When chef Joe Buckley took on the challenge of hosting the biggest Elsie’s Cafe binnertime event so far he thought it would be a good way to keep his staff on their toes.
Joe’s Perfect Country Pubs group runs The Tollemache Arms at Harrington, The Red Lion at Yardley Hastings and the White Horse at Tilbrook.
They took ‘rescued’ produce provided by Elsie’s Cafe – perfectly good food that would otherwise have been dumped, typically close to or just past its best before date – and turned it into a tasty three course feast featuring unwanted pheasants recovered after a Christmas shoot and a vegan pavlova conjured up from chick pea juice.
He said: “We had an idea of the menus we wanted to do but we had to wait and see what produce arrived. I’ve used it as a kind of inspiration for my chefs and they’ve been buzzing.”
Diners paid £15 a head for the event which supports the work of Elsie’s Cafe.
Tattva Galgali, from Pitsford School, received a special presentation in recognition of the innovative Elsie’s Cafe tuckshop he set up, raising over £1500.
Wonderful menu at The White Horse at Tilbrook as well, and very good to talk to Julia from Fruitful Abundance.
We had bruschetta, some with ratatouille, some with mushrooms, followed by pheasant with gratin dauphinoise. Pudding was a lovely bread-and-butter pudding with raisins, and the cheese with melba toast was wonderful. We also had a soft drink ‘cocktail’.
A highlight was when we heard one of the ‘ordinary’ diners ask if they could have bread-and-butter pudding as well!