Tea Rooms and Montgomery Cheddar

From London to Broadway in Worcestershire and The Masters Pantry a deli, tea rooms and restaurant in a village swarming with tourists and day trippers from Birmingham. It did too much and none of it very well and was a far cry from the artisan perfection that Yael demanded, but there were consolations. When I wasn't gritting my teeth, serving revolting families who left crumbs everywhere, wet wipes all over the table and scrumpled their filthy napkins up on the empty plate (well empty of everything but the salad).  I had my first vegetable patch, a picture-book cottage with a stable door and honeysuckle and at night a nightingale sang and sang in a spinny on the other side of the hedge, inches from my bedroom window and it would be churlish to forget Kevin's fantastic scones.  However, the Masters panties was not a career and so when the opportunity to move to Bath to work with Ann Marie Down at the Fine Cheese Company came up I jumped at it. What a joy, to be surrounded with true food passion again, selling the finest British and European cheeses. learning about how they were "affinned" and brought to their very best before hitting the busy counter, learning about how different cheeses peaked at certain times of year, their terroir and the back story for each creamery. We sold deli meats, wine, Hobbs House bread (Tom Herbert of Fabulous baker brothers fame) and the fantastic range of biscuits that Ann Marie developed with Ashbourne biscuits, A company that she has now taken over.  But while this was an amazing experience and has stood me in good over the years it wasn't the industry I wanted to be in forever and just down the road in buzzing Bristol was a company that I had my sights on for many years.