Dizzydixies needs lovely MNers who gave their favourite cafe/soup/menu ideas - please put them here cos the other thread has disappeared!

[gigglebells]

this is so we can have it in FOOD and we can all read it for ever more
TIA

and one day i will visit, madame. but until then i fear fife is nearer. where in fife, diz? i must meet up with habs soon...

dizz, I have ds' lovely little table and two chairs (ikea, natch) that will be put into service, and I did think about having those rubber puzzle-style floor tiles for emergency baby dumping, plus a box of bricks and toys for bashing other babies over the head with play

brilliant idea, CMOT, re toaster bags...was planning to use them anyway, so must make sure GF ones are clearly different to normal ones....

aitch I am VERY close to the lovely Habbibu - about 5/10 minutes drive depending on snow

Madame - have managed to email you and the best thing you can have for kids is paper/colouring books/crayons - unisex/cheap and not easily used as weapons!!

would you believe me if i told you that i STILL have her ds's birth present here?

MadameDefarge - oh we might pop in then - we are in Highgate but we go to the park and museum in Hackney sometimes. I would suggest those cheap versions of Magna Doodle as crayons/pencils can be fiddly. also i visited a cafe which had a painted blackboard on one of the walls and a chalk bank; worked v well. huge heated parasols would be good for your outdoor areas as inside can feel claustro unless it is pouring with rain

for the children, I do like places that let you take, say, 5 of 8 things. All the little bits keep my dds happy for a good while - e.g. a couple of types of sarnie, piece of cheese, a piece of fresh fruit, dried fruit, veggie stick, biscuit, drink, or something like that...

drawing stuff always goes down well, as do little wendy houses, those things with beads on wires for toddlers and play cafe stuff

yup stickey, got that covered under snack plate....I hope!

Outdoor area? (hollow laugh) a strip of pavement perhaps! But ta tips! and crayons a big yes...just ask for fruitshoots and greggs youknowwhat for your MN discount!

not to over-complicate but dd does LOVE those box things that you get at museums. part of the fun seems to be opening it up to see what she's got. (a tuna sarnie, apple, chomp or fudge and a juice). all eaten before the chomp can be touched.

what is a chomp?

little cadbury's chocolate thing. freddo frog etc.

aah, I missed those. Tell you what though, the magical elves are great. I think there's an argument for every foodstuff including space dust (there's an idea for a themed cafe!!)

Ooh Dizzy I come to East Fife every August. Maybe I could pop in for a bite.

my sister, aged 36, is addicted to the elves.

sunshinemummy - you'd be very welcome. As Madame mentioned, we're planning of having a MN discount code - ask for off the menu fruit shoots & gregs sausage rolls and butter dishes - we'll know who you are and knock off 10%

I always said if I ever had my own cafe I'd have 2 options on the cake menu. A 'skinny' slice and a 'fat' slice. Sometimes, you just want more than a normal slice y'know? And at certain times of the month I would happily pay more for a wedge of chocolate cake.

lizzzombie - would you consider a WW or similar healthy cake versus a normal wodge of cake? I was thinking about doing 'lighter' baking for those with a conscience (I do NOT include myself in that category)

that and no point soup (but with taste)?

bump for evening crew

i don't think anyone would buy a fat cake though, tbh, at least not in company. so you'd only sell skinny slices. imo you would deffo be better to sell a normal sized 'light' cake so that you can charge the same.
you should totally look into pricing strategy, there is a real art to writing a board, it's amazing. i have a book, i'll find it and tell you the name.

pricing is a major issue, too much, too little, eek!

would love a link to that book.

Can I run my Full English breakfast past you all?

One egg (free range/organic) one sausage (proper, organic if poss) two slices bacon (ditto) home made baked beans, two slices toast, hot drink.

all at £4.95

extras would be roasted tomatos (can't abide cold, mushy tomatoes) mushrooms, black pudding, bubble. 50p per extra.

any thoughts?

sounds good for that price. i'll have a look for the book, it's written by an academic who did loads of experiments with his classes into how people are influenced to think x or y is good value. absolutely fascinating. one time he got people to write the last two nos of their matric card (or something) at the top of a piece of paper and then asked them to value a set of objects. if the matric nos were high, so were the valuations, and vice versa. bonkers but true, we hang everything off the number at the top.

where's you're potato scone woman?!!?!?

Aitch link would be great, we have to keep prices low seeing as we're a community run cafe - has to make a profit to pay wages and to keep going but can't charge through the roof so nobody supports it

doing a reckie round all the local cafes to gauge prices has been such a chore

not a staple round our way, dizzie!

thay should be a staple everywhere

and irn bru for the breakfast hangovers lol

god, yeah. a potato scone and fried egg roll, heaven...