Homemade Cafe Brings New Flavour to Forest Recreation Ground

Homemade Café has officially opened the doors to its third Nottingham venue, creating six new jobs in the process. The award-winning bistro’s latest venture is based in the newly restored Pavilion on the Forest Recreation Ground, which forms part of the park’s £5.2m renovation project. Open daily, Homemade Pavilion showcases the best of Homemade Café’s menu, which has three-times been named as regional winner and national runner-up in the ‘Best Cheap Eats’ category at the Observer Food Monthly Awards. Breakfast dishes include Scottish smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and rocket on doorstep toast, and American pancake stacks served with fresh berries and pure maple syrup. At lunch, diners can choose from a rotating selection of specials, featuring Homemade’s signature Foxy’s Fish Finger Sandwich, Pork Schnitzel, Italian style meatballs and a griddled halloumi, roasted beetroot and cous cous salad. There is also a wide selection of hot and cold drinks, as well as Homemade’s legendary cakes, including the famous chocolate brownie. Homemade has also signed a deal to become one of the only local suppliers of Gelupo artisan gelati ice creams and sorbets. Flavours include bitter chocolate, pistachio and tiramisu. The opening has created a total of six new full and part-time positions, including one front-of-house apprenticeship. After a successful opening, Homemade’s creator Jasmin Barlow-Wilkinson believes the team could soon be expanding: “Since opening, we’ve actually been much busier than expected. The Forest Recreation Ground really has been brought back to life by the recent restoration work and is being widely used once again. “Our menu is a ‘best of Homemade’ featuring a selection of some of the most popular dishes from our other two venues. We’re very much catering for everyone, with a wide selection of traditional board games to keep people entertained and a dog-friendly welcome. “We expect to offer more apprenticeships as word continues to spread and we need more hands on deck!” As Jasmin explains, a recent meeting with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has given her inspiration for the future direction of the venue: “I recently worked with Jamie when he filmed an episode of Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast in Nottingham, focusing on Colwick Cheese. I’ve always admired the way he works and particularly the ways in which he encourages the next generation of food industry workers. “Ultimately, I would love Homemade Pavilion to be staffed mostly by apprentices, much like Jamie did with his restaurant Fifteen. There are some hugely talented young people here in Nottingham and they fully deserve the opportunity to showcase their skills and expand them even further.” Homemade Pavillion at the Forest Recreation Ground is the latest addition to the Homemade Café family, with venues also open on Pelham Street in the city centre, and on Mansfield Road in Sherwood as part of A Room Full of Butterflies gift shop. For more on Homemade Café, visit www.homemadecafe.com or follow the team on Twitter or Facebook.