The Relish blog

Ok that was January – but where did the time go?

It started New Years Day – clearing down after New Years Eve and emptying the bar and the restaurant.

From then we took down picture rails, chased in wires, replastered, sanded and oiled the floor (see our previous blog for details)

Then the pretty bit for that area. Gorgeous wallpapers and paints supplied by Swank interiors. bespoke furniture and DONE ! and wow what a cosy country themed look…..and then

after receiving listed planning consent

We welcomed Wilsons restorations who removed two fireplaces and opened the area up between our two dining rooms – we have never seen so many acros,needles and steels – looked a bit scary for a while but we were reassured that although the exsisting condition of the fireplaces was one of the worse Paul had ever seen (bearing in mind he speciality is period and listed property) it would all be ok.

So now how does it all look, well we are very very happy.

A great open plan area, sympathetically renovated to expose wooden floors, chimney features and an atmosphere that is carried throughout the whole building and hopefully home with all our visitors.

Here are a few pictures of the result – more to come in our next blog

Well its been a long time and for that we apologise but can we now take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy New Year!

Ok so what is our excuse? well for  those of you that follow us on twitter you will know we are in the midst of a huge refurbishment, sanding, decorating, wall removals, plumbing….the list goes on!

We have had a lot of requests for photos to show what everything is looking like and to show exactly what we are we doing. so here is a run down of what we have been doing since New Years Day.

Well our objective after fighting it out with our own local parish council and not such a fight with the enterprising South Norfolk Council was to redevelop a new bar lounge area and join our two separate dining area into one.

We have now completed phase one and have a really cosy bar area which is ideal for drinking in and enjoying our bar menu. We have had some great local businesses helping us to create this area, AJF Maintenance from Newton Flotman – thank you Alan, P D Plasterers – great job Pete, Zebra Landscaping our flexible Tony, the beautiful Lannassir of Swank interiors and Graham Donovan a very particular decorator from Newton Flotman and of course Jeremy and Rachael for keeping them all lubricated and fed well!!  all highly recommended (contact us if you would like their details)

More pictures to come…………of the finished product

please note no children were harmed in the production of this picture xx

So as we approach the 1st December we are looking for a member of staff to step forward and go in search of the Christmas decorations.

Rachael loves this time of the year and cant wait to decorate throughout, no doubt three trees will go up with colour co ordinating decorations and she will spend all month hoping that no one touches them so something looks out of place! slight obsesssion!!

In the meantime Jeremy and his kitchen staff our working hard with preparing all the forthcoming festive menus

We start with our pre christmas menu starting this Thursday and will be available throughout December lunch or evening – please ask for a pre order form for tables over 6

This Friday of course is our supper clubs 12 days of christmas menu. We will be serving 12 surprise taster courses with 12 wines to match, all the diners have to work out is what they are eating and what verse of the song that dish relates to. We will publish the menu after the event and maybe you can see how close you would of got.

Throughout December we will also be serving our A La carte menu for those of you still not wanting to admit Christmas is on the way.

We will be displaying some lovely gift hampers in our deli area which make great presents for all foodies or perhaps a gift voucher to dine in our new look in the new year restaurant.

Dont forget we are celebrating New Years eve with a southern soul theme – We will move our kitchen into the main restaurant and throughout the evening we will be serving deep south dishes – cajun, creole, gumbo stew, eggplant, deep pit fire cooking to name a few, whilst eating we will be entertained by Soul Kitchen playing soul music on vinyl so if you love Aretha, Eke and Tina and Ray Charles slip on you toe tapping shoes and come along for a great night guaranteed to have soul.

Oh yes and to end, the Christmas CDs are being dusted off with the new added cd ‘Buble!! but dont let that put you off.

Well by now you have probably heard the music in the shops, seen the array of Christmas decorations and the adverts on the televison, especially  that advert for the fizzy, dark brown beverage that contains lots of sugar and caffine re confirming that indeed ‘the holidays are coming’ some of you may not be so aware though that it is Jeremy tipple of choice!!

We still have availability over December although the weekends are now looking pretty full so please make your reservations now to avoid dissapointment.

