This week I wanted to tell you about the amazing ‘Artisans’ we have in Nottinghamshire.  I looked up Artisan in the dictionary, it reads ‘ a person skilled in an applied art; a craftsperson’.

A fabulous story of a local Artisan is that of James Richardson, owner of The Limehaus Delicatessen and Provisions Store in Orston. After years of running a successful catering company, James had a vision to convert the pig sty of his Grandmothers house into a small village deli and store providing the local area with locally produced foods.  When the vision became a reality, James’s ambition grew and when he saw certain suppliers failing to deliver the standards he required he decided he could do better, so he taught himself the skills to bake for himself.  James and The Limehaus Deli are proud to sell homemade, freshly baked on the premises goods including pain au chocolat, sweet and savoury scones, chocolate brownies, traditional and contemporary cakes, sweet and savoury tarts, yeast free breads and a real accomplishment is that they recently started baking their own croissants, not many places can boast that.

Orston my not be on your doorstep, it’s not on mine, but I love heading out to visit them.  You are guarenteed a warm welcome and will be spoilt for choice, so have a coffee with them while you decide.

Another local artisan is Cate Harvey from C8ter.  Aside from the catering side of her business, Cate has been approved by the National Trust in the East Midlands as a supplier of artisan breads.  Her catering menus are very much designed around what’s in season, available locally and where possible, using organic ingredients.  Her food is inspirational, vibrant and full of flavour.  Cate trained in artisan bread making with Andrew Whitley who founded The Village Bakery in Melmerby, she even camped in her tent during the course with just her dog for company.

Andrew Whitley later became an advisor for the School of Artisan Food On the Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire. The school is open to everyone and is very highly regarded. You will find the school on the Welbeck Estate, home to ‘Place of the Month’,  The Lime House Cafe.  The bread served here comes from The School of Artisan Foods and the soda bread served with The Lime House Ploughmans is just delicious.  All the dishes on the menu here are again, where possible, made using locally produced food including stichelton cheese which is also produced on the Estate.

I really hope you have enjoyed reading about these local artisans.  Fabulous people behind some fabulous businesses who take the time and have the passion to stand out from the crowd.  When you visit these and other places on fabulousplaces.co.uk Nottinghamshire, don’t forget to leave a review and let them know your feedback.