Diners in for treats at bistro (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

We have been to the Olive Tree on a number of occasions in the past, and have always been pleased with the food and service. The last time, about three weeks ago was very disappointing, the food being well below par. I am not surprised it has closed. We may try the new menu at some time, but not in the near future.

Having eaten at The Olive Tree and The Patch of Blue, I was looking forward to trying out their new venture. My husband and I recently went to Stones for a breakfast and were pleased to see they were offering locally sourced ingredients and bread made on the premises. The change from cheap sausages to local proper sausage was great, although only one rasher of bacon as standard in the Stones Breakfast was a little stingy. The Patch of Blue used to do lovely poached eggs with runny middles, however my poached egg with my breakfast at Stones was a bedraggled little thing with a hard yolk (one egg as opposed to the two you used to get at Patch of Blue) and the one slice of homemade bread which was the toast was rather dry and had no butter or spread on, then coupled with water from the poached egg made it unpalatable. Tonnes of sauteed potatoes which could have been left off the plate in favour of homemade hash browns or perhaps a potato cake. I opted not to have beans and asked for extra bacon instead, which I was glad of considering I would have only had one rasher otherwise. Everything else was fine, apart from a lack of teaspoons and having to stir my tea with a long handled ice cream spoon! I would say though that perhaps they need to train their younger waiting staff a bit better to be a bit more attentive and not hold conversations with kitchen staff holding the kitchen door open for ages so everyone can hear! Having come from a catering and hospitality background some aspects do make me cringe, but hopefully these are just teething problems that will improve in time. I am looking forward to trying out their evening menu. I may also be offering my services locally to proof read the local eateries menus!

Woozlewife wrote:
Having eaten at The Olive Tree and The Patch of Blue, I was looking forward to trying out their new venture. My husband and I recently went to Stones for a breakfast and were pleased to see they were offering locally sourced ingredients and bread made on the premises. The change from cheap sausages to local proper sausage was great, although only one rasher of bacon as standard in the Stones Breakfast was a little stingy. The Patch of Blue used to do lovely poached eggs with runny middles, however my poached egg with my breakfast at Stones was a bedraggled little thing with a hard yolk (one egg as opposed to the two you used to get at Patch of Blue) and the one slice of homemade bread which was the toast was rather dry and had no butter or spread on, then coupled with water from the poached egg made it unpalatable. Tonnes of sauteed potatoes which could have been left off the plate in favour of homemade hash browns or perhaps a potato cake. I opted not to have beans and asked for extra bacon instead, which I was glad of considering I would have only had one rasher otherwise. Everything else was fine, apart from a lack of teaspoons and having to stir my tea with a long handled ice cream spoon! I would say though that perhaps they need to train their younger waiting staff a bit better to be a bit more attentive and not hold conversations with kitchen staff holding the kitchen door open for ages so everyone can hear! Having come from a catering and hospitality background some aspects do make me cringe, but hopefully these are just teething problems that will improve in time. I am looking forward to trying out their evening menu. I may also be offering my services locally to proof read the local eateries menus!

Did you Tell them of your concerns or did you just feel the need to slag them off in a paper?

Hope they do well.

Knowing it was their first week, no, I decided not to say anything and remain anonymous. I plan to go back - so not completely slagging them off - especially as I said I was looking forward to trying out their evening menu. I know there are always teething problems when trying a new venture, whether you've been doing it a while or not. If there are problems again next time I go, then I will make a point of talking to them about it, either on the day or will write them a letter.
I too hope they do well, Calne needs a decent place to eat and relax and enjoy yourself without having to go either into some of the pretty disappointing pubs or to have to go further afield.
Just a few tweaks and I would imagine it would become a real success.