On Saturday I went along with the family to a Tasting Day at Grantham's Fine Food and Wine Shop on Heyes Lane. It really was a treat, offering customers old and new the opportunity to sample a selection of unique products and meet the suppliers too.
A wide range of different suppliers attended the event including; John and Cordelia from Robinson’s brewery, Ed from Boutinot Wines, Brett from The Pastry King with his amazing handmade chocolates, Gisa and Anna-Maria with Italian olives and homemade caponata, Yann from Fromi, with cheeses from Rungis market and Jo from the Deli Station with cured meats and salamis.
Hanan from Terra Rossa had brought along a selection of Jordanian products and I mustn't forget Christian from Patchwork Pate with his wonderful range of unusual ice creams - which he had launched at last week's Speciality Food & Drink Exhibition in London.
Grantham's are the first stockists of these adult ice creams the flavours of which have been inspired by their pates. Martin's favourite was Bourbon-soaked blueberry - a tub of which made its way in to our shopping basket. We were also treated to a freshly made pizza from a Jamie Oliver Wood Fired Oven, which we were all very taken with.
Team Grantham, which comprises of Mike and Gill along with their three daughters Rachael, Jessica and Lydia, were all on hand to welcome and advise their loyal customers, as well as the new faces. The eldest daughter Rachael was dishing up handmade pasta and pasta sauces from Italy as well as some very tempting handmade cupcakes.
Rachael said "The tasting day was our 6th event, we hold two a year at the shop and a third Christmas event at a local hotel. This is a good way of introducing new and exciting products to customers both old and new and it allows them to taste some of our exclusive products. Our suppliers also enjoy meeting the customers and explaining the products to them. In fact many suppliers ask to come back time after time and the feedback from our customers is positive - a fun time is had by all.
"This years event was one of our most successful to date and does not seem to have been affected by the credit crunch."
