05 July 2007, 16:00 PM
  • As from Tuesday 10th July 2007, visitors to the Ludlow Food Centre will be able to enjoy a cup of freshly ground coffee and a delicious home-cooked meal at the Conservatory Barn Café, situated just 25 yards from the store entrance.

Open from 9.30am for brunch, right through to afternoon tea, the Conservatory Barn offers superb country cooking at affordable prices. Reflecting the Ludlow Food Centre’s strong local sourcing policy, all food and drink sold in the café will be made fresh each day using produce from farmers, growers and small producers in the four counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Powys. From Gloucester Old Spot sausages to gorgeous gateaux, all products can be bought in store to enjoy at home.

The menu ranges from tasty breakfast rolls made with Estate reared meats and homemade bread, to seasonal soups, summer flans, authentic ploughman’s and daily blackboard specials, washed down with a local apple juice or elderflower cordial, pressed on site. When the weather turns, hearty favourites such as steak and kidney pudding, fidget pie or bangers and mash will feature.

Transformed by the Earl of Plymouth Estates from a tumbledown agricultural store, the handsome stone and timber Conservatory Barn Café makes a warm and welcoming place to rest and refuel. A selection of fine, loose leaf teas and world-class coffees are sourced directly from the coffee plantations with the help of James’ Gourmet Coffee in Ross-on-Wye, and brought to the table with a jug of creamy Mawley milk from Cleobury Mortimer. Connoisseurs can also buy bags of whole or ground beans to take away.
Janet Morris, an experienced chef and patisserie expert, runs the kitchen in the café and the Ludlow Food Centre.  She says, “I am very proud of what we are doing here. This is real, honest local food.  The menu will change daily but will always feature handmade cakes, desserts, speciality breads and a range of salads. The ice cream counter is going to be a star attraction offering up to 12 seasonal flavours such as real raspberry and damson and sloe gin, handmade by Vivien de Haan using the Estate’s own milk. The ice creams and sorbets will be available to eat in or take out in a tub or wafer cornet.”

Launched in April, the £2.5million Ludlow Food Centre has been billed a regional centre of excellence for food and farming and has been backed by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, The Rural Regeneration Zone and Defra.