In this month’s column, I want to introduce you to a local food ‘activist’, Tom Herbert. Some of you may know him as the front man of Hobbs House Bakery, others from the TV programme ‘The Fabulous Baker Brothers’, in which he starred with his brother, Henry, a successful chef. But it is for his latest venture at The Long Table in Stroud that his work really came to my attention.
If you haven’t already visited The Long Table, I urge you to get yourself, your friends and your families down there pronto. Based in Brimscombe Mill, it’s a hangar of a building, but as with all great things, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And let me tell you, there’s a lot going on inside this particular mill!
Set beneath twinkling fairy lights, long communal tables fill the gaping void, with enough places to seat over 100 people. People are buzzing around the space, there’s a warm glow from the café bar and a busy efficiency coming from the kitchen. Members of the public sit in groups, with friends, by themselves, but no-one is lonely. There’s chatter and laughter and general good vibes. And there’s delicious, locally-sourced food flowing from the serving hatch all night.