A weekend in late August 2011 will be one that remains in our memories forever. We are the Eatery, a local cafe/bistro and now restaurant too located a stones throw from the festival in South Woodham Ferrers. We were approached by the Brown family in early summer with regards to having a catering pitch on the campsite selling Brownstock reared sausages amongst other things. Despite never taking on anything like this (we were less than two years old at the time) we all nodded and agreed, (we're not very good at saying no!) it can't be that difficult to cater for a few thousand people all weekend - can it?! And so that late weekend in August was one we'll never forget. For caterers we are quite a well organised bunch - you have to be with the health and safety aspects too. So we arrived on the Monday morning prior to the festival to start our preparation. We had invested in a small marquee but it soon became apparent that it wasn't going to be big enough. Over the next 5 days we transformed our pitch into an undercover catering facility complete with separate kitchens and chillers, trailers and freezers. We were ready! 

The fun started late on the Friday afternoon, out pitch was nestled up on the campsite next to the piano bar which remained open until 3am. We soon learned that there wasn't going to be much sleep had by all involved. The first noticeable challenge was the power. Most of our catering equipment risk electric and it soon became apparent that due to the demands of the appliances and others requiring electricity that the Electricians were going to be busy! But to their credit they were brilliant keeping everything together even when our generator failed. It wasn't long before the bangers and mash were flying out and everyone was having a great time. One thing we underestimated was how hungry people get. We finally shut our doors at 5am after the Friday night, fell into our little tents only to be woken 2 hour later by campers wanting breakfast. As I mentioned earlier 'no' is not a word are familiar with and so up we jumped and breakfast was served to waiting festival goers. This theme continued throughout the weekend, by the end we had had about 6 hours sleep in total. 

One thing that really caught our attention was the friendliness from everyone, at 3am when everything else had shut, those that were still revelling would congregate at our marquee singing and munching on very late suppers. At one point we had sofas, arm chairs and guitars in the marquee. Great fun was had by all.

We soon came to realise that there were young people there with little money to spend who would often come over to us with their Pot Noodles asking for hot water. We were more than happy to oblige. For us it wasn't just about making money, it was helping to ensure that everyone had a great time too. We made new friends and fans of The Eatery that weekend.

In summary it was one amazing weekend with the challenge of cooking in a farmers field ensuring that everyone got decent local grub. We did it and we did it really well. Brownstock suited us and we suited them. Bring on Brownstock 2012!

The Eatery  A fun, fresh, exciting customer focused Eatery situated in the town centre of South Woodham Ferrers. Local food, simple menus all reasonably priced. From coffees to cakes, soups to salads, paninis to pies.... and all served with a SMILE

The Eatery 38 Baron Road, South Woodham Ferrers, CM3 5XQ 01245 322263 

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