Top tips from Tottenham Hotspur’s Head Chef – Bar & Kitchen
Regional Executive Head Chef Mark Reynolds

Top tips from Tottenham Hotspur's Head Chef

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is among the best, most innovative and sustainable in the world. It’s also proud to be part of the community, thanks to its premium food and drink offering

Imagine looking after 10,500 covers, pulling 50,000 pints and baking 8,000 speciality pies in an adrenaline-fuelled six hours. It’s all in a matchday’s work for Regional Executive Head Chef Mark Reynolds and the team of 265 chefs and 1,600 bar staff behind the military-style catering operation at Spurs’ new £1 billion home. The emphasis is always on quality across the nine floors of 60 corporate dining and concourse street food outlets. Prep and planning to stay ahead of the game are key – both off and on the pitch. Mark insists: “Teamwork, trust and collaboration are critical because we’re so big. Despite our size, the principles we work to can apply equally to any venue.”

Mark Reynolds
The community cafe area which is also used as the media cafe on match days

Community first

The 62,850-seater stadium is multifunctional to give the community maximum use across each week. The media centre where journalists file match reports becomes the cool M Café for the public and a popular end stop for tour parties
from around the world when it’s not a game day. Mark says: “Local churches and children’s clubs use it and it’s a revenue stream when there’s no football. It cements our place as being at the heart of the community, just like a good pub often is.  “We do things for the right reasons. That’s a big part of the decision-making process whenever we want to try something new, regardless of whether it’s a big revenue generator or not.”

Adapt to your audience

The stadium boasts the Goal Line Bar – the longest in Europe at 65 metres – along with a host of stalls selling everything from handmade pizzas to fried chicken, bagels to katsu and vegan to fish and chips. There’s even a Beavertown brewery on the concourse. With new housing set to be built opposite, this is another ‘walk-in local’ for the people of north London to try. Duncan Crisp, Head of Supply and Logistics, says: “Some supporters like to go to the same place every game while others prefer to mix it up and try somewhere new, so we try to cater for all.” Mark adds: “We do a lot of market research in the pubs and restaurants near the stadium and try to be competitive on price so fans can head straight here before a game.”

The on-site Beavertown brewery
““We have special offers to bring people into the stadium early. That idea could easily be rolled out at any venue in the hours before a big screen sports event.””
- Mark Reynolds, Regional Executive Head Chef
The stadium boasts the Goal Line Bar – the longest in Europe at 65 metres

Have a gameplan

Every eventuality is considered in the senior chefs’ weekly planning meetings. Prep begins four days before game day at the stadium’s Central Production Unit, the heartbeat of the operation which despatches the readied dishes out to the corporate or concourse areas. “It’s all in the planning. We look at external factors such as the weather, type of game and link those to previous sales. If it’s cold, we prepare more pies and sausage rolls. If it’s a big Category A game, the crowds arrive earlier,” says Duncan. “If kick off is a Sunday 4pm, people might want a roast with us. Before a 12.30pm game, they’re more likely to want brunch, so behavioural analysis influences our varied menus and dishes too.” In the concourse, that might mean serving an artisan sausage roll or pulled pork while the fine dining brunch might be a fillet steak sandwich or crab crumpet. The stadium also hosts music events and NFL football, so flexibility is key. The longest bar becomes a cocktail and rum bar for a gig and food choices change for families with children. 

Staff preparing food ahead of match day
Duncan Crisp, Head of Supply and Logistics

Sustainability is a winner

Nine out of ten of the club’s suppliers are less than an hour’s drive away, making Spurs the Premier League’s greenest club for a fourth year running. All ingredients are locally and sustainably sourced, with plant-based options as part of a commitment to become net zero by 2040. Crushable cartons made from renewable materials, a ‘zero to landfill’ waste management programme and even an allotment at the players’ training ground are a few initiatives that could be rolled out on a smaller scale by venues. “We waste nothing,” says Duncan. “Even the by-product grain from the brewery goes to a farm in Essex to feed the pigs we use in our sausage rolls. The burgers also contain 50% fermented vegetables to keep them lovely and moist.”

““Customers at all levels want to know the provenance of ingredients and feel good about supporting local businesses, so it’s important to develop and celebrate those partnerships.””
- Duncan Crisp, Head of Supply and Logistics

Team works

It’s not just former Spurs legend Harry Kane who can earn a Golden Boot. The catering teams are nurtured, rewarded and recognised for being exceptional in a diverse and inclusive culture. Mark says: “We don’t just get feedback from customers. We give it and ask for it from our teams because we can’t take anything for granted. The day we stand still is the day we start to get left behind.” Rhys Grayson, Senior Head Chef of Premium, adds: “Everything we make has to be quality and made with passion using seasonal produce, different cuts of meat and varying techniques. Our customers deserve better than heated-up pies and, in any case, where’s the satisfaction for us in doing that?”

A member of the catering team preparing food ahead of match day
The high-tech F1-inspired go-karting tracks with ‘pick-up and shift’ bars for corporate events, birthdays or just some high-speed fun

Offer something extra

Deep beneath the stadium’s retractable pitch and towering White Wall stand sits a cavernous storage area where the hybrid grass playing surface is lit, watered and cut. The empty space is the perfect temporary venue for three high-tech F1-inspired go-karting tracks with ‘pick-up and shift’ bars for corporate events, birthdays or just some high-speed fun. Duncan says: “We want people to come here even when there’s no event or game and perhaps have a drink or meal when they do. Lots of pubs and restaurants will have space they could transform into value-added activity areas with a little imagination and outlay. “Let’s be honest, there’s a child in all of us, so anything that’s fun will attract customers. Installing a karting track might be a stretch, but old-school computer games or a pub Olympics will do the job. Sometimes it’s a case of venues thinking differently about what their clientele actually want and making a meal more of an occasion, whether that’s for a couple or the whole family.”

Don’t waste space

The H Club is an area high above the pitch with five different members-only areas featuring fine dining venues such as The Brasserie, The Vault, Players’ Table and the Chef’s Table. Guest chefs have included Korean food icon Judy Joo and the Michelin-starred Galvin brothers in a model Mark insists could be easily replicated in smaller venues. “The H Club has different rooms, each with a slightly different atmosphere. There’s the intimate Vault or the Players’ Table where diners are joined by former stars of the club,” explains Mark. “On match days, we have 23 chefs doing 500 covers across the five small areas. Having a guest chef – perhaps someone well known in your area – can work really well for you and them. Look at your space and see how you can break it up into slightly different areas for different demographics.”

“10,500 covers in the premium dining areas every matchday”
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