT. For operators facing rising costs across almost every area of the business, he believes a lower rate could create more opportunity to reinvest.
“It would be hugely significant. For operators like us, it would give us more opportunities to invest in our teams, our kitchens and our suppliers, which will all improve the overall guest experience. It can also help businesses absorb some of the increasing costs rather than having to pass everything onto the customer.”
“A VAT reduction wouldn’t suddenly remove every challenge hospitality faces, but it would give good operators more room to invest, grow and remain sustainable. That’s ultimately what the industry needs.”
For Joe, the next chapter is about balancing that commercial reality with the reason people fall in love with pubs in the first place: good food, genuine hospitality and somewhere people simply want to spend their time.
With The Cock establishing the foundations and further growth ahead for Herts Pubs Company, his task is not to create the same pub again and again, but to build the people, standards and food culture capable of making each one stand on its own.
Quick Fire Questions
Where would you say you have had the best Sunday Lunch?
John O Gaunt, Sutton. Every visit is flawless, a proper village pub at the centre of the food community who does Sunday Roasts to a really high standard. It’s great food served in a fantastic setting.
What’s your favorite British ingredient to cook with?
British crab, without a doubt. When it’s at its best, it needs very little doing to it. It’s sweet, delicate and incredibly versatile.
Who is the chef you’d most like to cook for?
Phil Howard
What’s one pub dish you’d never take off the menu?
Our signature ‘Baron Bigod Crumpets, The Cock lager & onions’. A real nod to British produce, served as a snack, but full of indulgence and technical execution.
What’s your go-to drink after service?
A Negroni. Brings the tempo of the evening down to normality.
