The Nook On The Square

In March last year I was one of many to watch a very interesting series of programmes called The Restaurant Man where chef Russell Norman followed the journeys of people who packed in their day jobs to follow their dreams of opening a restaurant, despite having no catering experience.
For me, having been in the trade since leaving school 30 years ago, it was a very interesting set of programmes, especially as the final episode was a new cafe opening just 12 mins drive from my home.
Sisters Kate and Alex had a dream of transforming the ground floor of Kates house in the small village of Dunchurch, Rugby into a quaint, shabby chic cafe - The Nook On The Square.
In the program we saw the sisters taken to a top London hotel to learn about the etiquette of afternoon tea service, and to a transport cafe to experience the pressure of fast paced service and finally to France to be shown how to create beautiful square quiches.
Russell felt that being in a quiet village The Nook needed a signature dish to bring in regular customers and the quiches would be that such dish.



The Nook On The Square, Dunchurch, Rugby

 

Word spread about the cafe and it's involvement with the BBC 2 series and, on opening day, there was a queue down the street of inquisitive customers. A couple of months later the program aired and custom again went through the roof. It was far busier than either of the sisters ever envisaged.

Alex eventually left to return to nursing and a new manager was employed, along with several more staff.

And me? Well out of the blue last August I spotted an advert for a head chef for The Nook On The Square and, having been very unsettled with my job at The Red Lion for quite a while, I had no hesitation in applying for the job!

On August 28th, 2014 my new journey began!

Roasted Squash, Beetroot and Feta Salad

We've had some really good trip advisor reviews just recently.
I have wrote before about the good and bad sides of the site. Constructive criticism is always welcome to improve any business, unfortunately some people can be extremely rude and nasty.

One suggestion on a recent review was that a salad would be a welcome addition to the daily menu as most of the meals were heavy with pastry or bread,and a salad would be a lighter, healthier option.
Taking this comment on board Kate suggested a warm salad with roasted vegetables and feta.
Straight away I looked through pinterest for ideas and put together the lovely salad in the photo below.
The reviewer on trip advisor was correct, it was a great success on the menu. Many were ordered and lots of great feedback was received.

  The dish comprises of mixed leaf salad, cherry tomatoes, warm roasted squash, beetroot,and small chunks of feta. I caramelised some onion in balsamic and sugar and spread over the salad. The finishing touch of was a scattering of pomegranate seeds and roasted pine nuts.


Roasted Squash, Beetroot and Feta Warm Salad

Square Quiche - Famous Signature Dish at The Nook On The Square

During filming of The Restaurant Man, The Nook On The Square was given advice to have a signature dish on their menu. After a visit to France it was decided that square quiches would be a unique selling point for the small village cafe.
The concept worked and in the first few months The Nook struggled to keep up with demand as the quiches were so time consuming to make.
They remained popular even when the hype from the tv show calmed down, tho not as many sales.
Early January 2015 The Nook closed it's doors for a week to decorate and carry out maintenance and, during this time, I put forward the suggestion of changing the quiche flavours. I felt it would be great to start the New Year with a change.
After some taste testing we went with:
Bacon, Spinach and Mushroom
Smoked Haddock and Watercress
Broccoli, Goats Cheese, Cashew Nuts and Pesto.
The new flavours went down well on re-opening. There was the odd customer that moaned because the vegetarian had changed, or turned their nose up at the thought of smoked haddock in a quiche but overall sales are back up and The Nook remains to be as busy as ever.

Below are our Smoked Haddock and Watercress square quiches being prepared.



Preparation of Smoked Haddock and Watercress Square Quiche at The Nook On The Square.

And here are the Bacon, Spinach and Mushroom. Our in house baker Vanessa tends to make between 32 and 40 per day.


Preparation of Bacon, Spinach and Mushroom Square Quiche at The Nook On The Square

 

All quiches are served warm from the oven with a fresh mixed leaf salad and celeriac and apple slaw.


Bacon, Spinach and Mushroom Square Quiche at  Nook On The Square

 

During December we offered The Christmas Quiche.
Filled with free range turkey, bacon, stuffing balls, cranberry sauce and leeks the concept worked brilliantly served with potatoes, peas and brussel sprouts.



The Christmas Quiche
Free range turkey, bacon, stuffing, cranberry sauce and leeks cooked in our famous square quiche cases

 

So if you're in the area pop in, say hi and try one of our quiches for yourself .