STONE FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL
Festival sparks beginning
of beautiful relationship
he Stone Food and Drink
Festival, which takes place
over the first weekend in
October every year, has been
helping to promote the very best
of local food and drink – while
offering foodies a fun-packed
weekend – for the past decade.
However,
the
Taste
of
Staffordshire supported event is
also about helping to give local
businesses a boost; something
which it did to great effect in
2013 when introducing a new,
local supplier to one of
Staffordshire’s biggest hospitality
firms.
Speaking to Stone and
Eccleshall Life Festival Chairman
Richard Stevens explained how a
request from The Lewis
Partnership’s Executive Chef
Matt Davies set in motion a chain
of events that has seen Stone
High Street’s Stone Baked
become a regular supplier to The
Swan, The Moat House, The Bear
Grill and The Dog and Doublet.
“When Matt was planning the
Pop Up restaurant last year, he
phoned me and asked if I could
recommend a local baker.
Obviously I recommended Tina
Clare from Stone Baked and I am
delighted that the introduction
has been so successful! This is yet
another example of how the Food
and Drink Festival supports the
local economy. Well done Tina."
Chef Matt added: “I was really
impressed by Tina from Stone
Baked’s passion for baking and
her creativity. The resulting
stunning bespoke breads and
baked products are the perfect
T
14 April/May 2014
match for the menus in our multi
award-winning restaurants.”
Tina, who opened Stone
Baked in premises occupied by
an existing bakery on Stone High
Street in January 2013, explained
how the introduction marked the
beginning of a new chapter for
her business:
“It was always part of the
master plan for us to supply
prestigious local restaurants, so
that people eating in our area
could taste our bread in the finest
establishments around - the
introduction to Matt via Richard
at the Stone Food and Drink
Festival really helped move this
forward. After supplying bread
for the pop up restaurant at the
festival I met with Matt and the
scene was set for me to show off
what we are really about; offering
quality, bespoke recipes and
working with local chefs to create
something different and exciting
for their menus.
“In 2014, the restaurant trade
will account for around 25% of
our business and we have links
with a number of other
renowned restaurants in the
area,
including
Cullens.
However, we never put all our
‘Baker’s Dozen’ in one basket, so
we are looking to work with more
local eateries – we were
especially keen to learn that The
Crown Hotel is set to reopen
later this spring and find out
what gastro plans are in store for
the recently acquired Church.”
The Lewis Partnership's Executive Chef, Matt Davies, Tina Clare of Stone
Baked and Stone Food & Drink Festival Chairman, Richard Stevens