Hello again. I don’t know about you, but I can’t quite believe it’s October already. Particularly when it feels warmer than August was this year. The vegetables in the patch do not know what to think and some seem to be coming back from the virtual dead due to the sunshine. I have to say that I have not been so enthusiastic recently, the summer has taken its toll a little. I’ve thinned out the turnips though and have replanted the thinnings in the hope that they will also grow to golf ball size. I am told by Jon that they are looking a bit sorry for themselves so time will tell whether this plan for thriftiness works.
The bistro is onto winter opening hours, meaning that it’s Friday and Saturday evenings from now on for a while. We will certainly open on other days if anyone wants to book the whole place, spread the word 
One of my friends has suggested a question and answer feature for the blog, so here we go. Any other questions that any of you have about the bistro will be gratefully received and answered (unless I don’t know the answer that is…)
How did you decide on a name for your new place? Did you have a short list?
It was, and is, simple really. We didn’t want anything complicated and wanted to keep Jon’s name in the title somewhere as it’ll be nice to get his name known. We’re not looking to become the next celebrity chef couple but in the local area if people start to recognise his name or hear about his food the more the better for business. We liked the idea of calling it a bistro, we’re not about fine dining and feel that the name suggests a rustic style of dining.
Does Jon cook a certain style of food? Italian? Modern? English?
Another factor of the name of the business it that it also emphasises the French feel of the menus, Jon is French-Essex-Cornish at heart after all! He thinks he has now found the way of cooking that suits him and that he loves, basically rustic bistro French.
You say it has been a learning experience do you have any cute anecdotes? Last minute dashes to the shops or butchers? And dishes flop onto the floor just before they get plated?
There was one occasion where a dish ended up on the floor but luckily we had a back-up supply of ingredients! The most interesting evening so far in terms of behind the scenes has been when the end of Jon’s nose started bleeding and wouldn’t stop. He must have just nicked a nerve or something but it was a slight panic when I was having to seat customers, take food, plate food, put things in the oven… almost like a one man band! Anyway, after a long 10 minutes right in the middle of service it eventually stopped bleeding and he was back in the room, or the kitchen I suppose. It was on an evening when Jon’s brother and wife were eating with us and they said that they hadn’t noticed anything was up so hopefully nobody else did either!
Oow tell me more about these bagettes ? sound yummers. Any ideas I can borrow for at home this weekend?
I can’t reveal the trade secrets I’m afraid! But Jon has been working on perfecting his baguettes and it’s really paying off. He’s got a good friend who is an amazing baker in London and so has been on the phone to get some tips. In fact, my sister who has lived and worked all over France said the other day that the bistro baguettes are the best she’s tasted, praise indeed!
So what vegetables have really thrived and which not soo much? Which ones will you plant again next year?
The question of what to plant next year is one that is on my mind at the moment, I need to start planning my crops and particularly where to put them next year. Vegetables that have been amazing have been the broad beans, rocket, potatoes and every single type of root veg that we have planted (the good thing about the roots is that they keep their heads down, a vital characteristic with the weather conditions we have up on the plot). Not so successful veggies have been sweetcorn (which we really just planted as a wind barrier) and peas (tasted absolutely amazing but didn’t give much of a yield). Next year I’ll definitely be seeking out some dwarf runner beans which someone told me can be found. At the end of this month I’ll be planting broad beans ready for an early crop in the spring – fingers crossed.
Who is your veggie patch hero? Who do you turn to for advice?
My gardening book collection is growing and we both are fans of the River Cottage movement. Probably the best piece of advice from the River Cottage book is to become a ‘seed packet gardener’ because reading the seed packets gives you pretty much all the information you need to know. It won’t tell you whether the plant will actually grow but that’s not something that can really be predicted! Other heroes include my father-in-law, Ray, and my Uncle Peter. They are so knowledgeable and I know that I can call on either of them for tips and help. I may have to try and tempt them down to Cornwall in the spring to give me a hand with the planting…
What do you enjoy the most when you eat out?
The lack of washing up!!
What are the challenges of working for yourselves?
It was a big risk for Jon to leave a good, stable job and set up the bistro as we did not have a clue as to whether it would work or not. We’re lucky with how it’s been received so far and hope that this will continue. We’ve also been lucky to meet lots of lovely people through the bistro but there are, and always will be, the odd occasion where you can’t please somebody. That is hard but is a fact of life I guess. As long as we know we’ve done everything we can to make a customers’ experience enjoyable that is all we can hope for and we really have been touched by some of the lovely feedback we have received so far.
That’s it for now. I’ve been asked for some photos which I will attempt to add soon!
Thanks for reading.
Jen.
Jon’s Bistro at Bre-Pen Farm, Mawgan Porth, TR8 4AL ~ 01637 860420
www.bre-penfarm.co.uk
Open for dinner on Friday and Saturdays from 7pm.
Three courses for £20 per person, bring your own wine.
The greenhouse is amazing and is already making a huge difference to our growing lives. It’s also a blessing when the wind and rain hits (which at the moment is an all too frequent occurrence). I cannot believe how quickly plants grow with the protection and help of a bit of plastic, it is possible to see changes from day to day rather than from week to week. It is the first year we are growing under glass and so we’re learning as we go along as we did with the field last year. I am sure we’ll pick up some tips along the way, the main one right now seems to be not forgetting to do the watering…
‘I would never have chosen to eat that but I loved it’ (which happens fairly often). Although we would never want to force any dishes onto customers, it is such a positive thing to change perceptions about an ingredient that may not have been enjoyed in the past. Thank you to those brave diners who are willing to give the food a chance.
Nestled amongst the weeds we also found a miracle chervil plant, left over from a salad mix that we planted last summer. It somehow managed to just chill out in the ground and hibernate over the winter to then start sprouting in the last couple of weeks. The whole area looked like a mass of weeds and so it was a good find. You could find some on the bistro menu in the future, it’ll have to grow a lot first though – Jon’s not one for using herbs lightly.
