Supper Clubs and Pop Ups

The first venture started 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 boys to kick start their business and get the ball rolling with a more permanent food offering.

Dorian returned to his his town of Hereford after opening and running restaurants in London and quickly realised that the local area was distinctly lacking in decent food choices teamed up with his brother. Edwin, having worked in hospitality most of his life brought to the table his business skills and along with their friend Jons design, branding and social media skills allowed them to create A Rule of Tum. 

In 2014 the 3 guys took up residence in the local micro-pub The Beer in Hand, from here they started to do Burger Thursdays, offering a London style burger with a Hereford twist to the locals, it was an instant success, with a packed venue week after week.

Soon came time to step things up and with that the first AROT employees, this allowed the one night a week operation to expand into doing a stunning Sunday lunch, tapas nights, fish Fridays and pie nights.

All of this was all done alongside various other festival pop ups in Hereford, such as a high town burger pop up, Rock the Farm festival and Shackfest as well as event and wedding catering. All this from a tiny kitchen in the middle of Hereford.

Dorian Kirk, Edwin Kirk, & Jon Stead. Founders of A Rule of Tum

Burger Shop Hereford

It was clear that Hereford wanted great places to eat and with money raised from the first stage of the business the guys were able to secure, convert and open the first Burger Shop on Aubrey street in Hereford.

Burger shop opened its doors in November 2014 to queues out the door and a very satisfied customer base, fans were able to get a stunning burger from the 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 and 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 focus always was and still is with using local suppliers and supporting the community, the beef is from down the road, the buns from a local baker.

The 5 day a week operation was expanded to 7 days a week with regular specials such as kimchi burgers, chimichurri burgers and cauliflower cheese croquettes gracing the tables of Burger Shop Hereford.

The Bookshop

Soon after the Burger Shop’s expansion an old bookshop next door became available, the boys quickly snapped this up and opened a second prep kitchen to help the increasingly busy Burger Shop restaurant.

The bookshop was refurbished and given the AROT treatment, exposing the bricks, using concrete to make a stylish bar and building a massive bookcase to pay homage to the bookshop it once was. The name was kept as The Bookshop and it all began with Sunday lunch and Steak Thursdays, this time farmer toms beef was butchered into the most stunning steaks and Sunday lunch alongside some incredible side dishes and desserts.

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 Hereforidians was clear; steak was king. From here it was steak nights from Thursdays to Saturdays, farmer Tom’s grass fed beef was flying out of the kitchen quickly gaining the bookshop a reputation in excellent food.

Hereford Indie Food

Out of a love for food and for celebrating local makers, artisans and restaurants the first indie food festival was born in 2016, using the space behind the Burger Shop and The Bookshop the 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.

Sadly the festival is yet to return, with restaurant refurbishment and Coronavirus putting a halt on our plans, but it’s going to be back and bigger than ever as soon as possible!

Burger Shop Worcester

In 2017 came the time to expand once more, this time into a different city and after leasing 3 railway arches, an ambitious refurbishment project and training up a new team; Burger Shop Worcester was born.

It was all hands on deck for the building work.

This new restaurant used the arch space to create a vibrant burger joint in the heart of Worcester and soon grew the following to a whole new audience of burger fans.

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. 

As things ticked along Dorian and Edwin grew plans for the future, the most pressing issue being the rent increases on the current Hereford Burger Shop and The Bookshop restaurants. With a jump in rates it may have meant relocation, but instead a new project to purchase the current buildings and have a secure further were born.

With a need for capital the boys turned to the people, running a very successful crowdfunding camping and reaching over £400000 in a matter of weeks.

Sadly this campaign never came to be, with laws rapidly changing the offering for bond only offerings was not able to continue, but not ones to be stalled the boys turned to the platform Crowdcube and managed to raise over half a million pounds for equity in the business.

Building a Better Bookshop

After purchasing the properties of our two original Hereford sites (The Bookshop and Burger Shop) on Aubrey Street and a neighbouring empty unit, we were able to use the crowdfunding money to expand and refurbish The Bookshop restaurant. By knocking through from the original Bookshop 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 we could cater for. We have grew from a 4 day-a-week, to a 7 day-a-week operation introducing brunch, coffee, bar, and cocktail options to our already successful steak-led evening menu and our award-winning Sunday lunch.

We are used local makers and craftspeople where we can: plates from local potter Steve Meek, leather aprons handmade by Toria at Field and Found, coffee roasted by Mark and Tre at Method Roastery in Worcester, lighting designed by Simon from Fritz Fryer, and local art from printmaker Sunny Todd, to name a few.  We continued to follow our ethos of ‘local first’, meaning we can help grow a community through food.

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

The Yard and AROT: Dark Kitchen

2020 saw new challenges for us, and the whole world as Covid-19 hit.

We spent a large part of the of the year with the restaurants closed and only offering takeaway, but our loyal customers as well as government support kept us going and we we set about to make sure we could not only survive, but thrive after lockdown.

The Yard was converted from our car park, 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.

The space was a hit and having a large capacity and new offerings helped take us through the summer of 2020 and into the winter.

Maneki Ramen

(Formerly Lucky Cat Noodle)

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 our following grew quickly over a series of lockdowns and Covid restrictions.

We originally called this new concept 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.

The next step for Maneki Ramen is a brand new restaurant in Arch 44 in Worcester, which will hopefully be open in July 2021.

Barabeka

In the summer of 2020 we built a shipping container kitchen in our car park and opened up as a way of combating the restrictions brought about by Covid.

We called this concept AROT: Dark Kitchen, serving great curries and Indian street food.

This idea has now developed and evolved to become Barabeka (launched in early 2021), barbecued Indian-inspired street food.

The name Barabeka means barbecue and our charcoal-fired barbeque forms the heart of our kitchen.

The Future

Things always seem to be busy at A Rule of Tum, and Covid has taught us that we have to react quickly to meet the challenges of the current time.

Our next big project is Hereford Indie Food 2021, a street food and music festival with makers and produce which will take place behind the Burger Shop and The Bookshop in Hereford.

Find out more about Hereford Indie Food here <