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

on a buttered roll with lashings of tomato ketchup

Hi dizzy,
I don't really have any suggestions - all the stuff on here sounds great. But just wanted to let you know I'm very interested in your progress - I'm just down the road in L---, and have often thought of catching the 96 for an "expedition" with all my mindees in the school holidays! A nice, cheap child friendly cafe would make it possible, because my prob has always been what would we do if it rained (and the 96 only comes once an hour . . . )
Keep us posted! And lots of luck with your venture!

carb central! sounds gorgeous though

I am really trying to keep the menu simple, too much choice can lead to no choice being made!

you're absolutely right Madame however I do feel you should keep one on hand for emergencies

FromGirders - thank you so much, will certainly shout if from the rooftops if it ever happens

I am right in thinking you're on that bus route amn't I?
Have read thread properly now - a huge YES to half juice / half water option. Would it be poss for you to have a couple of cups with lids on? I only ever take water out with me in the kids' bottles, and if we were going "out for lunch" it would be nice to be able to give the littlies the same options of milk / juice as the big ones - and mean fewer spills for you!
Also second the colouring etc books - perhaps a couple of wordsearch / activty books for slightly older children too?
But generally, I'm waving pom-poms for you!

the cafe near us uses takeaway cups with a straw in if you forget to bring a lidded cup.

no to tomato sauce, yes to butter. it's devastating if the yolk is overcooked.

FromGirders - yes and I take it you've a lot of noise from the overhead flightplan?!!?

I have lots of childrens options, I emailed MadameD the menu so we can confer, but we're hopefully going to be aimed at the family friendly, simple but tasty end of the market

Yes, we do although our family is not personally affiliated to the organization, we just happen to live there. Simple but tasty sounds good - not only my children, but my husband refuses to eat a sanwich with anything other than ham or cheese with butter on . Me, i like a bit of salad too .
Look forward to patronising your establishment in the summer! (In a good way, obv)

Dizzy - WW options would be a good idea definately.

Aitch - I think I must be a glutenous pig then, as I have gorged on big (possibly meant for sharing) portions of cake a couple of times. In Brighton there is a cafe which is affiliated to the chocolatiers "Choccowoccydoodah". The cake portions in there are HUGE, and meant for sharing. I know that now. The 1st time I didn't though. Felt very fat for a week afterwards!

thank you girders - in the meantime I can be found donating baking and helping with the serving at Manna in the neighbouring village (under the bridge)

lizzzombie - I'm now scheduling a gorgefest research trip to Brighton

I think Gnocci is very underestimated as a child-friendly food. A bit of that with a tomato or cheese-based sauce is brill. The half water/juice thing is good too - I always wonder why no-one does that in a carton - it would be such a winner and surely very profitable to whoever produced it!

And while I'm here, hello and Happy New Year Aitch - is that present for Habs the one you bought when you were with me??!!!

dizzydixies - what a great project! The best community cafe I went to was the Forest Arts in Edinburgh. It was VERY hippy-ish but I loved that it was so laid back. I am guessing that you are aiming to have a broader appeal than this though?! Trouble with most cafes these days is the actual tightness of the space - you obviously have to cram as many covers in as you can to make it worthwhile but when you add children into the equation it all goes awry. Maybe that was why the Forest was good - it was in quite a cavernous space.

Good luck though, and I will certainly visit when I am in them there parts

glasjam, thank you - one thing I have been championing all along is NOT shoving in as many covers as possible

firstly we don't want to be overwhelming the staff and I also want locals to come back time and time again and feel welcome rather than to make the main aim of the project to rake in as much money as possible iyswim?

it had the potential for approx 38covers according to the architect but I've put my foot down to about 26 to start with and no more than 30 once we find our feet - we'll have takeaway trade too

will have a nosey at forest arts and see if they are online, thank you

It all sounds lovely. Dizzy, I have emailed you something I didnt want to put on the thread.

There is a lovely cafe in St Andrews that you might know, it is similar kind of style to what you are looking for I think. Not sure of the name, it is fairly new.

