Cafe Northallerton

The Café - News

We are continuing to offer our Monthly Wine Tasting Evenings, to be held on the final Monday or Tuesday of each month, up to Monday 26th November.

Pre-theatre menus are being offered in conjunction with the local theatre groups to support performances at the Forum Theatre

We are in the process of collecting customer data, so we can let you know about up and coming events, offers and give vouchers. The cards are available from The Café now.

For those who choose to fill a form, you will be entered into a monthly draw for a Bucks Fizz breakfast for two.

From September 2007 The Café now has free broadband wireless access available to our guests, bring your laptop along and our staff will provide you with the necessary codes. This offer is for guests only and is subject to terms and conditions.

The Café Newsletter will be sent online from October 2007

Family Friendly The Café is a pretty unpretentious name for a cafe that's certainly not a "caff".
A couple of weeks back I was maligning the fact that I couldn't find anywhere to eat lunch on a Sunday in Northallerton.
I'd gazed longingly at this place which was shut and vowed to return because it looked the business.
A Saturday lunchtime afterwards we returned.
It looked busy and we expected, with two children and a pushchair in tow, to be turned away.
Instead we were given the perfect table, nicely out of the way but with loads of room.
There's a really easy feel to the place and service is brisk and friendly.
The joy of finding a children's meal for £2.50 was the first surprise. Real food too - a burger, yes, but a home - made "real" burger. Another choice was pizza. With chips and oodles of ketchup.
In fact, so tempting was this that dad, a bit of a burger fanatic, went for a specially executed adult portion - two burgers!
We ate Sardinian flat bread while we waited for our main dishes - the crisp, garlicky snap - off sort that looks like a huge poppadum. It came with a light spread of juicy tomatoes on top.
My main course was from the varied specials selection on the blackboard.
Gnocceti pasta with spicy sausage - an enormous portion for £5.95. I knew I should have gone for the £4.95 starter size.
The teeny pasta shells came in an ocean of tomato sauce, lots of more - ishly sweet onions in there too - plus, of course, the sweet, spicy and plentiful chunks of Italian sausage. It was fab, what more can I say.
Word of praise too for the delicious chip. And the burgers - hand crafted and juicy - they were chargrilled and flavour packed. Full marks.

The Café has been open for about a year now - its boss came from the well known Imperial Express in Darlington.
Already it is an award - winner for its hearty breakfasts. And its website is brilliant and offers loads of information for foodies - check it out at www.the-cafe-northallerton.co.uk.

HAMBLETON

DISTRICT COUNCIL

Winner - Restaurant of The Year

Flavours of
Hambleton Awards
2005

Top Flavours in Hambleton

Eight Hambleton based food businesses are celebrating being the 'best in Hambleton'.

They have won top slots in the prestigious 'Flavours of Hambleton' awards.
The Hambleton District Council competition – now in its second year – attracted hundreds of nominations for 100 different businesses. They were whittled down to 23 finalists in the eight categories.

Restaurant of the Year – The Café, Northallerton
Breakfast of the Year – The Golden Fleece, Thirsk
Food producer of the Year – Thornhill Dexter Beef, Easingwold
Outside caterer of the Year – Le Carolo, Thirsk
Village Shop of the Year - Coxwold Post Office and Stores
Pub food of the Year – The Standard, Northallerton
Specialist Retailer of the Year – the Village Pantry, Raskelf
Tearoom of the Year – The Corner Cupboard, Birdforth

And at a special ceremony at Thirsk Racecourse the winners collected their prizes.

Malcolm Warne, editor of the Darlington and Stockton Times presents the award.

Owner of The Café, James Butterfiled said:
"To win the Restaurant of the Year Award is a fantastic achievement for The Café. Following our success in the awards last year, I asked the staff if we could raise our standards and consistency even further, and to try and exceed our customers' expectations. I feel that this latest award proves we have done just that.
Now we need to stay on this path, keeping fresh, working hard and listening to our customers, and we will continue to flourish and fulfil our potential."

Highly commended prizes went to Garthway Tearooms, Northallerton; Stamfrey Farm Clotted Cream; Shepherds Purse Cheeses; FIGS catering; Tollerton Post office and stores; Crakehall Post Office and Shop; The Wellington Heifer, Ainderby Steeple; The Fox and Hounds, Carthorpe; Lewis and Cooper of Northallerton; Spring House Farm Shop, Scruton; TeaHee, Easingwold; Glebe Cottage tearooms, Kildale; Aroma, Northallerton; The Golden Fleece, Thirsk; and The Café, Northallerton.

