Hello from Café Bleu

What a busy month October has been for us here. We closed for a few days to undertake our refurbishment programme which had been months in the planning. The floors were completely stripped back to the original wood, which is probably well in excess of one hundred years old, stained in a much lighter colour and sealed. This was hard work for the team that undertook the task and nerve racking for us as we weren’t sure what the finished result was going to look like. The bar lighting has been changed as have the chairs. The whole restaurant now has padded seats. At the same time a lot of work was undertaken behind the scenes - installing new refrigeration, lighting and floor covering along with general painting and a deep clean of the extraction system. We are very pleased with the end result and hope that you approve of it.

We are again pleased to be able to host an exhibition of new work undertaken by Jane King-Spooner. This will take place from the 17th November through to 29th November. Many of you may well know Jane for her work around the area. She is a talented artist who is responsible for the trompe l'oeil and interior paint effects in Café Bleu. I have previewed her work and must say the results are incredible. Please feel free to call in and view her work even if you do not have time to dine with us. Jane can also create distressed effect pieces so if you have a piece of furniture you are not sure what to do with you would be amazed at what could be done to it. Our wash stand in the garden was just an old undesirable piece of oak until Jane worked on it.

The 2nd December sees our resident artist Nikki McKay holding her annual vernissage. Featuring at least twelve new works the main theme of her work will be “Water”. Again I have had the pleasure of a preview of the works which are very exciting. We always say that this is the ideal opportunity to buy that different original Christmas gift with prices starting from just £95. The vernissage coincides again with the town’s switching on of the Christmas lights. We will be open for Sunday lunch as usual and will be opening in the evening to give you chance to relax after all the activity of the towns Christmas Market. The menu for the evening is on the web. Again please feel free to call in just to view Nikki’s work. http://www.nikkimckay.com

Where has this year gone? Christmas is fast approaching and we all have to start thinking about our seasonal arrangements. Our festive menus are now available in the restaurant and reservations are being taken. Have you considered our private dinner menu for your family gathering or staff party? Our web site www.cafebleu.co.uk  has been updated to include a Christmas 2007 page in the menu sections for you to access our menus on line. If you have any questions about party, private dining or individual bookings feel free to contact Jean-Francois who will be more than happy to assist you.

Finally we take this opportunity to announce our Gourmet Evening to be held on Wednesday 28th November. The evening will follow the popular format of past events and feature a five course meal with wine, tea and coffee for a fully inclusive price of £32.95. Places are as ever very limited and released on a first come first served basis. Due to the limited number of places we regret that bookings cannot be made via e-mail. The menu is available via our web site.