It's not just paperwork!

This morning I answered a call for help from my friend whose regular Friday helper is ill.  Donned in jeans and trainers, I put on an apron and stepped into the Brunch Bar Butty Van near Ashchurch Railway Station. 

The smoky smell of frying bacon and sausages filled the air.  It took a short time to figure out where everything was and how Nikki liked things to be done, but we soon fell into a rhythm.  She manned the grill and kept up the cheerful banter with her customers, while I buttered bread and cut salad.

Brunch Bar has been operating for three years now, and Nikki has built a solid reputation for herself and the good food she supplies.  So many of her customers are regulars who turn up every day or every week to fill up on freshly cooked food, and Nikki knows all of them by name.  She lends an ear to those who want to talk and offers polite chatter to newcomers too.

The lunch time rush was quite intense, at one time there were so many slices of bread, buttered rolls and tiger sticks laid out that we ran out of space on the worktop.  But we worked through and everyone got their order in good time.

Eventually it quietened down, and I was rewarded with my own bacon bap, while Nikki began the big clear up for the weekend.

Working at Brunch Bar was not what I expected to be doing today, and I fear the smell of fried food will be following me around for a little while, but it’s been a great experience and I will certainly be back again to help next time I’m needed.