In years gone by, when the pace of life was slower, people on journeys would carefully plan their stops between a and b – that’s how the Michelin Guide came about.
Enriching Journeys
Restaurants were classified with 1, 2 or 3 rosettes based on whether they were worth a stop, a detour or a special journey and the best rated destinations combined fantastic food with brilliant experiences. We’re re-introducing some of this spirit at TEALS, enriching journeys by connecting passers-by to Somerset communities and producers, all the while operating responsibly and looking after our guests like they were friends of friends.
Life is fast for many and it’s possible to miss so much of the richness of life travelling at high speed. We feel little pockets of time that disrupt us from our frenetic lives can act as powerful reminders of life’s small joys. We look for these brief moments at TEALS, to add our own bit of colour to guests’ days.
Our Values
Goodness
The team all feel a real responsibility to open up a window to the region and be proper ambassadors for our brilliant makers. We think of TEALS just as the canvas on which to celebrate localness, where the producers and makers are the stars that add the colour. We take time to ensure there’s as much Somerset goodness as possible on our plates and in our food market and lifestyle store. We avoid mass food production that travels further and removes taste, instead joining the many brilliant farm shops around the country focusing their energies on finding local products that make the most of our tastebuds.
Working with experts we admire and like also means we can share their stories more easily with our guests and build the very strong link between nourishing food and well-being which is so relevant in the current climate.
Team Work
Community
As a Pending B Corp we plan to be balancing purpose and profit from the start of our journey. Representing and serving our communities and suppliers in the store is our most important first step but we’re also planning a few special initiatives on the side.
Cooking for local homeless in Yeovil; playing our own part on mental health, collaborating with small local enterprises to jointly introduce new products and an events programme to offer local communities new reasons to come together. Keep an eye on our journal for more info once we’re up and running.
Waste Management
Surplus Food
Food waste in hospitality businesses is a real challenge. From the word go we’ve set out to develop a business model that minimises food waste. Our food market acts as a larder for our kitchen and we regularly re-shape menus to make the most of seasonal produce in our store.
We carefully plan to use the whole of our ingredients (parmesan rind makes unbelievable cheese straws!), keep bin waste to an absolute minimum, always compost and where food is coming to its natural end, ensure we make it available to local food banks whilst still nutritious.
