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Sam at The Garden Tea Room and Delicatessen in Kingsland
Sam Bruce's Scrummy Bites
1st December 2010
My name is Sam Bruce, I live in Kingsland and was a student at Hereford Sixth Form College from 2007 to 2009. When I arrived at College I was tested and found to have dyslexia and dyspraxia which was a big surprise, but explained why I found things difficult at school. I did two years in the AS year and thanks to the additional help from Learning Support gained enough UCAS points to go to Brighton in 2009 to do a Foundation Degree in Hospitality and Event Management.
I came home from University after a year as I found the academic work too challenging and the additional support was not enough. I was very "down" and decided to return to my early love of cooking. Since then I have been setting up my own micro food business ‘Scrummy Bites’ from my 5* Environmental Health approved kitchen, based at home.
I started cooking when I was about 5 years old. My Mum was a pastry chef when she was young and taught me loads. Soon I was regularly cooking meals for friends, family and small charity events.
I also worked in kitchens at The Angel, Kingsland and The Riverside, Aymestry at weekends from the age of 14, before briefly running the Wigmore Community Cafe during the summer break before Uni. Whilst at Wigmore High School I did my work experience with Flavex International at Kingstone and had hoped to be a food scientist but was unable to gain the grades I needed. I did however find out that I have amazing taste buds!
I sell lots of delicious desserts, tarts, quiches, tortes (whole or by the slice) and tea breads at farmers' markets in Presteigne and Knighton and through local community shops (Eardisland and Yarpole), two commercial shops (Marston Meats and Leon’s Deli, Presteigne). I also do ‘pick up a dish’ which is very popular for busy people who love home-cooked food.
If you look on my website http://www.scrummybites.co.uk it shows some of the things I make for people. I also regularly do the cooking for small events e.g. birthdays, wedding anniversaries, funeral teas and training days. I usually cater for between 10 and 100 people.
This year I am honoured to have received Ludlow Food Festival’s first Graeme Kidd Memorial Bursary to expand. I have been given £1000 to buy equipment and try out some bigger food fairs. I went to Shobdon, Brampton Bryan and Ludlow food fairs this year which were hard work but great fun and very good marketing.
As part of the bursary I also get mentoring from top chefs at one of the Michelin star restaurants and business start-up support. Last month I spent a day cooking with the chefs at ‘La Bécasse’ in Ludlow which was amazing.
The next step was to find a small café to rent in the area. While looking into this I soon realised that the £10,000 minimum it would cost a year in rent and rates was a lot of money to find before even selling a slice of cake!
My Mum agreed that I could turn our large downstairs living room into a tea room overlooking The Green in Kingsland and apply for a change of use from Herefordshire Council. The application was approved and we opened The Garden Tea Room & Delicatessen in mid July. I now live in a cottage nearby and go to work at the home I grew up in!
We are both involved in the tea room, with me supplying all the food and Mum doing the front of house and paperwork as this is still difficult for me due to my dyslexia. I hope to be able to take on young people when the business has grown a bit more to help out.
My speciality is exotic cakes and desserts e.g. banana caramel torte, chocolate & raspberry ganache tart, apricot & almond frangipane tart, apple & maple cake. I also make a lot of vegetarian food and wheat, gluten and dairy-free alternatives for people with food sensitivities.
I am passionate about cooking and can recommend it as a great way to be creative and also earn a living. The time I spent at Hereford Sixth Form College helped me to develop. My AS in Business Studies has given me useful knowledge to develop my small business. I complimented this with a basic food hygiene course and some small business start-up days through Business Link.
I didn’t go to catering college but have learnt through watching cooking programmes, trying out old family recipes and experimenting with new flavours in my kitchen at home. I try new dishes out on family and friends before taking them to market to see how they sell. I now have many regular customers who come to see me at market each week to buy a slice or two of cake or some of my smoked salmon & cracked black pepper pâté or muffin-sized quiches e.g. leek and goat cheese or red onion and brie.
I love being self-employed as I am my own boss and can plan my own work load. I do the liaising with customers, costing, shopping, cooking, delivery and service. I have a part-time kitchen assistant now to do the bits I hate like cleaning the loaf tins (60+ per week) and preparing the veg...