Les Caveaux Out And About!!

Hello All,

Another fabulous week of weather! I will not apologise for starting another post with the state of English weather, mainly because I think it is outstanding! This kind of weather exaggerates for me what a truely beautiful place we live in. Especially in around the Holme Valley.

As promised, Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar made it's debut at Honley's outdoor summer street market last Saturday. I have to admit that I had never been to one of their markets before, which apparently also takes place at Christmas. The street market in the centre of bubbly village Honley was buzzing with people and market stalls. Businesses such as 'The Nook', 'The Lemon Tree', 'Chocolate & Dreams', 'Mustard & Punch', 'Gert's Florists' just to name a few of the other businesses present on the day.

The organizers could not have asked for a better day! Les Caveaux sent a team of three to Honely (waiter/waitress Lisa Parnaby & Zak Donlon along with marketing manager Alex Bray) to distribute tasters of our now famous homemade 'Spanish Tortilla'. We also sold glasses of traditional Sangria. As you can imagine, the sangria seemed to go down extremely well on what was a hot, sunny day! It was a great occasion all round and we were rewarded by sitting some tables that evening as a result of the work done in Honley.

The Honely outdoor market has more than wet the appetite for 'Holmfirth Food & Drink Festival 2013' which is due in September!

From one success story to another. As you will have read in previous posts, the week just gone represented Holmfirth 'Art Week'. During 'Art Week' Les Caveaux teamed up with Holmfirth High School to showcase some of the wonderful artwork produced by students. Around 30 of the best pieces of art from all age groups were selected by the art department to be displayed in the restaurant. Our exhibition ran from July 9th - July 14th in which diners and members of general public could come and view the stunning pieces. Any visitor to Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar during the exhibition was asked to vote for their favourite art entry. The artist with the most votes would receive a meal voucher for Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar and the opportunity for their art to remain in the restaurant for a full year.

Its been great to showcase what local talent we have!

The votes have since been counted and I am pleased to announce the winner as Isaac Shepard. Isaac is in year 9, at Holmfirth High School and his picture the ocean waves wowed the majority of voters. Les Caveaux will be visiting Holmfirth High School next Monday to personally present Isaac with his prize. A big well done should also go to any student whose work appeared in the restaurant that week. I would also like to thank all the families and students that visited the restaurant during 'Art Week'. it was a pleasure to see you all and I do hope that you all will return!

Last Friday's entertainment was pianist James Hey. He played in the cellar bar and sounded as great as ever. From a seasoned campaigner like James to this Friday's new kid on the block Lewis Reynolds. The 20 year old musician makes his Les Caveuax debut around 9pm. Lewis in an outrageous talent. Not only has Lewis got a great voice, he plays piano, drums and saxophone (don't you just hate some people!!) Watch the video underneath to give you a taste for his talent. Personally I cannot wait to see him perform come Friday.

That's it for this week, I am too hot to write anymore, I need a drink!! Get yourselves down to Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar this week. To be honest there is literally no excuses. Our '£30 Wine & Dine' offer continues to run and with the outstanding level of entertainment available this Friday there is simply no reason to go anywhere else!

See you all very soon,

Tom Binns (Owner)
Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar
Holmfirth
01484 689003    

Andy Murray, British Lions, The Ashes, Oh & Tapas

What a week to be a Brit!

Early Saturday morning the British & Irish Lions put our friendly southern hemisphere neighbors to the sword with a crushing victory, followed by Andy Murray putting an end to a 77 year wait for a British Wimbledon Champion! Whats more we've had some more great weather and the long awaited Ashes Cricket series has just started.

However Any Murray has much to answer for! Last Friday was a quiet night. In fact the whole of Holmfirth seemed unusually quiet for a Friday. Of course Andy Murray was on court, doing his best to reach his second Wimbledon final and in turn being the main reason for a quiet restaurant (I'm blaming him anyways!). Having said all that, on this occasion I will forgive him. I'm sure you will agree that the performance he put in on Sunday was phenomenal. But I forgave him mainly because he finished his final in three-straight-sets and that did allow for our customers to return on Sunday evening!

On Friday Hannah Balmforth sung her heart out to an upstairs dining room. The tables in the restaurant enjoyed her so much they had her doing more than just the one encore.

 "I had to stop in the end as I had run out of material!" Said a very excited Hannah.

I look forward to Hannah's return within the next few months. This weeks live music comes from resident pianist James Hey. James is becoming a local celebrity within the Holme Valley. He can now be found playing at the recently opened 'Spiced Pear', Hepworth as well as various Weddings/Events throughout the Valley and Huddersfield. He will be playing in the restaurant from around 8:30pm. To book you table click here or call 01484 689003.  

Saturday was business as usual. There was more great sporting news in the morning due to the Lions success down-under and even better was the 30degree temperatures all over the Holme Valley. I don't think we have ever sold so much ice-cream!

I should once again remind you all that we are currently bang in the middle of Holmfirth Art Week. As was outlined in last weeks blog we have teamed up with Holmfirth High School and are currently exhibiting 30 different pieces of students art work. The feedback on the art from diners and some local experts has been outstanding! The school and the students should all be very proud of their work! All Holmifrth High School students and their families have be encouraged to come and see the art 'up in lights' so to speak. Every student with art work on display that dines with us will receive 25% off their tables bill. Any Holmfirth High School students that want to come down to see their fellow students work are entitled to a free dessert!

