Thank you for your fantastic support over the Christmas festive period and our New Years Eve celebrations too. Your enthusiasm for all that we offer at Bartellas has kept on rolling through January and February with a full house for lunch and dinner on Valentine's Day, a fun filled al fresco Folie Douce ski party (pictured) and most recently a packed Friday charity luncheon featuring the entertainer Chris Till, where we helped raise over £1,000 for The MS Society. Mothering Sunday has been fully booked for weeks, Easter weekend is looking a busy one too - Christmas Day 2024 we already have over 150 people in the diary!

But the risk of complacency prompts us to continue refreshing the menu so that we can avoid any cry of menu fatigue. Some old favourites are back on along with a range of new starters plus first time fish and bistro style main courses. Fridays and Saturdays will witness some additional “specials “ on offer too but when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Hopefully there’s something on the new à la carte, Sunday, Free-From and Party menus for everyone and with some better weather on the horizon we’ll extend the menu options accordingly on our south facing terrace to satisfy more of an al fresco, snacking experience. Meanwhile, please enjoy our usual offer to paid-up Club Bartellas members of a complimentary bottle of wine to the value of £50, valid until Sunday 17th March - one bottle per member for the duration of the offer please.

Singer showman Chris Till's next appearance at Bartellas is on Friday 21 June and will be outdoors, weather permitting, when we will offer a “picnic on the grass” style menu as well as a value-driven option for the more formal diner. Chris’s events sell out really quickly so best get your name in the diary as soon as possible. Book now.

Back in January, via our MP Adam Holloway, I wrote and invited his chum, The Financial Secretary to The Treasury, Nigel Huddleston (pictured), along with his American wife and children, to join us at Bartellas as my guests so that he could witness first hand the vital importance of neighbourhood restaurants - he’s yet to respond.

The Treasury’s reasoning behind the giant supermarkets being allowed to sell food at 0% VAT is that what they offer is considered “essential”! Well so are real neighbourhood restaurants who have played and continue to play such a major part in fostering community life whilst barely breaking even, as unpaid tax collectors. A 5% VAT rate instead of our current 20% is long overdue. Let’s see on 6th March budget whether his boss, Jeremy Hunt, might have taken note but I somehow doubt it either.

Meanwhile, we have to crack on but with your continued loyal support we will overcome any of their latest obstacles thrown or left in our way.

Look forward to seeing you all very soon.

As ever,

Ian

Ian@bartellas.com