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OUR STORY

 
 
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What is A Rule of Tum?

A Rule of Tum is a group of restaurants, owned and operated by Rupert, Edwin, and Dorian - with the aim of making and serving delicious food in wonderful spaces.

Founded from the desire to make and serve delicious food every day, A Rule of Tum (AROT) began in 2013 as the passion project of a few Herefordians. 

Focused on crafting honest dishes, inspired by local and seasonal ingredients, you'll find our family of passionate people, working thoughtfully to create food experiences in Herefordshire and beyond.

Rupert -

Edwin

Dorian

 

 

 

BACK IN 2013...


A Rule of Tum was started by Dorian & Edwin Kirk (brothers) and their friend Jon Stead, Jon later moved on to concentrate on his own projects with Rupert stepping in to form the current team of Directors.

The first venture started in 2013 with a series of suppers and Sunday Lunches at Dunkerton’s Farm in Pembridge, Herefordshire, these were all sell out events, and the money raised form these allowed the guys to kick start their business and get the ball rolling with a more permanent food offering.

Dorian cut his teeth opening and running restaurants in London and quickly realised that his home town of Hereford was distinctly lacking in decent food choices. As such he decided to move back and launch the AROT project with his brother.

Edwin, having worked in hospitality most of his life brought to the table his business and restaurant management skills.

Jon having worked closely with Edwin, brought design, branding, and social media skills to the group.

These separate and unique skill sets allowed them to create A Rule of Tum.
 
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2014


In 2014 the Dorian, Edwin, and Jon took up residence in a local micro-pub The Beer in Hand, from here they started Burger Thursdays, offering a London style burger with a Hereford twist. It was an instant success, with a packed venue week after week.

Soon came time to step things up and hire the first AROT employees. Colin, who was the first employee and is now our Marketing Manager joined the team along with a number of full and casual worker. This allowed the one night a week operation to expand, doing a stunning Sunday Lunch, Tapas Night, Fish Friday’s, and Pie Night.

All of this was all done alongside various other festival pop ups and weddings in and around Hereford, such as a high town burger pop up, Rock the Farm Festival, and Shackfest. All this from a tiny kitchen, with no extraction, in the middle of Hereford.

 
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2014 - BURGER SHOP


It was clear that Hereford was desperate for great places to eat and with funds raised from the first stage of the business A Rule of Tum was able to secure, convert and open the first Burger Shop on Aubrey street in Hereford.

Burger Shop Hereford opened its doors in November 2014 to queues out the door and a very satisfied customer base, fans were now able to get a stunning burger from Burger Shop 5 days a week.

As the restaurant grew so did the team, bringing on more people to cope with an increase in demand for the food. This heated up even more when acclaimed restaurant critic Jay Rayner came to town and wrote a stellar review for the Guardian, praising the burger shop for “a remarkable effort on doing the seemingly simple, a gold star and a tick”

The 5 day a week operation was expanded to 7 days a week with regular specials such as the Kimchi Burger, Chimichurri Burger, and Cauliflower Cheese Croquettes gracing the tables of Burger Shop Hereford.

 
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2016 - THE BOOKSHOP


With Burger Shop doing increasingly well in 2016 an old bookshop next door became available, this was quickly snapped up and a second prep kitchen opened to help the increasingly busy Burger Shop restaurant.

This bookshop was refurbished and given the AROT treatment, exposing the bricks, using concrete to make a stylish bar and building a floor to ceiling bookcase to pay homage to the bookshop it once was.

The name was kept as The Bookshop and opened with Sunday Lunch & Steak Thursdays.

The Bookshop really allowed A Rule of Tum to expand and offer a different style of food, in 2017 they won the coveted Observer Food: Best Sunday lunch of the year award, the first time it was won by a restaurant outside of London.

Expansion continued with tapas on Fridays & Saturdays, but the message from Herefordians was clear; steak was king. From here it was steak nights from Thursdays to Saturdays, with local Farmer Tom’s grass fed beef flying out of the kitchen quickly gaining The Bookshop a reputation in excellent food.

 
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2016 - HEREFORD INDIE FOOD


Out of a love for food, makers, artisans, and restaurants the first Hereford Indie Food Festival was born in August 2016, using the space behind the Burger Shop and The Bookshop a humble, overgrown car park was turned into an incredible festival of music, food, and culture.

People loved the festival and the following year things were stepped up even more attracting 4000 visitors to Hereford to sample the offerings. Along side the festival a zine was launched to showcase what Hereford has to offer, with articles on suppliers, makers and restaurants.

Hereford Indie Food has since taken a few years out, but is set to return for 2022.

 
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2017 - BURGER SHOP WORCESTER


In 2017 A Rule of Tum expanded beyond its Herefordshire borders and into the city of Worcester.

Taking the well loved and established Burger Shop brand the group leased 3 railway arches just around the corner form the busy Foregate Street Station.

