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Bob's Blog: August 2008
27 August 2008
Summer! Where and when did you see it? Almost in an instant
it has come and gone, I do hope those of you who did manage to get away or bask
in the sun when it did appear, had time to relax. A summer of credit crunch, gold medals and holidays,
yet all the while our boys and girls in Afghanistan and Iraq
held tight and continued to remain focused on the job at hand, staying alive,
protecting, and helping.
I had occasion to talk with a man this week who served
our nation as a field medical nurse for 22 years. It will not be too difficult to
work out that he would have served in Northern Ireland and other areas of
conflict, where our great armed forces have been required. He has seen the best and worst, first hand, of what we
can do to each other; not unlike the Rev Joe who mends souls and helps those
less fortunate who have become undone in one way or
another. Both men give comfort and sucker to those in time of
need, so my hat today goes to these two men and their 'brothers and sisters'
who still today carry out this invaluable work on our
behalf.
What has this got to do with the café you may well ask,
the answer is two things. Firstly, I perhaps would never had a conversation with
Rev Joe ever, if I had not wanted to help those I could with the Beef Kitchen
and the café plan. The second reason is that the ex-field nurse would never have
spoken to me if the café had not come into
existence. So for me the two men who have given and give of themselves for different reasons have become in my mind heroes and who gets to meet
their heroes in real life? The café has brought all sorts of people into
contact with each other, who perhaps would have never made
friends.
The café is about community and Rev Joe wanted that
community spirit to come through, as it has and will continue to. I wanted men who
live in their own enclosed tormented world of fear and nightmares to see that
you, the good honest Christian folk who support and patronise the café, want them
to feel part of 'our community' and as I do, see them get better or at least on
the road to some form of recovery.
My new friend, as I will refer to him, has taken a major
step in talking to me and gently finding his way down to the café; he has walked
by it now and soon will make the big step and come and sit and have a cup of
tea. You may think that this is somewhat feable but given what he has seen and
had to live with you would understand that while some look mended on the
outside, the inside is quite a different matter.
In the trailer we have a term we use, it is the 'Beef
Kitchen Medicine' for we had no other way to explain the change in the men who
have worked with us in the trailer on match days. It now seems to me that with
your help and desire to see this café become a success, Pryors Bank Café also
now has its own medicine.
For those of you who put business before pleasure and
ask do I live in the real world and wonder if the café is a viable success the
answer is yes to both. Whilst I may tend to linger on the more human side of the
café life in this particular blog, I never lose sight of the fact we have make
the café commercial success as well. The new school terms start soon and the weather will
change. I know that Robert and our chefs have some surprises in store for you, in
shall we say the less summer months to come: homemade soups, and a totally new
dish never seen before in the UK (in fact invented by
me).
We sadly say goodbye to one of our wonderful team of
staff this week: Marisa is going home as her mum wants her back! She will be
greatly missed by her work mates and by the management team. We are very
grateful to her for helping us out from the very beginning back in June.
The football season has stated with a bang here at
Chelsea; we broke
all records with sales on the first game and this bodes well for the rest of the
season with all profits going to the Foundation we look forward to the
trailer becoming a major contributor to the overall success of this café, and
trailer combined project.
Pryors Bank café is now listed on a South American website as a hot place to visit, whoever did that, must have come on the one day
we called summer!
OK, see you down the café,
Bob
__________________________________________
19 August 2008
Robert has now started to make his mark on our Café with the
baking of fresh cookies and muffins on site and more to come, a new menu full
of fresh ideas. There have also been some subtle changes to the layout of the
café and more outside tables for those who enjoy the terrace and lawn.
Gabriella Campanha, our new chef, has also started and by a complete
coincidence, Robert and Gabriella have worked together in the past; a
combination I believe that will make the café stand out amongst our competitors
and produce the modern / contemporary refreshment location within Bishops Park
area we all strive for.
Once again the football season has started so my time at the café will now
lessen as I have to keep focused on games and planning at Chelsea FC as well; I
will relive Robert from time to time and continue to have and enjoy breakfast
on the terrace. It is hard to remember the past two months in detail as so much
has happened and having put in the time and effort to 'hold at all costs until
relieved' as it were, has fair worn me out so I am going to take a break and
recharge.
The café's popularity is steadily growing and we are seeing many new and
welcome customers using Pryors Bank. As this venue has been shut off to the
public for such a long time we have to focus on getting the word about that it
is open and well worth a visit, so next month Robert will start our café
promotion; do check out the website as the details will be on here as well. As
the summer draws to a close our planning heads turn to the autumn, and winter
menus, events and café routine.