The awards were established by the District Council in 2004 to celebrate the best in food and drink in Hambleton.

"We set out to strengthen the links between tourism and the food and drink industry – to develop a distinct cuisine for Hambleton," said Tourism Manager, David Shields.
"Judging by the standard of entries for these awards there is a wealth of excellence out there – and making final choices for the top prizes was very difficult.
"Every one of the finalists was a winner and should be very proud of their achievements."

The event attracted sponsorship from local champions - the Darlington and Stockton Times, ITV – Tyne Tees Television, Yorkshire Tourist Board, BBC Radio York, Kitchen Confidential, Corporate Safety Solutions and the Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and the Humber.

Flavours of Hambleton: the winners take their bows

by staff of The Darlington & Stockton Times

OUTSTANDING establishments offering the best food and drink in Hambleton were recognised at an awards ceremony last week.
Eight winners and 15 runners up were selected from 700 nominations to receive their accolades at the second Flavours of Hambleton Awards at Thirsk racecourse.

Judges whittled nominees down to five per category before visiting them as mystery shoppers to decide on the finalists. Pam Royle from Tyne Tees presented the awards ceremony with a short film about each of the finalists.
The scheme was developed to encourage Hambleton food and drink producers and providers to forge closer links with the tourism industry and promote healthy eating.

Last year the food and drink market brought over £10m into Hambleton district and research showed that quality and individuality of food on offer was becoming increasingly important along with a desire for menus offering local dishes.This year the Pub Food of the Year and Outside Caterer of the Year categories were added in recognition of the achievements of those working in these sections of the industry.

Hambleton's tourism manager David Shields said the calibre of entries had been high making judging difficult. All the winners demonstrated high standards in providing good local food and quality service in excellent surroundings.
"Judging by the standard of entries for these awards there is a wealth of excellence out there and making final choices for the top prizes was very difficult. Everyone of the finalists was a winner and should be proud of their achievements."

The Darlington and Stockton Times, ITV Tyne Tees Television, BBC Radio York, Yorkshire Tourist Board, Kitchen Confidential, Corporate Safety Solutions, Hambleton District Council and the Regional food Group for Yorkshire and the Humber sponsored this year's event.

The Restaurant of the Year award went to The Café in Northallerton. Owner James Butterfield said: "It's fantastic - I'm really pleased. After last year we raised our game and fulfilled the customer's expectations and thensome.
"It's a fantastic achievement and a monument to the efforts of my staff. I could not do this on my own and our success is down to them and their hard graft. Now we will set new targets and maintain consistency."

HAMBLETON

DISTRICT COUNCIL

Winner - Breakfast of The Year

This is what was said when the winning breakfast was announced! The presentation was made by Joanne Royle from the Yorkshire Tourist Board which sponsored this category.

“As expected it was another hard decision for the judges – sampling so many breakfasts was hard work! But after much salivating, they went for the establishment offering the tastiest – and best value – English breakfast, The Café in Northallerton.”

And this is what was said in the introduction to the awards ceremony by presenter Pam Royle:

Research revealed that last year the food and drink market brought over 10 million pounds into Hambleton - that’s a 13% increase on 2002. And this year it is expected to be worth even more.

That same survey showed that the quality and individuality of the food and drink on offer was becoming increasingly important to both visitors and local people. And there was a real hunger for menus offering local dishes.That’s why Hambleton District Council set out to strengthen links between the tourism and food and drink sectors - encouraging the use of local produce and developing a distinctive local cuisine.

To celebrate that, the council has established these awards – to create excellence throughout this district of North Yorkshire. And judging by the enthusiasm with which they have been greeted – it’s obviously been a good idea!

More than 1200 nominations were received for the six categories. Those were whittled down to the top five in each group – and teams of hungry judges were sent out across the district as mystery shoppers. None of them came back hungry and all are now on diets!
After much debate they came up with the top three in each section – for best restaurant, tea room, breakfast, village shop, specialist retailer and food producer.

Northallerton News - 15th November 2004

Northallerton's "The Café" is one of six Hambleton food and drink outlets popping the champagne corks after being named the best in the district.