We will be holding a special supper club get together in December where you can come along and experience 12 taster courses with 12 wines to match – the courses will be bought out and all you need to do is guess what you are eating and which verse the dish relates to in the famous song ‘the twelve days of Christmas’.  spaces are now limited but this is a great way to start off the festive period – meeting new people, having fun with guessing the dishes and enjoying great local produce and delicious wines.

Either the Monday or the Tuesday before Christmas we will have a visit from some very special visitors – one will arrive alone and will probabaly fall asleep again by our log burner ocassionally looking up to say the words Ho Ho Ho, the others will be the magical Newton Flotman carol singers, either book for a meal or just pop in and enjoy our cosy festive atmosphere and a warm mince pie and steaming mulled wine. – date to be confirmed

For our New Years celebration please check out our previous blog where ‘Soul Kitchen’ meets ‘Soul Kitchen’ if you love soul music and southern soul food and really want to party your way into next year book a ticket.

So onto 2012 well we will be closed for the first two weeks of January but not because we will have our feet up – we will turn our hand to labouring, decorating and much much more under the supervision of some great local trades people, yes Relish will be having a great New look for the New year

Our plans will be to make a really stylish lounge bar where you can enjoy a lighter menu and perhaps a nice bottle of wine, a well kept pint of local ale or the treat of a cocktail. The decor will be overhauled under the supervision of local business Swank interiors from Bressingham, Wilson restorations from Winfarthing as they remove walls, AJF maintenance , Newton Flotman for bespoke furniture, Variblast for stripping!! beams, coffee by  Rachael and bacon sarnie producer Jeremy

If you are interested in the new look we will be putting photos as we progress on our site any volunteers give us a call!

So for now Happy November and please keep and eye on the blog for Relish updates

As we start to light the open fires, it appears the small fireplace which the dining area leads onto the patio area has become very popular for people wanting to warm up with a good pint of local real ale or a nice bottle of wine. We have moved sofas and large inviting arm chairs round to this area with side tables with local magazines and local books for people to browse through. Whilst relaxing by the fire we are offering a ‘Lounge Bar’ menu. This menu consists of finger food which can be casually picked at,  as an example half a pint of mixed local sausages with homemade brown or tomato sauce, pork pie and scotch egg and chutney, a tower of beer battered onion rings with chilli sauce, cheese platter with artisan crackers and chutney, scampi ‘in a basket!’ with homemade tartare sauce.

This is the next stage of our Relish project, we started with reducing the length of the bar as this was very dominating to the size of the property and with the conservation team at South Norfolk council we hope to open the large fireplace so that both the restaurant and the dining area in front of the bar feel as they are one area which will be great for diners and the atmosphere. The room that leads onto the patio will then be part of a refurbishment plan introducing a sympathetic but modern lounge bar, high tables and comfy chairs  where you can enjoy a pre dinner drinks, an after dinner coffee and liqueur or somewhere you can come and relax just for a drink and perhaps be tempted by our lounge bar menu. (part of this is now in place as an ongoing project)

We will continue to blog but hope that whole refurbishment plans will be completed by mid January as we start to work on this now.

Due to popular request we have put together the details of New Years Eve.

As some of you are aware when I am backed into a corner to commit I normally bounce back with a poem, so here it is this years details for our New Years Eve celebrations.

New Years Eve 2011

Soul Kitchen meets
Soul Kitchen

Even if you’re too
young to remember,

We’re celebrating the
soul era at the end of December,

So put on your dancing
shoes, dress up if you dare,

Flair trousers, diva
dress, back comb your hair?

Aretha Franklin, Ray
Charles, Turner & Eke

Come on you know this music
we all like,

No pressure though to
join in and dance

But to enjoy our soul
food don’t give up that chance

So what’s the menu here
is a clue

There’ll be three kitchens
so no need to queue

Picture the scene set
in the Deep South

Let some of our dishes
tantalise your mouth

Sweet potato, Creole
and crayfish

‘Gumbo’ a Louisiana
stew in a palm dish

Roasted green beans, a
deep pit barbeque

Some samples of what
we may serve you

On arrival enjoy fresh
squeezed lemonade

With something
stronger added whilst being made

So tickets are on sale
to celebrate New Year

Biased I know but I
would come here

Great music,
atmosphere, street food in a bowl

New Years Eve here guaranteed
to have SOUL

Tickets paid in advance are £35 per person and include, live music on vinyl, food, a drink on arrival and a bit if a bang!