The arches were disused and in need of a mountain of work, an ambitious refurbishment project started and in April 2017 Burger Shop Worcester was born.

The new restaurant was a vibrant space in the heart of Worcester and it soon grew to have it’s own loyal fans of the brand as well as holding a preppier kitchen in the middle of the 3 arches. Now AROT had somewhere to operate its pop up and events over the coming years.

 
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2018 - CROWDFUNDING


With three successful restaurants things were growing fast for A Rule of Tum, in 2018 Jon parted ways and set himself up running his own business, leaving behind the strong banding and design that set A Rule of Tum apart.

Rupert joined the directors and as things ticked along Dorian and Edwin grew plans for the future, the most pressing issue being the rent increases on Burger Shop Hereford and The Bookshop restaurants. A jump in rates may have meant relocation, but instead a new project to purchase the buildings and secure their future was born.

With a need for capital A Rule of Tum turned to the people, running a very successful crowdfunding camping and raising over £500,000 in a matter of weeks.

 
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2019 - GROWING THE BOOKSHOP


After purchasing the properties of the two original Hereford sites (The Bookshop and Burger Shop) on Aubrey Street and a neighbouring empty unit, A Rule of Tum were able to use the crowdfunding money to expand and refurbish The Bookshop restaurant. By knocking through from the original restaurant to the empty building next door, a much larger space was created.

This allowed for an expansion of the kitchen and therefore increasing what they could cater for. The Bookshop grew from a 4 day-a-week, to a 7 day-a-week operation introducing brunch, coffee, bar, and cocktail options to the already successful steak-led evening menu and award-winning Sunday Lunch.

The (new) Bookshop opened its doors once more in September 2019, championing Hereford as a county of great food suppliers, restaurants, and makers.

 
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2019 - EXPANDING BURGER SHOP HEREFORD


Hot on the heels of The Bookshop expansion work started on Burger Shop Hereford.

With a need to get more customers in a whole wall was taken out and building started to double the size of the restaurant space and the kitchen out into the car park behind the restaurant.

Working through driving rain Rupert, Dorian, and Edwin shovelled concrete for the floor before it dried, a testament to their nature of being incredibly hands on and getting a lot of the work done themselves.

In November 2019 the reimagined Burger Shop Hereford restaurant opened, the new bigger space being a much better setting for the fast-paced burger joint.

 
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2020 - COVID HITS


2020 saw new challenges the whole world as Covid-19 became a global pandemic.

A large part of the of the year was spent with the restaurants closed and only offering takeaway, but our loyal customers as well as government support kept AROT going and work was started to make sure AROT could not only survive, but thrive after lockdown.

The Yard was converted from the car park behind the Hereford restaurants bringing in tables, chairs and fantastic tents to transform the space into an urban oasis.

AROT: Dark Kitchen was built from shipping containers and launched with an Indian street food inspired menu, later turning into the Barabeka brand.

The Yard opened in July 2020 was an instant hit. Having a large outdoor capacity and new offerings helped take AROT through the summer of 2020 and into the winter.

 
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2020 - MANEKI RAMEN


Maneki Ramen opened in November 2020 as a pop-up operating out of Arch 45 in Worcester, next door to Burger Shop Worcester.

Serving noodle bowls and sides from the mind of head chef Pete Dovaston the following grew quickly over a series of lockdowns and Covid restrictions.

Maneki Ramen was originally called Lucky Cat Noodle but after a legal challenge on the name from none other than Gordon Ramsay himself, we were forced to change it in 2021.

A brand new restaurant in Arch 44 opened in July 2021 and the Maneki brand has gone from strength to strength ever since.

 
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2021 - MORE LOCKDOWNS


2021 stared with more lockdowns for the UK, after a good Christmas it was a shame to have to close the restaurants once again, but the team changed gear and reverted back to a takeaway model for the restaurants.

The Bookshop operated a home delivery of Sunday Lunch kits, Valentine’s meal kits, and Mother’s Day boxes.

Both Burger Shops ran on a skeleton crew, focusing on giving hours to the staff who did not qualify for the Furlough Scheme.

Maneki Ramen offered heat at home kits as well as a few pop-ups for these kits in Hereford.

Barabeka served curries from the shipping container kitchen in The Yard.

Proudly not a single member of staff had to be let go throughout the pandemic.

 
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2021 - LEAVEN PIZZA


In the summer of 2021 the harshest of the covid restrictions ended and things felt like they were getting back to normal.

An opportunity came about to transform Barabeka into a pizza concept, something which was felt might suit the fast paced nature of The Yard better.

Leaven Pizza was originally started by Jon Stead (one of the founders of A Rule of Tum) and Lara Castro-Griffiths. They started Leaven to share the food that they love with their community, to make pizza and do good. AROT bought the Leaven brand from Jon + Lara and turned the shipping container into a pizza concept ran by Mike Fullard.

Leaven Pizza opened in The Yard in November 2021

 
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2022 - THE FUTURE


 
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