The inaugural 'Flavours of Hambleton' awards singles out food businesses of excellence, and The Café landed the first ever title of 'Breakfast of The Year'.

A delighted James Butterfield, manager of The Café, said, "These awards are definitely a great idea and the categories are really shared out between everyone."

"We were very pleased to win, especially as we have only been open since last October. Like the other winners, we have set our stall out now and will have to keep these standards - people will be expecting a champion, award winning breakfast now!"

The Café uses local produce to make its classic full English breakfast, which is served at £5.95 a go.

Sausages from Northallerton’s Thomson Butchers, vegetables from Northallerton’s Mitchinsons greengrocers and bread from Thomas The Bakers are all ingredients of 'Breakfast Of The Year'.

Sycamore dairies, Thirsk also supply the dairy products and Aiskew chef Lee Stooke is usually responsible for the early morning cooking.

"We use all local suppliers and there’s nothing better than a good full English Breakfast!" added Mr.Butterfield.

The awards were established by Hambleton District Council to celebrate the best in food and drink in Hambleton. The competition attracted more than 1,200 nominations, which were whittled down to 18 finalists in the six categories. The finalists collected their prizes at a special ceremony at Thirsk Racecourse.

12th November 2004

WINNING OWNER SETS NEW STANDARD

Winner – The Café, Northallerton

Having just celebrated its first birthday, The Café in Northallerton has already established itself as a popular establishment in the town.

Opened in October last year by James Butterfield, the business offers much more than just a café, with its full menu, sit-down service, licensed bar, and even wedding day catering.

An Italian influence is evident in the menu, which offers a wide range of dishes and a specials’ board. There is a children’s menu and vegetarian options, and the food is prepared under the guidance of head chef Roberto Carboni.

The breakfasts which earned The Café first place in the competition are served from 8.30 – 11.30 and consist of a full English with a choice of drink.

There are 16 members of staff working in the front of the restaurant and in the kitchen.

Mr Butterfield worked in the Imperial Express Café in Darlington for two years before deciding to branch out into his own business. The Café has strong links with the Imperial Express, which is reflected in its menu and pricing.

Mr Butterfield said one of the strengths of The Café was its flexibility. ”We have a lot of different options to suit what it is that people want,” he said. “If they want a full sit-down meal, or a quick takeaway sandwich, or a drink after work, or a coffee in the morning, we offer all that.”

Mr Butterfield said he was determined to maintain and improve on the high standards which claimed the award. “It was wonderful to win, but now we have set the bar higher for ourselves,” said Mr Butterfield. “It’s one thing to have served the judges a breakfast they enjoyed, but now we want to make sure that every customer receives the same award-winning service.”

The Café BT Openzone

Northallerton's ONLY wireless internet connection.

With BT Openzone you can access the Internet using fast, wire-free connections just as securely as if you were at your desk.
This means that when you walk into The Café you will be able to sit down and log on.

The Café's BT Openzone connection will enable you to securely access your office network, just as if you were really there, send and receive emails, browse the web.

You can do all of this at broadband speeds (up to 10 times the speed of a 56K dial-up modem).

Technical info

To access the system from The Café you will need:
a wireless-enabled laptop or PDA, and a BT Openzone subscription or pre-pay voucher.

BT Openzone works with PCs and Macs as well as leading PDAs.

If your computer does not have a built-in wireless capability you will need:
a wireless LAN card.
Laptops take PCMCIA cards whereas PDAs accept Compact Flash Cards.

(Any devices that are IEEE 802.11b and Wi-Fi certified should work with BT Openzone.)

How much will it cost ?

At The Café, the choice of vouchers will be - £6, £10, £40 (inc. VAT) payable in advance.
Access - 1 hour, 1 day, 30 days according to the voucher you buy

The Café Celebration ''get 2 gether''

With friends & family absent or abroad, why not have the pictures of your celebration relayed via The Café webcam directly to their homes?

Receive messages from your family & friends whilst in The Café, reply to those messages.

The Café Online Shop (opens 2005)

Browse The Café's produce, food & drink.
Buy online.

The Café Wine Club.

Meetings with wine lovers & experts.
Wine tasting & bulk ordering through the club.
Meet people, taste wine, eat food, save money.

The Café Newsletter.