Out & About Autumn 2018

Monkey Tree, Newbury 2 Northcroft Lane, Newbury RG14 1BS T: 01635 226420 Open 8am until 3pm Monday to Saturday FB/Instagram/Vegan/Vegetarian

Cobbs Farm Shop Café, Hungerford Bath Rd, Hungerford RG17 0SP T: 01488 686770 Open Monday to Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday10am-5pm www.cobbsfarmshop.co.uk/ FB/Cobbs Farm Shop/ @CobbsFarmShop/vegetarian/free wifi/takeaway C obbs Farm Shop café has recently been refurbished and extended, making for a light, bright and spacious area. The young team of staff are cheery and welcoming as they vie with each other to see who can prepare the best cappucino. Friends wander in and sit down to tuck into huge pieces of homemade cake and down the lovingly-prepared coffee. The café opens out to an outdoor area where there is more seating, a field – where outdoor cinema events have been held over the summer – and a playground area for the children. You get to the café through the shop, which is brimming with local produce – a deli counter, a butcher and a selection of artisan gins and wines, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. The Lobster Pot fish shop is also on site. The café has an alcohol licence and on Sundays serves traditional roast, which has proved very popular. It’s busy all year round and is very family-orientated. Marketing manager Lauren says: “We like to push local produce and serve whatever we can grow ourselves. We cross-promote high-quality good food – if you like what you eat in the café, then you can buy it in the shop.” As a part of the community, the café is always on the look-out for ways of encompassing the whole farm shop and kitchen experience, with sausage-making courses and flower arranging sessions and the opportunity to tour

D enzil Carlton runs a café with a difference. In the seven months it has been open, Monkey Tree has already established a reputation for amazing burritos and his Yorkshire pudding wraps are also a firm favourite. “Our peak trade is

lunchtime, when people pop in for a wrap or a burrito to take away”, explains Denzil. “We prepare everything on the premises and I’m always on the lookout for supplying something that bit different, to make us stand out from the crowd.” He certainly seems to be achieving that and is particularly keen to promote vegan options. He will soon be introducing his vegan tuna melt, made from jackfruit, and a coronation chicken wrap using seitan, a meat replacement. “Newbury is a very cosmopolitan town and customers are happy to try something new. The homemade cakes we have on the counter are also vegan – they don’t taste any different from normal cakes and it just shows that delicious food can be created this way.” That’s not to say that Denzil doesn’t also offer regular meat and dairy fillings and most of his mornings, along with his two staff, are spent preparing and packing lunctime orders booked via the online service Bring Me Lunch. The café also started a Pay it Forward initiative in July – when people come in to buy their food and drink, they can leave a donation on the counter, so that those in need can come in and pick up a sandwich or a coffee. “We have some regular visitors who make use of the service,” explains Denzil. In fact, at the time of going to press they had already given out more than 100 free servings. Tucked just off the main street, Monkey Tree offers a refreshing alternative.

the vineyard. You might be popping in for a coffee, but the chances are you’ll also come away with some of the artisan food on display.

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