Nicola Hanmer - Commercial Catering Manager for The Mill at St Catherines Park

This months featured foodie for our first Quick bite of Lancashire food 2015 is Nicola Hanmer of The Mill at St Catherines Park. Nicola and her team are passionate about serving local seasonal food in this beautiful cafe supporting the vital works of St Catherines Hospice. Here is a link to an earlier post re The Mill.

On to our usual questions, which Nicola has kindly answered for us.

• What is your favourite cookery, food book or publication ?

Would have to be anything written by Nigel Slater or Elizabeth David

• What sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you ?

Gradely stuff!

• If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you like to be ?

Working for Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) training street children in Vietnam or Cambodia to work in the hospitality industry

• Which piece of kit could you not do without ?

Le Cruset casserole dish – in our family known as the magic pot – as everything you cook in them comes out so much better or my Gaggia coffee machine!

•  Who would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?

My mum who passed away at St Catherine’s in 1997, Richard E Grant & Graham Norton for a little bit of fun, Mathew Fort, Jay Rayner & Nigel Slater & our own Nigel Haworth to talk about food!

• What advice would you give to your younger self ?

Always give your best and you will never have any regrets

• Describe your style in three words

Passionate, Loyal, Enthusiastic

• What was your latest foodie gadget purchase ?

Does a whole cafe worth of kit count, we recently bought a new kitchen  & 60 covers of kit for our new Mill Cafe at St Catherines Park.

• What is your greatest achievement to date ?

Working for a charity thats very close to my heart and being able to give something back

• What is the worst mistake you have made ?

Someone who will remain nameless!

• Tell us a secret about yourself ? may be something we wouldn’t expect

I was a philatelist at school

                             

If you work in the food sector in Lancashire and are interested in being featured, please get in touch.

The Mill - St Catherines Park.

I am so excited to tell you about a new venue in my local area, The Mill at St Catherine's Park opened on Monday 24th November 2014 to the general public.

This amazing building and its surroundings have been 10 years in the making for the dedicated staff and volunteers of St Catherine's Hospice. The building is home to a fabulous cafe, plus meeting and therapy space, but more importantly its also a hub for information and wellbeing for families faced with life shortening illnesses.

St Catherine's does such important work in my local community and The Mill enhances their provision as it enables the hospice to invite the local community to share St Catherine's Park in a more holistic sense and provide neutral space for the community to share.

We were privileged to be invited to view the beautiful building, the impressive facilities and to taste some of the exciting local dishes on the menu. The two storey building has the cafe/lounge area downstairs and has three multi purpose meeting/therapy rooms upstairs, the whole venue is of course fully accessible for all.

Outside the building is situated in St Catherine's Park which is being developed sensitively to create a beautiful woodland and wetland area for all to enjoy.

The Mill is run as a social enterprise with all profits going to St Catherine's Hospice Care, the Commercial Catering team have been recruited specifically to run the Cafe at the mill and the menu demonstrates the passion of the team in the local sourcing and the creative dishes featured. We should also not forget the volunteers as well who are an important part of the team at the Mill providing advice, guidance and support or assisting in the cafe.

Local Suppliers include

• Leagrams of Chipping (Cheese)
• Mrs Kirkhams of Goosnargh (Cheese)
• Butlers of Inglewhite (Cheese)
• Ribble Farm Fayre of Longridge (Fruit, veg and fresh produce)
• Oncore, Preston (General Grocery)
• Ewood Foods, Accrington (Grocery)
• Meadowfield Foods, Bamber Bridge (Grocery)
• Brendan Andertons of Longridge (Butcher)
• Morris Bakery of Coppull (Bread)
• C&G Neves of Fleetwood (Fish)
• Holme Farm of penwortham (Eggs and Milk)
• Fiddlers, Rufford (Lancashire Crisps)
• Moo 2 you, Samlesbury (Ice Cream)
• Exchange Coffee, Clitheroe (Coffee and Teas)

An impressive list I think you will agree, so please pay them a visit whilst in the area. The team is also planning afternoon teas and themed seasonal menus plus they will be organising the catering for many of the fund raising events held in St Catherine's Park for the hospice.

The canapes served at the launch were miniatures of the dishes on the menu and very tasty they were too, the cakes looked and tasted amazing as you can see from the pictures.

Check out their website, facebook and twitter pages for more information and more pictures of the venue and the food.

The team are waiting to welcome you.........