Foodwise I would go for simple fare that you can serve fresh. I would rather have a good selection of sandwich options (fillings, different breads etc) than lots of different meals.

Roast beef and horseradish sauce

Ham and mustard

Salmon and cream cheese..

I would offer a WW cake as I know that my mum for one often eases her guilt by choosing the lighter option.

And scones of course.

One of the most important factors in a cafe or restaurant is for me GREAT STAFF.

You can double your profits with a good waitress who sees when a customer has an empty cup and asks if they would like another.

Quick service that does not feel like you are being hurried out the door so that they can get the next customers in.

well we're hoping that as it will be mainly staffed by locals volunteering for a few hours here and there, everyone will be forgiving of minor failings and those working will enjoy it as a novelty/change of scene - it seems to work well in the cafe I volunteer in

attention to detail/ manners/ cleanliness etc all high on list of importance!

there will be scones in abundance

got your email, thank you

love this thread

right, read all of it now

I love it, I want to move nearer! We have to go miles to find somewhere that caters for dairy free round these parts - I tend to have to carry a carton of soya milk everywhere so that ds2 and dd who are addicted love their cup of tea, can have a brew when we're in a cafe.

oh and I love all the comments of little portions of proper food, my dc loathe the fishfinger/nuggetry on offer.

it may be no more or less bother to you to have a think about offering something like vitalite marg for those who are df or cholesterol watching - we bake with it and basically do everything except pastry (I find other "baking" marg which happens to be df is better) - just a thought, depends how many you are likely to attract of our df persuasion!

do I assume that being coastal you are likely to be doing nice fresh fishy dishes? goodness me I wanna come.

I was going to add my faves -
butternut squash soup
mini-rice dishes, like rice salads, mini-risottos

Am wheat free as well but have other ishoos so the biggest winner for me is a place where you can alter the main components of the meal if necessary - e.g. no tomato, fish, beef or veggies instead of chicken, that kind of thing. Especially if it's a rice dish - have a basic risotto made up and then add the main protein afterwards according to preference (sounds a bit like a Chinese menu but hey, it works for me)
Ditto with salads.

My fave sandwich (on GF bread) is Brie and blackurrant jam, with black pepper. But that might be a bit too out-there for others!

Gawd, proper punctuation would have helped:
e.g. no tomato; fish, beef or veggies instead of chicken...

I would also like to put in a plea for grilled fish instead of crumbed/battered fish - it's standard in chippies here in Oz to be able to get plain grilled fish - one of the better things about being here!

Also beef sausages with rice flour are standard here too - pork or with wheat-based rusk in are in the minority - another massive bonus.

Not that I'm fussy or anything!

We have a wonderful local cafe which does all day breakfast - scrambled eggs, poached eggs, beans on toast, bacon sandwiches etc, which make a great light lunch and are quite cheap. They also do great toasted sandwiches and some lovely Portuguese cakes.

We also have a disasterous local cafe which is atmosphere free and run by a stern local matron who listens in to conversations and chips in whenever she likes. Awful! A number of people have suggested she gets a PRS licence so there can be some background music but she won't.

she sounds charming sybil lets hope I manage to hedge more towards the lovely atmosphere rather than the sternly matron one

She is something of a legend round these parts. Telling off the children, chiming in with her views and refusing to do any other sandwiches than bacon. However, very convenient for the loo if you are caught short on the way back from school so we do pop in. COuld be sitting on a gold mine given her location.

Hope your venture works out really well - sounds lovely

thank you, lets hope we're somewhat of a legend for the right reasons

there's a restaurant round here that's doing well with veggies because the majority of its recipes are veggie but for a supp of a quid or so you add a skewer of chicken, beef, or prawns. it's getting a lot of business because it means that there is actually a good choice for veggies.

I love cafes that have all day menus.

Nothing worse than fancying a bacon roll at 4pm and being told 'We only do breakfast until 11am'

Yes, but you have bacon and rolls so why can I not have one?