This Valentine's Week we've got some great offers, to show you some love!

Don't you just love a Perfect Pair!  Old Romantics!!

- Free toast when you buy a large cappuccino or latte (saves you £1.00)

- Free coffee when you buy a hunk of handmade cake (Saves you £1.00)

- Free Tyrrells crisps when you buy a Gourmet sandwich (Saves you 95p)

Also, 'like' us on Facebook for your chance to win breakfast free for you and 4 friends.

Happy Valentine's!

x

Woo Hoo!!  Taste Cardiff has just had its official 'opening' inspection from the scary Hygiene Inspector and gues what!!??

They have been awarded the highest scores on the doors possible...5 shiny stars!

This means that customers can be 100% confident that the food and drink they enjoy is the freshest, safest, most perfect ever.

We're so happy with ourselves... can you tell!?

:-)

As far back as the 12th Century, physicians were recommending chicken soup - known as "Jewish penicillin" - to combat a cold. Modern science has since found their instincts were largely right and it can be both soothing and anti-inflammatory for those with colds.

It was still the same in the 16th Century, when common wisdom was to give "nourishing, restorative, light and easily digested food" to the sick. Soups, broths and bread-based gruels were recommended.

The nutritional benefits are obvious. A healthy soup provides an easy way to digest the nutrients we need, especially when we're ill.

Our soups are 100% fresh, handmade, and natural.  Perfect if you’re feeling rotten and struggling to shake off the horrible cold that’s bothering everyone at the moment.

See you in the café.

x

Having opened on 2nd December, Taste Cardiff is already a firm favourite with South Wales Foodies. The delicious Cwmbran Banger and Welsh Ploughmans sandwiches are literally flying out of the door, and Penny and John, the cafe's owners, can't make fresh coleslaw or potato salad fast enough!! 

Check out the Taste Cardiff homepage to see images of the cafe.

From 9th-27th January, Taste Romford is hosting it's 2012 January sale, to celebrate the start of a new year!

What's on sale?

- Fantastic selection of filled baguettes

- Fresh salad bowls

- Handmade Soup

- Oven baked jacket potatoes

All just £1.95!

And the good news is you don't need a voucher to enjoy this amazing value.

See you in our cafe

x

Wow! Yesterday was a storming success, and the exclusive preview day helped Taste Cardiff to launch with a bang.  The cafe doors are now well and truly open, and John and Penny can't wait to welcome office workers, tourists and shoppers alike.

So, if you are looking for a lunch that isn’t pre-packaged, or simply trying to eat a little bit more healthily... search no more.

Today, Thursday 1st December, marks the opening of Taste in Cardiff's city centre.  And to celebrate, the cafe's owners John and Penny Earnshaw are hosting an exclusive preview day and giving away free food all day long! Pop along, you never know there may be some invites still available on the door!

1^st Dec = Free Food Day!

Our scrummy sandwich bar is opening in Cardiff city centre

The official opening of Taste Cardiff is Friday 2nd December...but we wanted to open with a splash so we decided to make Thursday 1st Free Food Day!

It's an invite only exclusive preview event, and the name of the game is... you guessed it...free food!

Those wanting to attend should email Cardiff@tastesfresh.com for their individual invite; if you are lucky enough to be selected you can look forward to a free lunch (hot drink and lunch item) from Taste’s scrummy menu.  Look out for bread, meats and chutneys from award winning producers on the shops' South Wales doorstop.  Good luck and see you there!

About the Free Food Offer

The offer is subject to availability and invitees will be given an allocated time slot.  Taste cannot guarantee a table will be available when customers arrive.  The offer applies to one drink item and one lunch item per invitee.

31 Oct - 6 Nov is British Sausage Week!

To celebrate we're going bonkers for bangers, with some 'knock your socks off' specials to get your teeth into.

Check out our weekly specials page to see for yourself!

And... here's some facts and stats to make sure you are in the know, whilst you nosh -

- It's believed that the humble sausage dates back 5,000 years!  That's older than ancient Greece!

- The Roman's brought the sausage to Britain in 400AD, and since then we Brits have been hooked!

- Sausages were knicknamed 'bangers' during the second world war.  Their high water / low meat content meant they were likely to explode when fried!

- The most expensive sausage ever made was from fillet steak, champagne and truffles, and it cost £20 for a pack of 4.

Phew! Pub quiz anyone? ;-)

Pop in to our cafe to celebrate the fantastic British banger for yourself

x

Bread, bread, wonderful bread!

Bread pays an important role in a healthy balanced diet.  Too much wheat can cause bloating, but bread is fine in moderation.  Make it your main carbohydrate with lunch, and you'll feel the benefits all afternoon long.

