Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Christmas Afternoon Tea Party - Cardiff
BOOK NOW PEOPLE!
The menu is finally here so book up quickly.
Pettigrew Tea Rooms Menu - Christmas 2012
Saturday, 2 June 2012
"BAKE FREE BROTHER!"
I wanted to set up a tea room and the good news is that is exactly what I have done.
You may have spotted a small gap in my blog story telling with my last post being published on Tuesday 27th March 2012. That post heralded the news that following two years of planning, 44 blog posts and around 5500 tweets my dream of running a tea room was finally realised.
My abrupt silence was a deliberate and direct reflection of how all consuming setting up a business is. I will try to write about the experience now that I have some perspective. At various points over the past weeks of radio silence I have toyed with writing to you to explain, narrate and share my thoughts, feelings and adventures. My instincts told me to leave it, to experience it, so that I remember it and then share to it and so here we are.
You may have been part of the experience in real time, visiting the tea rooms in person. For that I can only thank you all. There has been no greater pleasure than meeting someone who connected to my story online and then made the effort to come in and say hello. Would we ever have met otherwise?
Here are some facts...
Since opening the doors in late March we have served over 15kg of Pettigrew Breakfast Tea, 800 toasted tea cakes, over 40 Victoria Sandwiches, 500 sandwiches, 4500 shots of fine Welsh roasted coffee, nearly 3000 scones and made countless new friends many of which I am delighted to say have become regulars!
Today my catch up will bring you how we went about taking on the West Lodge and translating all that planning into a living operating commercial tea room; to wake from my dream so to speak.
I need you to know that it has been incredibly tough but indescribably rewarding.
Decision Making
I had confirmation that I was the preferred operator for the tea room at West Lodge in late January this year and from that time on it was a race against the clock to turn all my procrastinating into a brilliant business that I was visualising.
One of the mutually agreed terms of my tenancy was to ensure that the tea rooms were open in time for the RHS Flower Show Cardiff on the weekend of Friday the 20th April. RHS attracts around 22,000 visitors to Bute Park each year and if anything would be a test for the tea rooms, then this would be it. From all of my research and speaking to other small business start ups, giving yourself time to test out your operation is key.
The builders gave us a get in date of the 9th March with a full handover of the building on Tuesday 20th March. With the RHS weekend less than four weeks from the handover date, I knew that the fit out would have to be quick and so I picked the date of Friday 30th March as our grand opening with a soft opening from the Monday before.
Her are some pictures which speak for themselves really, enjoy!
Fit Out Schedule
Monday 9th March - Kitchen Build
Friday 13th March - Still Room Build
Tuesday 19th March - Tea Room Fit Out
Saturday 24th March - Tea Room Dressing
Tuesday 27th March - Staff Induction and Soft Opening
Friday 30th March - GRAND OPENING
On the morning of Friday 30th March 2012, I was busy setting out the outside seating on our beautiful terrace and a random runner came past and shouted "Bake Free Brother!".
This was one of the most moving things during the opening. I still don't know who that was but thank you, it was brilliant. The good news is, I feel free... I am free.
Come in soon and say hello.
More photos and story to follow soon.
David & team
You may have spotted a small gap in my blog story telling with my last post being published on Tuesday 27th March 2012. That post heralded the news that following two years of planning, 44 blog posts and around 5500 tweets my dream of running a tea room was finally realised.
My abrupt silence was a deliberate and direct reflection of how all consuming setting up a business is. I will try to write about the experience now that I have some perspective. At various points over the past weeks of radio silence I have toyed with writing to you to explain, narrate and share my thoughts, feelings and adventures. My instincts told me to leave it, to experience it, so that I remember it and then share to it and so here we are.
You may have been part of the experience in real time, visiting the tea rooms in person. For that I can only thank you all. There has been no greater pleasure than meeting someone who connected to my story online and then made the effort to come in and say hello. Would we ever have met otherwise?
Here are some facts...
Since opening the doors in late March we have served over 15kg of Pettigrew Breakfast Tea, 800 toasted tea cakes, over 40 Victoria Sandwiches, 500 sandwiches, 4500 shots of fine Welsh roasted coffee, nearly 3000 scones and made countless new friends many of which I am delighted to say have become regulars!
Today my catch up will bring you how we went about taking on the West Lodge and translating all that planning into a living operating commercial tea room; to wake from my dream so to speak.
I need you to know that it has been incredibly tough but indescribably rewarding.
 |
| The 'Tea Room' in storage in my house |
Decision Making
I had confirmation that I was the preferred operator for the tea room at West Lodge in late January this year and from that time on it was a race against the clock to turn all my procrastinating into a brilliant business that I was visualising.
One of the mutually agreed terms of my tenancy was to ensure that the tea rooms were open in time for the RHS Flower Show Cardiff on the weekend of Friday the 20th April. RHS attracts around 22,000 visitors to Bute Park each year and if anything would be a test for the tea rooms, then this would be it. From all of my research and speaking to other small business start ups, giving yourself time to test out your operation is key.