Some fantastic examples of some of the brilliant work we have on display! To see more of the work click here

Away from the restaurant itself Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar will be making it's debut at Honley's 'Street Market' 2013. We will be found on a stall providing appetite wetting tasters from our menu and selling our homemade sangria. My fingers will remain firmly crossed that the weather will be sunny and warm. The market runs from 10am-3pm Saturday 13th July. It would be really great to see you all their!

So next week, what with James Hey, Art Week winners and the Honley market to write about, it should be a packed edition of the Les Caeveaux Tapas & Wine Bar blog. Until then, I hope to see lots of you over the weekend in what should be the perfect weather for tapas.

Kind Regards,

Tom Binns (owner)
Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar
Holmfirth
01484 689003

Getting Wet, Small Kitchens and Holmfirth Art Week

Hello All,

Welcome to this weeks Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar blog. Last week was a crazy, yet fun-filled week. From broken ice machines to wonderful live entertainment and early preparations for Holmfirth Art Week. Last week really did have it all!

So Tuesday morning came around and after a lovely day off Monday I was refreshed and  ready for a busy and productive day at Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar headquarters, 11a Victoria Square, Holmfirth. One thing I definately wasn't prepared for was water all over the upstairs restaurant floor. As you can imagine, panic mode set in immediately! After a bit of a tinker (and getting a little wet in the process) the problem seemed to have succumbed. This was not the case!  On arrival to the restaurant Thursday morning the problem had returned. The ice machine seemingly doing its best to change Les Caveaux from restaurant to water park! Thankfully the problem has now been completely fixed. Whats more our ice is absolutely pristine and there is plenty of it!

Although the problems of above were all sorted out with relative ease, even if it did mean a few changes of wet clothing it was of great relief that it did not impact on what was a busy week at Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar. Friday night was great. The atmosphere was wonderful. Luke and Olivia McNeil played their guitars beautifully to diners on both floors. This just added to what was an already relaxed yet vibrant and pleasant atmosphere where a good time was had by all. This Friday Night sees the return of Hannah Bamforth. She played at Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar late last year and proved a great success. She is another young local talent and has a superb voice. She will be singing from around 9:30pm. To find out what other musical performances are up and coming or what themed evenings are around the corner just click here.

Saturday night followed a similar pattern to that of Friday, the only difference being it was even busier than Friday! It was only after service on Saturday night I sat down with a stiff drink and stared in to what by then was an empty restaurant kitchen. I realized how much food is sent out of this tiny kitchen in one night. I would have no qualms in suggesting Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar has one of the smallest kitchens in the history of restaurants. Especially in relation to it's food output! Click here to see a menu of just some of the Tapas they send out.

Has to be one of the smallest restaurant kitchens in Yorkshire

I would pretty much guarantee that the kitchen here is smaller than your kitchen at home, and probably by some distance!  "It really is a miracle how the kitchen staff (as talented as they are) manage to get out well in excess of 100 dishes of tapas every Friday and Saturday night!", I thought to myself.

It is a testament to Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar's Head Chef Sean Creamer and the team he has built that they cope as well as they do on very busy services. The methods/systems he has put in to  place have to be efficient and each member of his small team must carry out their duties to the highest possible standard. Without the above the whole thing would undoubtedly break down! The kitchen's work goes relatively unnoticed which is a shame. However, hopefully you, the customer can recognize and appreciate the passion and skill in the food you taste at Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar.

To finish this weeks blog I would like to fill you in on some really exciting news for the local people of Holmfirth or anyone with a passion for art. Holmfirth Art Week is the next major festival to hit the Holme Valley. The Art Week starts on Sunday 7th July, with art exhibitions all over the town.

Not to be outdone, Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar will have its very own art exhibition running from Tuesday 9th July. This week myself and marketing manager Alex Bray visited Holmfirth High School. I felt that maybe Holmfirth should celebrate some of its own artists and what better place to find these artists than the art department at Holmfirth High. The art department is headed by Sharon Hall. Together with Mrs Hall we designed a competition in which students from all age groups could enter a piece of their work. The best 25 pieces will be selected and displayed in the restaurant throughout art week. Each of the 25 artists will also receive a 20% gift voucher for the duration of Holmfirth Art Week. I want to encourage family and friends to come and see/celebrate some wonderful pieces of local art some of which is created by your own children! Of course with every competition there has to be a winner. Diners during that week will be asked for their opinion and the most popular piece will receive a £40 voucher to spend at Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar.

Holmfirth High School really does have some outstanding talent!

However there are no losers in our competition! All students from Holmfirth High School that visit during Holmfirth Art Week are entitled to a free dessert!    

"What a fabulous idea! Holmifrth Art Week is great but it doesn't show off young local talent. This is an opportunity to showcase what our students are capable of, and who knows? We may even see the emergence of the next Ashley Jackson!" Said Head of Art Sharon Hall.

It would be great to see lots of local people come to support not only Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar but also Holmfirth High School. I think its great to support and celebrate local talent and I'm hoping for a really great response. 

So that's it for this week. Told you it was a mad one! I do hope you can all make it down this weekend or next week during art week and have the chance to see some very impressive work. Until then, see you soon.

Kind Regards,

Tom Binns (Owner)
Les Caveaux Tapas & Wine Bar
Holmfirth
01484 689003