Great Food, Wine and Company

Firstly a reminder what is Relish Our Supper Club?

It is a great opportunity to meet new people, sample a great taster menu created by Jeremy of  seasonal and local ingredients with delicious wines to match. The supper club runs on the first Friday of every month and has limited space for just 20 diners.

So how was the first one? the menu was £35 this included 6 taster courses and 6 wines to compliment. The first dish was Scallops, clams and turnip puree, onto Relish home smoked carp – a massive success, then, local goat cassoulet, then, Belly pork and pork escalope, onto homemade bread filled with white lady ewes milk cheese port and sultanas and to finish we served roasted fig with amaretto ice cream and puff pastry tuille. Wines were chosen by Bijou bottle and included an oaked Sancerre, Valpolicella and Pedro Ximenez to name a few

Feedback on the event was so good that 8 people rebooked for 7th October that night! so be sure to book early

Octobers menu will be of a similar price and again will be a surprise selection of dishes created by Jeremy with wines from Jerome at Bijou Bottles

As we launch our new BOARD MENU one of the highlights for September will be our Norfolk Taster Board to coincide with This Years Norfolk Food Festival – check our their website www.norfolkfoodfestival.co.uk aswell as www.aylshamshow.co.uk

Our BOARD MENU will run along side our exsisting A La Carte menu and will be our creative twist on some real classic dishes.

An example of these dishes may be Fish and Chips, Curry, Caesar Salad, Calamari and Brancaster Mussels these will not look like the traditional dishes you may have tasted elsewhere before but our fresh, modern take on them and all will be served on rustic wooden chopping boards – hence the title BOARD MENU

The Calamari may well be slow cooked in red wine and served with fresh sardines and chunky homemade bread

The curry may well be authentic Indian curry, using both the leg and the thigh slowly cooked and served with bombay potatoes and saffron rice

Our take on Scampi and chips may be a few in white wine and garlic and a few perhaps breaded and then perhaps a few provencal served with handcut chips and homemade tartare sauce

we dont want to give too many of our surprises away so just pop down and experience for yourself but here is a sneak picture of what you might expect for just £12 – £14 per board

As we launch our new BOARD MENU one of the highlights for September will be our Norfolk Taster Board to coincide with This Years Norfolk Food Festival – check our their website www.norfolkfoodfestival.co.uk aswell as www.aylshamshow.co.uk

Our BOARD MENU will run along side our exsisting A La Carte menu and will be our creative twist on some real classic dishes.

An example of these dishes may be Fish and Chips, Curry, Caesar Salad, Calamari and Brancaster Mussels these will not look like the traditional dishes you may have tasted elsewhere before but our fresh, modern take on them and all will be served on rustic wooden chopping boards – hence the title BOARD MENU

The Calamari may well be slow cooked in red wine and served with fresh sardines and chunky homemade bread

The curry may well be authentic Indian curry, using both the leg and the thigh slowly cooked and served with bombay potatoes and saffron rice

Our take on Scampi and chips may be a few in white wine and garlic and a few perhaps breaded and then perhaps a few provencal served with handcut chips and homemade tartare sauce

we dont want to give too many of our surprises away so just pop down and experience for yourself but here is a sneak picture of what you might expect for just £12 – £14 per board

Our first supper club date has been confirmed as Friday 2nd September at 7.30pm

The menu will be showcasing the best of local to tie in with the launch of this year Norfolk Food Festival, Our most recent award of Best use of Local Produce on a menu in Norfolk, and celerating our 6th Birthday!

The price will be £35 per person which includes six dishes and six wine to compliment (if you do not wish for the wine the price will be £29 per person)

Jerome from Bijou Bottles will be joining us for the evening and we of course hope to have the technology in place so we can have a live link to the kitchen ( visual anyway!!)

The spaces will be limited to just 20 so if you are interested please book asap – if you miss this one we will be holding our supper club the first friday of every month thereafter

So book now to avoid disappointment