The builders gave us a get in date of the 9th March with a full handover of the building on Tuesday 20th March. With the RHS weekend less than four weeks from the handover date, I knew that the fit out would have to be quick and so I picked the date of Friday 30th March as our grand opening with a soft opening from the Monday before.
Her are some pictures which speak for themselves really, enjoy!
Fit Out Schedule
Monday 9th March - Kitchen Build
Friday 13th March - Still Room Build
Tuesday 19th March - Tea Room Fit Out
Saturday 24th March - Tea Room Dressing
Tuesday 27th March - Staff Induction and Soft Opening
Friday 30th March - GRAND OPENING
On the morning of Friday 30th March 2012, I was busy setting out the outside seating on our beautiful terrace and a random runner came past and shouted "Bake Free Brother!".
This was one of the most moving things during the opening. I still don't know who that was but thank you, it was brilliant. The good news is, I feel free... I am free.
Come in soon and say hello.
More photos and story to follow soon.
David & team
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
OPENING THIS FRIDAY
I managed to get my face into the Echo on Saturday :o)
Shame no one told me my tile was the wrong way round! But you can't have everything eh?
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardiffonline/cardiff-news/2012/03/24/bute-park-s-historic-west-lodge-reopens-as-pettigrew-tea-rooms-91466-30611626/
So we are all go for the grand opening from 7:30am on Friday 30th March 2012, closing at around 5:30pm
You may have grasped from my lack of activity on the blog, Twitter and Facebook etc that I have been rather flat out making this dream into an operational Tea Room.
The good news is... we are on track! It should be a really busy weekend so come say hi and forgive us if we aren't the slickest business in town [yet!].
Our First Customer
I am delighted to say that we have served our very first paying member of the public Mrs Jayne Pugh of Llanishen, Cardiff.
There is still time to enter our competition which is closing this Friday to win some beautiful tea and coffee check it out via the link below.
http://iwanttobakefree.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/competition-time.html
Just to tantalise you here are some snaps of the Tea Room...
See you Friday!
David
Shame no one told me my tile was the wrong way round! But you can't have everything eh?
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardiffonline/cardiff-news/2012/03/24/bute-park-s-historic-west-lodge-reopens-as-pettigrew-tea-rooms-91466-30611626/
So we are all go for the grand opening from 7:30am on Friday 30th March 2012, closing at around 5:30pm
You may have grasped from my lack of activity on the blog, Twitter and Facebook etc that I have been rather flat out making this dream into an operational Tea Room.
The good news is... we are on track! It should be a really busy weekend so come say hi and forgive us if we aren't the slickest business in town [yet!].
Our First Customer
I am delighted to say that we have served our very first paying member of the public Mrs Jayne Pugh of Llanishen, Cardiff.
http://iwanttobakefree.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/competition-time.html
Just to tantalise you here are some snaps of the Tea Room...
David
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
BBC Radio Wales - Interview
March 2012
Today I was lucky enough to be interviewed by the lovely Jamie Owen and Louise Elliott on their week day magazine show. Listen along by clicking the play button below.
NOTE: The link above is HTML5 if it doesn't show in your browser click HERE or below is the flash version.
BBC Radio Wales 200312 by IWantToBakeFree
Today I was lucky enough to be interviewed by the lovely Jamie Owen and Louise Elliott on their week day magazine show. Listen along by clicking the play button below.
NOTE: The link above is HTML5 if it doesn't show in your browser click HERE or below is the flash version.
BBC Radio Wales 200312 by IWantToBakeFree
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Tea Room Launch Date Confirmed
It brings me enormous pleasure to announce that Pettigrew Tea Rooms will officially open to the public on Friday 30th March 2012.
Needless to say, there is still a lot to do and I am working hard to finally bring my plans to fruition. Here is a sneak peek at the interior...
Needless to say, there is still a lot to do and I am working hard to finally bring my plans to fruition. Here is a sneak peek at the interior...
See you soon and spread the word!
Pettigrew Tea Rooms, West Lodge, Bute Park and Arboretum, Cardiff CF10 1BJ
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Thursday, 1 March 2012
COMPETITION TIME
TEA ROOM OPENING THIS SPRING
Unbelievably the countdown has now begun to the opening of my traditional Tea Rooms in Cardiff. It's been a long journey over the past two years and if you have been following from the beginning you'll know the ups and downs. Somehow during this time baking has become more popular than ever and my passion for bringing a traditional slice of Tea Room culture to Cardiff has never been stronger.
To give you a taster of what's to come at Pettigrew Tea Rooms, today I am announcing an essential competition. I have teamed up with some of my key suppliers, Kitchens Cookshop [Cardiff], Peter James Gourmet Coffee [Ross-on-Wye] and the delectable Tea Palace [London] to create a Tea and Coffee lovers paradise.
The Prize - Totalling over £200!
A Stunning Vintage Tea Set
[milk jug, sugar bowl, set of teaspoons four cups and saucers as pictured]
[milk jug, sugar bowl, set of teaspoons four cups and saucers as pictured]
A Gift Voucher for 'Two for High Tea' at Pettigrew Tea Rooms, Castle Street, Cardiff
To WIN simply enter your details below and follow the instructions:
GOOD LUCK!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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