It's a real superfood, giving you energy, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.  Breads like our granary loaf or baps are fortified with seeds, giving you essential fatty acids, and our bagels and wraps are fantastic if you are watching your cholesterol or want a slow energy release alternative to white sliced.

And when you add our yummy scrummy fillings into the mix you get a sandwich fit for a (healthy + happy) king!

See you soon
x

Porridge - this seasons most fashionable breakfast!

Hot, hearty and full of oaty goodness, its no wonder that porridge is this seasons must have when it comes to breakfast...

Our new porridge cups are made fresh to order, only £1 and can be served with a yummy dollop of honey or jam.  Sweet!

Eat your skin younger

Is your lunch adding years?  New research shows that the right diet can make a visible difference to the way you look, and specifically the age your skin looks.

In a nutshell, it’s because the right diet plumps up your skin and smooth’s out fine lines.

Rainbow foods like red and green peppers, fresh tomatoes, avocado, as well as olive oil, whole grains, nuts and pulses are all high up on the ‘should eat’ list.

While pre packed foods and white carbs are down in the doldrums on the ‘cut back’ list.

Never fear though! Eating yourself younger doesn’t mean living like a rabbit. We’ve made sure that our menu is brimming with food that not only ticks the ‘good to your body’ box, but also the ‘good to your taste buds’ box too!

Our soups are totally fresh and natural, and packed with wholesome goodness.

Our wholegrain breads are thick and soft, perfect packed with natural choices of filling.

Our salad bar is crammed with ‘good for you’ foods, and will make eating yourself younger a piece of cake (which you can of course treat yourself too sometimes as well!)

See you in our café,

Taste

x

We're pleased to announce that the first Taste franchise - Taste Cardiff, owned by John & Penny, will be opening soon in High Street, Cardiff, CF10.

Click here to find out more about Taste Cardiff.

Tune in to Channel Five tomorrow (2nd Aug) at 11.10am for The Wright Stuff Extra with Gaby Logan!

Taste will be featured in a news piece about National Breastfeeding Week, and the new Havering scheme designed to let mums feel more confident and comfortable feeding their little ones in cafe's and restaurants.

Taste has signed up to the new Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme, run by the London Borough of Havering.

It's a simple scheme designed to make mums feel more confident and comfortable feeding their little ones in cafe's, restaurants etc.

"The scheme's a fantastic idea", says owner Jill Willis.  "As a cafe owner I'm all about making my customers feel welcome, and we've always been more than happy for our mums to feed their baby's however they like when in the cafe.  The poster on the wall, and our commitment to the scheme, will hopefully help them feel even more comfortable and at home".

We're turning 5!  And to celebrate we're having a big week long party at our cafe!

(Tue 31 May - Sat 4 June)

There's lots of fun party games and offers on, which means our fantastic customers can join us in our celebrations!

At work in the office?  Then you'll love our Heads or Tails game!... be at the till at the right time and your bill will be down to the toss of a coin!  Win, and your food or drink is on Taste. 

Half-term off with the kids?  then they'll love...

Eating for just 5p! (we've got a special crazy carrot party menu for kids to choose from for just 5p!)

Our Crazy Carrot Competition.  A fun kids healthy eating quiz, with a great prize!  A fun Romford day out… £50 spending spree at The Entertainer toy store where you get to pick any of the toys they'd like, and lunch for the family at Taste. (To enter simply pick up a Crazy Carrot quiz sheet from the café or the Taste stand in the centre of The Liberty.  Fill it in and drop back into our cafe.  Ooohhh and receive a free kids party bag, as well as entry into the prize draw!)

Musical Chairs!  If your little one happens to be sitting in the right chair when the party music starts, then they're in for a treat!       A fun prize for them to unwrap!

We hope you can join us for the party!

*Listen out for updates all week on Time FM, or see posters around The Liberty for more information

Our cafe has been crowned Best Sandwich Bar in Britain at the 2011 Sammies (the industry Oscars!).

This is an amazing achievement, especially as we won in 2009.  To be crowned again demonstrates just how truly committed we are to our fresh food and outstanding customer service ethos.

Well done to our staff for all of their hard work, and to our customers who keep every day fun and enjoyable.

Here's to another 12 months of yummy sandwiches

x

Best in Britain – 3 Years Running!

Our wonderful cafe business has just been shortlisted for the 3^rd year running for the title of Best Sandwich Bar in Britain, the much coveted headline award at the Sammies, the national sandwich industry Oscars!

And... we're over the moon because we're the first café in Britain to be shortlisted 3 years running, concreting our established position as one of the very best in the UK!

The ‘Oscars’ style finals take place on the 19^th May at the Lancaster Hotel in London, and Taste owners Jill and Richard Willis, along with all of the staff, will be keeping everything crossed for success!

Watch this space!

