The darling buds of may.
After seven months of near constant rain we’ve finally had a decent run of dry and sunny days. Which of course I’ve now jinxed by saying that. At this time of year the Cotswolds are really at their best - occasionally we get a chance to get out for an evening walk and the fields are full of buttercups, the hedgerows are thick with bluebells and the woods are heady with the smell of wild garlic.
We are very lucky to have a beautiful courtyard garden with seating for around 60 people. Lots of people prefer to sit pavement side and watch the world go by - after the long winter in which everyone is scurrying about their business and sheltering from the rain and the wind - everyone has suddenly gone a bit ooh-la-la and if you sit street-side long enough tout le monde will eventually pass by and stop and say hello. Our courtyard however is a secret garden of peace and quiet, surrounded by Cotswold stone walls that keep the noise out and the warmth in.
It’s the month of bank holidays, the start of the tourist season and exam season altogether. Just as we start to gear up after the slow winter months most of our team are off on study leave so it’s a stretch for those left holding the fort! With a 150 seat restaurant there’s a lot of people to look after and a lot of ground to cover - we regularly clock up 20,000 steps a day running backwards and forwards.
We’ve had a few menu tweaks - something we do fairly regularly - we have some great produce becoming available, I’ve just ordered some beautiful heritage tomatoes from Evesham and these transform salads etc. We’ve been working hard to introduce lots of new natural wines and we’re quietly confident we have one of the best offerings of organic, natural and orange wines in the south-west.
As none of us are feeling overburdened with money at the moment we’ve introduced a couple of “set menu” options covering breakfast and lunch on weekdays, along with introducing a couple of lighter, affordable breakfast options. Price increases are probably starting to slow - the last year has been madness - but everything is still going up. It’s hard to manage our menu while offering decent quality, looking after our team and trying to offer an affordable treat for our customers. Our main focus is on making sure that whatever we produce is the best that it can be and we just have to hope that our customers appreciate the quality.
We get lots of ‘sleb clients which you can’t deny is a bit exciting but we try not to make too much fuss about them - it must be so tedious to be trying to enjoy your lunch with family or friends only to have everyone bothering you for a picture…. However, we are quietly delighted that the OG of all celebrity chefs has become something of a regular….
Thanks for reading.