Hampshire - View Magazines

More documents

Recommendations

Info

<strong>View</strong> vlife changer 6 A Warminster winner In search of a balanced life, Jacqui Tatnall and Mark Brassington moved to Wiltshire and opened Jacqueline’s Restaurant and Tea Rooms, and the awards and accolades have poured in… How’s this for a Christmas promise? Jacqui Tatnall and Mark Brassington declare that Jacqueline’s Restaurant and Tea Rooms, in Warminster, will be a Slade-free zone. ‘There will be peace and quiet for those people who want a break from the continuous Christmas music which usually starts in November,’ explains Jacqui. But Christmas isn’t being sidelined in this awardwinning eaterie. ‘We will have a Christmas menu featuring traditional and contemporary dishes,’ she says. Mark and Jacqui met over a pint of Fullers London Pride in a pub in Hove and after a year or so decided to kick the commuting habit. ‘Rather than commuting to work to earn the money to come home, sleep, then get up to go back to work, we wanted to try to gain a more balanced life,’ says Mark. ‘It’s questionable whether we have achieved this as being your own boss is very hard work,’ he adds, wryly. Mark and Jacqui with a selection of the quality local ingredients used in the restaurant An elegant façade which hides a few secrets
They moved to Warminster in 1999 and opened Jacqueline’s Restaurant and Tea Rooms, despite neither having qualifications or experience in the food industry. Mark began his working life in the Royal Navy on minesweepers, moving through financial services and sales to a spell as an HGV1 driver, while Jacqui gained a degree in Creative Arts, then working in administration in professional theatre. Her first boss was Michael Attenborough (Richard’s son) and she later landed a job with top West End producer Michael Codron at the Aldwych where, as financial assistant, she was responsible for handling payments to the acting world’s finest, including Judi Dench, Michael Gambon and Joan Collins. But this lack of food experience hasn’t held them back. ‘Mark is completely self-taught,’ says Jacqui, ‘and has turned his hobby into a business. We won Best Tea Rooms in Wiltshire and Best Tea Rooms in the West Country in 2001 with Taste of the West. We were nominated for the Tea Guild’s Best Tea Room in 2003 and highly commended in UKTV Food Heroes 2008, in the top 20 in the region.’ The UKTV Food Heroes competition, backed by Gary Rhodes (though they never met him), aims to encourage establishments nationwide to use fresh local and seasonal food and it was thanks to their customers’ online voting that they gained the highly-commended award. While enjoying success, Jacqui and Mark don’t intend to stand still. Finding to their advantage that locals are easing their finances by dining in town rather than using cars or taxis to travel out to remote restaurants, they’ve introduced an added incentive – buy a starter and get the main course at half price – for those choosing to eat between 5 – 8 pm. ‘And next year we’re going to completely refurbish the restaurant,’ says Jacqui, ‘making it fresher and brighter.’ Jacqui has no doubt that their food is special. ‘It’s local, organic, freshly prepared and home-cooked,’ she explains. ‘Using ingredients Another award: Jacqueline’s Restaurant and Tea Rooms was highly commended in the recent UKTV Food Heroes competition backed by Gary Rhodes life changer v as local as possible we aim to reduce food miles and hopefully the cost as well, both for us and our customers. We cook traditional and seasonal food, such as steak and kidney pie, which Mark’s grandmother taught him to make when he was about ten. He still uses the same recipe 40 years later. Ox kidney and marrow-bone stock are a must.’ ‘Far scarier than ghosts, the form of Michael Winner has also roamed these rooms’ While good food has to be the main draw, Jacqueline’s customers have, from time to time, enjoyed a few little extras. The restaurant is situated in a building said to date in part from the time of Henry VIII, which was later gentrified and extended by the Georgians and retains original Georgian and Victorian features. ‘There’s the possibility of a ghost or two,’ confides Mark. ‘We had the paranormal investigators here a couple of years ago, and customers have told us of their experiences.’ But that’s nothing. Far scarier than ghosts, the form of Michael Winner has also roamed these rooms. ‘He came to review our restaurant for The Sunday Times, which was a complete surprise,’ recalls Jacqui. ‘While he was here, Mark was chatting to a customer and accidentally called the man Mr Baker instead of Mr Smith.’ Mark’s error was overhead by Michael Winner, who offered a solution to the problem of occasionally getting a name wrong. ‘Call them all dear or darling,’ he expansively advised an embarrassed Mark. V Jacqueline’s Restaurant and Tea Rooms, 28 High Street, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 9AF 01985 217373 www.jacquelinesrestaurant.com 7 <strong>View</strong>
Page 1 and 2: Hampshire THE COUNTY’S FREE INDEP
Page 3 and 4: editor’s View The panto season is
Page 5: Waterstone's: • Andover • Eastl
Page 9 and 10: oth Tipu and his parents are buried
Page 11 and 12: Castlegate WINDOWS
Page 13 and 14: adrags Looking good, feeling fine -
Page 15 and 16: The best choice, top value and supe
Page 17 and 18: Golden Boy Maxi £21 Justhom Someth
Page 19 and 20: • Original artwork from local art
Page 21 and 22: cookery v t and slinky SACHERTORTE
Page 23 and 24: View vfood table talk Name: Tohur A
Page 25 and 26: The View review Annie Bullen drifts
Page 27 and 28: Christmas companions The current cr
Page 29 and 30: Ale and hearty Sally Place raises a
Page 31 and 32: There’s something magical about t
Page 33 and 34: A Winchester Christmas, a collectio
Page 35 and 36: ‘Learning and Laughter are an ess
Page 37 and 38: L NEWS Salisbury Cathedral pupils v
Page 39 and 40: Natural & Alternative flooring 4 St
Page 41 and 42: Love all things Lulu... ˚ Lulu han
Page 43 and 44: L A W N tech TM Winter Blues Destro
Page 45 and 46: Sweetly scented Viburnum bodnantens
Page 47 and 48: Vanguard Park Homes proudly present
Page 49 and 50: Owning a Merc has just got easier A
Page 51 and 52: It’s not just about enhancing you
Page 53 and 54: Don’t miss… points The annual C
Page 55 and 56: Inn ‘Please, my wife is with chil
Page 57 and 58:
Classified Classified The Terracott
Page 59 and 60:
Welcome to the Restaurant Exclusive
show all

Hampshire - View Magazines

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?