For more info on the Sammies visit www.sandwich.org.uk

Yummy.  We've got some seriously delicious newcomers to our menu this month!

- Hot N Fruity Caribbean sausages, on special this week, and we're sure they'll become a popular favourite!  Made by our brilliant butcher chums at Giggly Pig, and produced using only the very best out door reared Essex porkers.

- Easter'ccino - Even the Easter bunny would be impressed with our caramel and chocolate flavoured cappucino, topped with crushed mini eggs, mmmmmm.

- Hot Cross Buns - Get um while they're hot! All through the rest of March and April we're swapping our tea cakes for scrummy hot cross buns.  Served with butter and jam, perfect mid morning snack time.

- Soya Milk - By popular demand, we're adding soya milk to our menu, so you can enjoy all of our handmade coffees minus the cows milk!

- Rye Bread - It's going down a storm with our health conscious customers, and it's certainly here to stay.

Visit us to see all our other taste bud tempting grub.

x

We're stocking the wonderful, award winning Giggly Pig Sausages!

If you've not tried them before, then boy are you missing out, they're an Essex success story!

Giggly Pig is a local Havering firm, and they use only rare breed, out door reared porkers to produce their sausages.  They don't add any nasties, and the flavours are out of this world.

Try our Cider Apple sausage special this coming week (21 Feb), we'll be grilling the bangers to order, and we know you'll not be dissapointed!

Already feeling bored at the thought of cold turkey sandwiches?

Well there's really no need! Turkey is a fantastic meat, low in fat and a great source of protein... and what's more there are lots of delicious ideas to spice up any left overs once Christmas Lunch is over for another year.

Why not try shredding the meat and blending with fresh and fruity cranberry sauce and cream cheese, serve between two slices of old fashioned bloomer with plenty of mixed salad leaves and there's no way you'll be bored!

Or, why not try serving it Bruschetta stylie.  Finely dice the meat, along with olives and fresh tomatoes then once mixed together, spread over a slice of bread, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with grated cheese. Toast under a grill and serve hot.

For lots more exciting sandwich and salad ideas visit us in cafe, where we guarantee to get your taste buds jumping!

Here's looking forward to a wonderful 2011!

10 Easy Ways to Eat Better!

As the winter bloat starts to take its toll on many of our tummies… here are 10 ways you can easily improve your diet and ensure those extra winter pounds don’t creep on…

1. Use an oil spray for frying. Invest in a spray oil canister and fill it with good-quality olive oil. Ten squirts of oil from a spray provides just 10 calories, whereas a tablespoon of olive oil contains 100 calories. Use to spray over roasting vegetables and potato wedges, when you make a stir-fry or to quickly spritz over fish or chicken pieces before grilling.

2. Throw out your deep-fat fryer or chip pan... sorry, it’s the easiest way to make sure you don’t use it. Invest in a non-stick frying or griddle pan.

3. Remove the skin from chicken before cooking and you’ll remove most of the fat, too.

4. Use strong cheese such as mature Cheddar or Parmesan – a stronger taste means you can use less.

5. Use darker leaves in your salad as the darker the leaf, the more nutrients it contains. Include fresh herbs to give salads a flavour boost.

6. Hold the dressing on salads. Instead, add fresh chopped herbs and a light spritz of lemon juice and mature balsamic vinegar, then toss with a few big-flavour ingredients, such as capers and olives.

7. Don’t sprinkle raw bran over breakfast cereals to boost your fibre intake. Unprocessed bran is packed with naturally occurring compounds called phytates, which stop the body absorbing certain minerals such as calcium, iron and zinc. Instead, opt for higher-fibre wholegrain cereals.

8. Eat jacket potatoes are the perfect fast food. Simply serve with salad and a low-fat topping such as lean ham and reduced-calorie coleslaw, or tuna with sweetcorn and a little reduced-fat mayo.  We serve the best around!!!!

9. Switch to skinny lattes. The change from full fat to semi-skimmed will almost halve your calorie intake.

10. Never skip meals, especially breakfast. Research shows that people who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat this meal, probably because skippers end up eating more during the day as a result of hunger cravings.

Nat West have recently produced a straight talking business start up guide for those considering the catering and hospitality industry.

They came to us to get some advice for their readers on the hectic and fun filled word of sandwich bars and coffee shops. 

You can find the business guide, and download it for free, by looking in our About Us section, in Media and PR.  Take a look, and see us on page 5. 

We're giving you the chance to win free business mentoring with us!

To enter you simply need to leave a review of our book 'Start and Run a Sandwich and Coffee Shop' on Amazon by the 23rd August 2010.

We'll then pick a name out of the hat, and the lucky winner will receive 30 minutes free telephone mentoring. An opportunity to talk about their specific business concerns, plans and worries, and to benefit from our advice.

Visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/Start-Sandwich-Coffee-Small-Business/dp/1845283333/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264771699&sr=1-1

Good luck!

Our recently launched Franchise Scheme has been profiled in Business Franchise Magazine this month. 

The article highlights the fantastic opportunity Taste presents for would be cafe owners... not to mention the outstanding growth the sandwich sector has seen in the last 12 months.

What's also exciting are the discounted franchise rates available for the first few partners who join us.

Now...With ingredients like that can you afford not to  get a slice of Taste action?

Click here to read the article

To read our article on page 8, and see the rest of the supplement click here - http://www.tastesfresh.com/lib/The_Guardian_Supplement-12-May-2010.pdf.

Those people trying to purchase a copy of the must read 'How to Start and Run a Sandwich and Coffee Shop' by Jill Sutherland will be pleased to hear that Amazon.com will soon have stocks ready for shipping.

The book has been flying off the shelves of late, and Amazon found it hard to keep up! Their delivery is anticipated any day now from the publisher, so never fear, you won't need to wait long.

In the meantime, if you would like a copy asap just drop us a line and buy one direct from us.

richard.willis@tastesfresh.com

We've been working hard the past 12 months, coming up with scrummy sandwich ideas, and taking care of our customers... and the great news is that it's put us centre stage for an award, with us making it the finals of not one, but two, Sammies (national industry awards).

We're already proud holders of the title Best Sandwich Bar in Britain 2009, and we've again been short-listed for the 2010 title, something our local Romford foodies will applaud. And, in additional we'll also compete for the title of Best Sandwich Marketeer, going head to head with huge national firms such as Marks and Spencer and ASDA for our continued dedication to creating new and exciting sandwich ideas and recipes, and coming up with creative ideas to market them to our customers.

We thank all of our customers for their support, and know they'll have their fingers and toes crossed for us in the finals!"

The 'Oscars' style finals of both awards are held on 13th May at The Grange St Paul’s Hotel in central London.

For more info on the Sammies visit www.sandwich.org.uk

Thank you to everyone who came down to Olympia over the weekend, and especially to those who took time out to chat with Jill & I about our concept, and how we're looking forward to growing the business with people like yourself. If you didn't get a chance to chat with us, but would like more information about a Taste franchise, please drop Richard a line at richard.willis@tastesfresh.com

Want to own your own café, but are nervous of going it completely alone?

We could have the answer... We're about to open up our award winning independent café business to a select group of aspiring café owners, through a new Taste Franchise Scheme.

So, how will it be different from usual franchise schemes?

Well, It'll be designed with you, the owner operator in mind. You'll feel you're running your own independent café, but with the back up of our support, finding suppliers, hiring staff, marketing your business and ensuring the till rings and the profits add up at the end of the day.

To discuss how you can be considered for the exciting initial pilot please just drop Richard a line at Richard.willis@tastesfresh.com

If you were tuning in to Working Lunch on BBC2 on Thursday 30th April then you'll have seen Taste's Jill Sutherland giving her advice on how small businesses can weather the recession.

Phew! The heats were a adrenalin filled Master Chef style competition... but that didn't stop Taste owners Jill and Richard scooping the top prize at the South East heats of the Sandwich Design of the Year competition.

Their Wild Cranberry Rosti sandwich design wowed the judges, who thought their receipe was imaginative, exciting and delicious!

They go onto the finals on 21st May, and hope to win the overall UK title! Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed!

March has been a fantastic month for us here at Taste. To start with we made it into the South East heats of the Sandwich Designer of the Year Award. Then we were over the moon to hear that we'd been shortlisted for the Essex Business Awards - Excellent Customer Care category. And to put the cherry on the cake, we've just learnt that we are finalists for the coveted Independent Sandwich Bar of the Year Award!

Blimmey, our heads are spinning! It just goes to show that hard work and dedicated pays off, and we want to say a HUGE thank you to the wonderful testimonials submitted in our support by our lovely customers.

May is the month all of the awards winners are announced, so watch this space and keep your fingers crossed!

Our book, written to help other 'wanna-be' café owners to realise their dream, is out 5th March!

It's entitled 'How to Start and Run a Sandwich and Coffee Shop', and is published by How To Books.

Visit www.amazon.co.uk to see for yourself, or feel free to take a flick through our shop copy.

Rich and Jill.

Our cafe has just been crowned the 'Best Sandwich bar in the UK' at the Sammies 2009 (the national sandwich association industry awards).

We beat off stiff competition from thousands of independent cafes all over the country, in order to scoop the gold prize, considered the 'Michelin star' of the sandwich industry!

The judges, catering industry professionals from all over the UK, were hugely impressed by Taste's high quality, healthy food at affordable prices, imaginative and varied sandwich choices, and outstanding customer care.