Lynfield Yard

I meant to mention this yesterday! Whenever we have a group of customers who arrive at our busiest time and need to wait for 5 or so minutes for a table- we always direct them to our neighbouring businesses in Lynfield Yard. Literally within a few seconds you can be in the lovely Cowhouse Gallery admiring the jewellery, fine art, photography, ceramics and sculpture for sale. They have a selection of delightful greetings cards too. The gallery is run as a co operative, so you can often chat to the very artist of the piece you are interested in!

 Right next door to the Cowhouse gallery is Toppers Too, a bijou hairdressers, owned by Jenny, which is very popular.
 There is also The Beauty Retreat - Lucy's beauty salon offering a wide selection of treatments and pampering.

 The Sewing Box - run by Rose - will alter items of clothing, curtains etc, or make to order, on request.

Last but by no means least is the Craft Centre and Cornish Wools both businesses are Val's - it's a great place to go to buy gifts, clothing, jewellery, cards, ice creams, milk, eggs, cream etc - and the selection and quality of wools available (many dyed by Val herself) are astounding. People drive from the other side of Cornwall to buy wool from here so it's really worth a visit.

Of course - if you'd rather, you can sit in our garden sipping a cordial or other drink of your choice, and wait for us to get your table ready for you. You can bring your own bottle of wine if you wish - we charge a £1 corkage fee. See you soon!

Winter Blues!

We have been struggling with staff absence this past couple of weeks - winter colds have pretty much got all of us at some point and even Lisa and I had a day off each to sit at home feeling sorry for ourselves. Thank goodness the first day of Spring is just around the corner!
Speaking of Spring  - we have planned a complete Spring Clean for Monday March 19th - so we will be closed on that day. Advance warning - we will also be closed on March 24th - because Jenni's getting married!! We shall be open again on Sunday March 25th as usual.
The menu is gradually changing as the new spring vegetables appear - our Vegetable Broth with dumplings is still really popular, Spiced Parsnip soup is being made as we speak by the lovely Amy (the spices on the roasting vegetables for this soup really do give a rich and aromatic flavour to the dish.).

   We have Lamb Tagine on at the moment, served with a tian of crushed new potatoes and salad- we get nearly all our meat products from Vivian Olds in St Just - it's just lovely to serve local produce whenever we can, and Spring lamb is simply delicious.

 We also get our local veg and fruit from John Skewes at St Hilary, he delivers first thing in the morning and we love to see him for a quick chat - and a very accurate weather forecast!
We've introduced a rich Chocolate Mousse and a Pear Frangipani tart this week so do let us know what you think of them.
We have had a few large groups wanting to book tables for lunch - so we've made a decision to accept bookings for 10 or more people.
Off now to plan a delicious Mothering Sunday menu - let's hope it's sunny so that you can enjoy a yummy lunch whilst watching the sea and listening to the birds!

What a review!

What a fabulous review in the Western Morning News - we had a full page spread of lovely comments and scores of 10 out of 10 in every category! We've had many new customers this week, on the strength of the review. One couple came down from Launceston for lunch and another couple drove 120 miles - wow!

We had a visit from GB Boardriders Shifting Horizons Transition Programme last week - they're working with young people and introducing them to a variey of different work environments. We spent a very interesting couple of hours answering questions about Peppercorn Kitchen, how it all started, our vision for the future, how we find and enrol our wonderful staff etc.
They also offered some really helpful comments regarding our blog and website. For instance - we have never mentioned that we recycle our plastics, glass and cardboard; our waste vegetable peelings and any stale bread goes to a local pig farm and our take away containers are all bio-degradable and some are made from recycled materials. We have also now joined Facebook and Twitter - thanks to you guys!

We received a wonderful gift from the heavenly Di Cox - Hooker Supreme - here it is - the Peppercorn Girls wall hanging- decide for yourselves who is who!!

So this week our Moroccan Briks have been really popular. They take an age to prepare, but Amy is meticulous and they look beautifully symmetrical when she makes them. We have tried Spinach and Feta Briks, Chocolate Ganache and Banana Briks (obviously a pudding dish!) and today we made Lamb Kofte and mashed potato Briks. The Venison Casserole with creamy mash is a more rib-sticking option for those needing a more substantial lunch - possibly followed by Star Anise Rice Pudding?

Lisa has perfected the art of piping meringue for the Pavlova bases. Mine were an extraordinary shape when I tried them - a bit like an upside down thimble! I shall have to get some practise in, I think!

We're off for a press release photo shoot tomorrow - with Ben from Ben's Cornish Kitchen in Marazion. I had what was definitely the most delicious meal of my life so far - at Ben's last Saturday evening.

 If you haven't been there yet - BOOK A TABLE!!