The Mews Cafe, opposite st Mary's Church, Stafford (also Gluten free and vegetarian options)

[henryscat]

If you're lactose intolerant you're a bit fooked though - all the veggie options have cheese in...

Indeed. It is irritating that a lot of places go to the trouble of gluten free options, but dairy free would appear to be too much trouble. I get the impression that eating establishments like to be inclusive towards those with allergies and intolerances but exclude people who make a conscious choice to exclude animal products from their diet.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

Indeed. It is irritating that a lot of places go to the trouble of gluten free options, but dairy free would appear to be too much trouble. I get the impression that eating establishments like to be inclusive towards those with allergies and intolerances but exclude people who make a conscious choice to exclude animal products from their diet.

Dairy is actually one of the most common allergies/intolerances. I dream of the day there is a vegan cafe with raw food and gluten free options in Stafford...

 

[henryscat]

Indeed it is, a significant proportion of people are intolerant to dairy. It would be nice to see Stafford develop more on the veggie/ vegan front.

 

[andy w]

Had a Bacon and Sausage sandwich at the Mews on Saturday, all very nice.

 

[Biggie G]

Dairy is actually one of the most common allergies/intolerances. I dream of the day there is a vegan cafe with raw food and gluten free options in Stafford...

Are there truly enough Vegan/Raw foodies in Stafford to make it a viable option? Would enough of those be willing to go to a cafe a couple of times a week?

Do some research, put together a business plan, see if it is a truly viable option for the county town, but you only have to look at popular businesses that are suffering from a lack of footfall and how many times has The Surgery/Ale/Pie House opened and closed in the past ten years.

 

[henryscat]

Are there truly enough Vegan/Raw foodies in Stafford to make it a viable option? Would enough of those be willing to go to a cafe a couple of times a week?

Do some research, put together a business plan, see if it is a truly viable option for the county town, but you only have to look at popular businesses that are suffering from a lack of footfall and how many times has The Surgery/Ale/Pie House opened and closed in the past ten years.

People need to use their imagination, everybody - regardless of their dietary choices - can enjoy vegan food. Most meat eaters do not have meat with every meal. A vegan menu is the most inclusive possible as everyone can eat from it. A meat/dairy one excludes people. Veggie cafes are not exclusively patronised by veggies.

 

[tek-monkey]

I used the P&A as often as I could manage and it still failed twice, it doesn't matter what you want yourself if nobody else does.

Personally I wouldn't use a vegan restaurant unless it was a special occasion for someone who wanted that, no different to a Chinese in that respect to me. Chances are some in the party will want meat, so why exclude them? Don't get me wrong, if someone starts one I'll wish them well, but am as likely to attend myself as I am a pub that thinks magners is a premium cider.

 

[Biggie G]

People need to use their imagination, everybody - regardless of their dietary choices - can enjoy vegan food. Most meat eaters do not have meat with every meal. A vegan menu is the most inclusive possible as everyone can eat from it. A meat/dairy one excludes people. Veggie cafes are not exclusively patronised by veggies.

True, but your predominant market share of visitors is going to be from the Veggie/Vegan/Raw foodies, you might have an initial surge of those interested but after the "opening novelty" there is going to be a drop-off

I used the P&A as often as I could manage and it still failed twice, it doesn't matter what you want yourself if nobody else does.

Personally I wouldn't use a vegan restaurant unless it was a special occasion for someone who wanted that, no different to a Chinese in that respect to me. Chances are some in the party will want meat, so why exclude them? Don't get me wrong, if someone starts one I'll wish them well, but am as likely to attend myself as I am a pub that thinks magners is a premium cider.

Oh, I'd wish them well too, perhaps go once in the "opening novelty" period but it'd have to be pretty amazing to keep me going back.

 

[modalconfusion]

Do they do Rock n Roll
breakfast's.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

Chances are some in the party will want meat, so why exclude them?

Chances are most veg*ns will want to eat in an environment free from dead animals, so why exclude them?

 

[Withnail]

Do they do Rock n Roll
breakfast's.

Breakfast of Champions.

 

[flossietoo]

To be fair, Stafford did once have a very good vegetarian restaurant. It was called Trueman's and was part of what has now become Francesco Land. I think that the owner gave up to become a pilot but I might have dreamed that.

There was a wonderful place in Hanley, for years. A good one in Ironbridge, too, where I spent a birthday.

