Hello again

Well I am getting better – less than a week since I last spoke to you.

Before I tell you more about the shop and some more of the history I have to tell you about my trip the other day as I am so excited. I took Andrea and Elaine to an industrial estate in Cambridge to see some very nice people about getting a sign made for the front of the shop. When they had finished this man and woman came down and took pictures of me and they took some measurements. I was getting measured up for all my new writing. It will be a while until it is ready but I am so excited. You will all recognise me then.

Well I told you last time how long it has taken to find the premises for their shop and the lots of research they have done to make sure that when it finally opens it is as nice as possible. They are working very very hard at the moment on every detail and unfortunately it has been delayed a little bit but hopefully not for too long. They have got some very nice deli counters coming from Italy and these should have been arriving on Tuesday but the shop is not quite ready where they were supposed to go so they have had to delay them for a few more days so they are a bit disappointed but hopefully will be sorted soon.

They have done lots of work to the shop and the basement because they want everything to be excellent and to be prepared in the cleanest and nicest environment possible. Andrea is having some of his preparation and cooking equipment arriving this week so he is happy and looking forward to soon being able to put all the finishing touches to the food he is going to make for everyone to buy. To be honest he doesn’t really need to because he has been cooking for years – he is not a chef or anything but he loves cooking and using the best ingredients. The food he will prepare is all very simple as this is what he believes in – he says using very good ingredients and keeping things simple is the best way. It will all be very simple and quick as it is not a restaurant but he believes in giving the same dedication and care to a sandwich or a salad as a chef would in a good restaurant. He thinks it is a shame that often there are very nice places you can eat if you have time to go to a restaurant or are treating yourself but for more simple snacks at breakfast, lunch or just when you fancy something quick there is not so much choice and we all settle for less but he thinks that we should take all our meal times just as seriously as we would if we are planning a night out. They hope the shop will help you to do that whether you want to take some ingredients home to cook for your family or friends or to eat something in your workplace at lunchtime or any other time.

Elaine has been very busy too. They have collected lots of information over the last 3 years as they have been to lots of good food shows and done lots of research on artisan food producers. Elaine has spent the last 2 weeks re contacting them all so that they can visit them and gets lots of samples to pick the best. There will be lots of lovely fresh food to buy from their deli counter and even more from their shelves. All of it will be proper artisan food made by lots of small producers who all believe in the same food principles. There will be some products coming from Italy such as cheeses, meats and antipasti and also lots from small local farms. All the fresh ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, lettuce and other vegetables which Andrea will use in the sandwiches and salads will come from local farms but only if the quality is right as they believe that food just needs to be properly produced and that if it says things like organic or local it doesn’t automatically mean that it will be tasty or even produced correctly. Luckily they have found lots of small producers that produce very nice food and are local.

Next time I will tell you more about other things they will have and also about their fancy new coffee machine that will be coming in the next week.

Hopefully by then I will have my new writing and maybe even have had a wash.

Bye

Cheeky