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In this
time of the credit crunch it is refreshing to receive good news. It
may be slow for some but for Shah Athar of Café Rasoi in
Sussex, life is very busy.
Shah tells us, "I haven't
written in a while, mainly because we have had an unbelievably busy
year. We've had various cooking demos at schools (from all over the
county, including one school in our own kitchen and restaurant) and
even a nursing home (where we visited twice). We've entertained
business launches with Rugby World Cup stars. We've dressed up and
gotten involved with the local carnival which was very popular and
great fun; we've been giving cooking lessons in our kitchen for free
(how much are some people charging?!!); we've set up stalls at a
French Farmers market with about 20,000 visitors and then earlier
this month we were at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London
Olympia, where we launched our range of pickles and chutneys which
proved to be extremely popular, with great feedback on taste and
quality. We even had Charles Campion say our Aubergine and Tamarind
was very good! We've started selling to some of the top delicatessans
in the country, along with a much wider interest. We teamed up and
shared a stall with an award winning cheesemaker.
Not only that, I've been asked
to consult on a few restaurants with regards to revamping their
image, menus and helping them with doing cooking demos/lessons. I've
even got one booked in for someone else next week in Haywards Heath!
Training for food hygiene, in conjunction with Wealden District
Council, will take place in my restaurant Cafe Rasoi with myself as
the lead trainer.
On top of everything else, I
am also in the middle of opening 2 new premises, hopefully before
this November!
Cafe Rasoi has made it
to the finals of the prestigious Sussex Business Awards, in both the
Small Business and the Best Newcomer categories - a notable
achievement, as we are the only restaurant to be shortlisted from 30
candidates in each category. After initial consultation, Cafe Rasoi
was shortlisted down to 6 potential candidates. Each category has its
own criteria and judging panel who then carry out a site visit and
interview the candidate. Cafe Rasoi has now made the final 4 and now
faces a 'Dragon's Den' style interview which will last for
approximately 2 hours. Results will be announced at a glittering
black tie event on Thursday 20th November 2008. The other finalists
range from PR and marketing companies to IT companies. Unfortunately,
I won't be around to see who wins as I will be trying to raise some
money for charity whilst trying to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
"
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