All those have closed. I wonder whether it might be a result of regular restaurants routinely catering for vegetarians if not always for vegans?

I am old enough to remember being served The Vegetarian Alternative, which contained chicken. I have been asked "We'll, what DO you eat then?" by a waitress and when we went to a fish restaurant once and my partner asked if they would mind doing a green salad for me, the restaurant owner asked all six of us to leave. Vegetarian cafes and restaurants were like refuges then.

Now, thank goodness, I can go pretty much anywhere and eat. Except Madeira. Like you, Lunar, I'd definitely be happiest in a fully vegetarian restaurant but I'm usually the only vegetarian in a group and it would feel a bit much to insist everyone has to eat somewhere vegetarian.

Plus, now, I think it would mean driving to Machynlleth.

 

[tek-monkey]

Chances are most veg*ns will want to eat in an environment free from dead animals, so why exclude them?

Both have as much right to have what they want, as a restaurant owner it is up to you to decide whose money to chase. To me a vegan restaurant would have as much appeal as the Golden Orient, I'd eat there when necessary but never choose it myself.

 

[John Marwood]

Veggie restaurants are usually havens of high quality inventive scran

At least they are here in India

 

[henryscat]

Veggie restaurants are usually havens of high quality inventive scran

Absolutely.

 

[henryscat]

Both have as much right to have what they want, .

That's an entirely separate discussion of its own....

 

[tek-monkey]

That's an entirely separate discussion of its own....

I ain't biting. Instead let's say you have as much right to a nice vegan restaurant as I have to a nice cider pub, meaning no chance locally whatsoever unless I open one myself, which I won't. Only real difference is I'd not mind them still selling ale, lager or fruit based drinks for the ladies as long as I was catered for.

 

[henryscat]

I ain't biting. Instead let's say you have as much right to a nice vegan restaurant as I have to a nice cider pub, meaning no chance locally whatsoever unless I open one myself, which I won't. Only real difference is I'd not mind them still selling ale, lager or fruit based drinks for the ladies as long as I was catered for.

Indeed, wasn't suggesting that discussion on this thread. However, the notion that a restaurant / cafe that does not serve meat is lacking in culinary appeal is entirely false. It is a sad indictment on the entrenched views and lack of imagination of many people in Stafford if a veggie restaurant would not flourish. Whatever your views on eating meat (or not), any suggestion that non-meat dishes are any less appealing to eat is based on pure perception and not reality. This is consistently borne out whenever I cook for carnivorous friends or take them to a veggie eatery as they always rave about how good my / the restaurant's food is. A decent veggie restaurant could easily blow 95% of eating establishments in Stafford out of the water in terms of quality of offering.

 

[tek-monkey]

I just know that selling only cider would be commercial suicide in a town this small, as you'd exclude anyone that fancied a pint of Carling. You may not want them as customers, but most cider drinkers are friends with lager drinkers and as such will not visit your establishment when out with friends unless said friends can be persuaded to drink cider. You may convince them once or twice, but generally you'll head to a place that serves something you both fancy drinking even if the quality is inferior.

I would also suggest that thinking you know more about what a potential customer wants more than they do is a route to early financial ruin, many get entrenched in their views for no reason other than outside interference. Take God for example, I know many who are completely ambivalent until pressed but then get quite aggressive in their denunciation. A restrictive menu makes many feel they are pressed into something they may not want, its like going out for a Chinese when what you want is a pizza. You can't just tell them that yes they do want a Chinese and they are wrong to want the pizza, people fight back.

I'd welcome any new eatery to the town, I just know that I'd not be a regular customer of a vegan one any more than I would a featureless pub that sold Strongbow. You may get pressed into it once in a while but would never choose it yourself.

 

[henryscat]

Your analogies don't hold - you rely on reference to specific culinary styles; similary your drink analogy refers to one type of drink. A veggie / vegan menu is not one type of food. All that a veggie / vegan menu means is an absence of meat (and dairy if vegan), but this does not preclude that menu drawing on culinary styles from around the world nor does it preclude all of the dishes being equally or more appealing than their meat equivalent. The assertion that a veggie menu is restricted is false.

Perceptions, however, do need to be addressed. For instance this place recently opened in Birmingham: http://bistro1847.com/. It is veggie but their name doesn't directly imply it. I'd also bet that a great deal of their clientele are not full time veggies. They appear to be selling themselves on good food rather than being veggie per se.