Wednesday 20 February 2013

A Veggie Venture

Out into the Kent countryside today 1) because the weather was gorgeous (four days on the trot - it's been a veritable February heat wave...well, sunwave...okay, it's been nice and warm), 2) because we were on a mission to visit a farm shop / cafe and 3) because it was Andy's day off and we like to go out for lunch together if we can.

So, the farm shop/ cafe was very nice - all light and airy barn-style building, chickens and goats wandering the fields, speciality foods in the shop and a delicious selection of breakfast, luncheon and cakey stuff on offer (cooked in an open plan kitchen so you could see what was going on) of which I especially enjoyed the nutty, fruity, seedy flapjack so much that tomorrow I am going to bake some nutty, fruity, seedy flapjacks of my own.

And we got to chatting about what kind of business we would run if we were going to run a business. Vegetarian cafe/ bakery seemed a good choice for us, we thought, given we both enjoy cooking and baking and eating and I am a vegetarian and ne'er a sausage shall inveigle its way onto any potential menu we might be considering. And even though carnivores might say, 'well, that seems a bit unfair, not offering a meat option,' I would say 'Beefeater' and point them in the opposite direction, because my research into vegetarian eating places in Kent has proven they are very few and far between and what a lot of meat-eaters fail to understand is that some of us vegetarians don't eat meat for ethical reasons. And yes, I shall remain picky on this point.

So, enflamed with a sudden urge to open a vegetarian eatery, Andy and I have decided to start some research because even if it never happens, it will taste good with whilst we do it. Research will take the form of a) visiting a variety of vegetarian establishments and making covert notes on their menus, decor, ambience and napkin colours b) trying out new recipes on unsuspecting family and friends whom we shall lure round here with a cheery, 'Come to supper on Saturday! There will be pudding!' and c) playing games of 'What If..?' in order to test the viability of any business plans e.g what if we rented a premises for a year? Would we end up living in a tent by Christmas eating gravel? Or 'What if someone choked on a carrot? Can either of us perform the Heimlich manoeuvre?' Or 'What if we had an open plan kitchen, too; would people be entertained by watching Andy flinging flour hither and thither (also known as 'making bread).

I have already thought of a good name for our business, but Andy isn't convinced. He thinks it might confuse some people and I say only if they are very dense, like a bread pudding, so the potential name is going off for market research to some friends couple whom we can trust to be impartial in their feedback. And not because they are a vegetarian and a vegan.

5 comments:

  1. You can never do too much research before starting a business.

    This week I started on the 5:2 diet. Today was supposed to be the second fasting day. I lasted until 3.00 p.m. when Waitrose arrived with Hot Cross Buns. That'll be a fail then..

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  2. Aha, but you know what they say about plans, Vera...if I listen very carefully, I can just about hear them Upstairs laughing!

    Andy and I tried the 5:2 diet last month, Jessica...we lasted two days, then stopped the following week when Andy started gnawing on a chair leg and I was even more irrationally shouty than I usually am. I am swift coming to the conclusion, at the ripe age of 47 and after being overweight all my life, that the only way is the Ann Widdecombe way - eat less, move about more. Now, if only I can get my head around that one!

    Hurrah for Hot Cross Buns! (Avec butter, I hope??)

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  3. I delude myself that when I start gardening again I will dig myself thin.

    Avec butter. And another one today. No hope.

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  4. I resisted the hot cross buns and instead bought a fruit loaf...because one slice of fruit loaf is half the calories of a hot cross bun...so I had two slices...avec butter!

    Never was any good at Maths.

    A+ for Self Delusion, too.

    How many calories does one earn for digging?

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