Many people have asked if we shall be open in the winter months and the
answer is YES! There will be the odd day or two when we close for
maintenance, kitchen deep cleaning, and private functions but otherwise we will
remain open throughout. Over the next few weeks on the café website we publish
the café diary that will enable you to see what events etc are planned and
booked so you do not arrive and leave disappointed.
Personally, I cannot think of anything nicer than a walk in the park on a dry
winter's day finished off with a warming drink in welcoming pleasant
surroundings served by lovely staff. Now I think the café lends itself to small
friendly functions in the run up to Christmas, if you are considering hosting
an event then please do contact Robert or Heleny and they will be happy to
discuss and help you with any ideas or suggestions. From conversations I have
had with some of our customers I have a feeling we will have a busy function
time ahead of us, so to avoid disappointment you know what they say 'Book
early for Christmas'.
For the past three years on Christmas Day, Tim and I have cooked for our
residents at the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation. We are always on the look out for
any volunteers to help on that special day so if you are interested then do let
me know.
Last week the café started to look like a Chessboard as we had three Bishops
and a Knight eating lunch! I shall keep looking for the missing pieces and if
PC enough I will let you know if I have found them. 'All in the best
possible taste', of course!
Hope to see you down at Pryors Bank soon.
Bob
______________________________________
4 August 2008
I sat on the terrace yesterday and had my first meal at the café, close to
seven weeks after we opened and it was the first time I got to sit down and
take in all that has happened.
So let me start in reverse order. Today our newly appointed manger reported for
work full of enthusiasm and energy. His name is Robert Murray and he is an
experienced manager with a tremendous reputation; we all feel that his presence
will add the final touch to our great team working at the café.
There is one more new appointment that I can tell you about now and that is of
a new chef to work along side Tim and Robert. Gabriella Campanha has vast
experience in the style and type of food we hope the café will become known
for, and had been working in a well known restaurant in the West End until we managed to get her to join our team.
While Pryors Bank has occupied my mind for nearly 18 months, the last three
weeks were without question the toughest. Our chef Tim had to have time out as
he was unwell, so that left Heleny and I to cover both cooking and serving the
food. I took the decision to limit the menu to my kitchen capabilities. That
will now change and I, along with you can look forward to a new and expansive
menu. Our team of staff and Heleny have done a magnificent job in keeping our
standards up throughout this difficult period and I owe them all huge vote of
thanks, for without that positive approach we would have had to close until our
management team was fully in place.
Heleny has now gone off for a well-earned rest. She has battled with cancer and
associated problems but came to work each day with a smile on her face and
loved every moment of her time at the café. She has made lots of friends and
our little team look upon her as their mother here in the UK. The
Directors of the Beef Kitchen and I will never be able to thank her enough for
the effort and time she has spent voluntarily helping this project
through some very difficult moments.
This blog is tough to write sometimes because I want to say things that you
would not normally associate with a journal of the daily life of a business.
However there are times when you have to speak out; you may not want to know
too much detail about the lives of the people who are behind the success of
this project, but it is those very people who have made it happen. Our
apprentices will have fought battles of a personal nature to arrive at a point
of time in their lives when they need a break; that is what I see the café is
doing and I for one am not ashamed or shy in saying so.
Those of you who know about the story of how and why we are running this café
will I am sure appreciate why it means so much to me, if we can help one soul
then we will have done a good job.
This last Sunday morning I was on my way into work tired and concerned that I
would let my inexperience cause problems for our customers on what has become a
very busy day at the café. As I walked past the Church, a big warm hand came
and I saw it belonged to Archbishop Makhulu; he spoke to me, thanking me for
providing tea on the sad day of his late wife's funeral and told me I looked
tired but to keep doing a good job. Whatever I may have been feeling at that
moment changed in an instant; I felt at ease and calm, his handshake gave me
the energy I needed to get through the last day of seven weeks of non-stop
attendance in all forms at the café. How many of us are lucky enough to get the
warm and heartfelt wishes of an Archbishop first thing in the morning? All this
has happened because the right motives are behind what I have wanted to do and
now at last it is happening.
Therefore, my last few words today are going to thank All Saints Church, and
all of its parishioners, Joe and Judy, Ruth and all that I have met and come
into contact with during the last 18 months. On the say so and approval of the
church you have accepted, welcomed and praised us; that is very humbling and I
do thank you all.
As soon as Robert has settled in I will bring you more news of what you can
expect from your community café at Pryors Bank.
Bob