As we bid a fond farewell to 2024 and look forward to ten years of Craft & Cleaver in 2025. I thought I’d take the opportunity to reflect on a great year and share some of the highs and lows of the past twelve months.
A Year in numbers…
We’ve had a great year at both sites, here’s a couple of our favourite product spotlights:
- Over 18,000 pints of Craft & Cleaver House Lager!
- 3,172 Bitch Juice Cocktails
- Smoked over 2000 Briskets & 5000 racks of ribs!
- 669 bottles of Tequila used for Margaritas, shots and our famous Peanut Butter Tequila
- 167 bottles of Prosecco consumed during Bottomless Brunch
- 64,520 guests seated across 50 weeks at two sites
Another great year in St Albans
With a massive ten years on the horizon, we feel blessed to be so well-established at our OG St Albans site. We’ve had another great year and feel grateful to be part of the city’s fantastic food and restaurant scene. None of this is more evident than at the food festivals we’re a part of every year in St Albans and the queues and great feedback we get. Our St Albans team are one of a kind, and we’re so lucky to have such a great team and culture.
A tough opening in Hitchin!
After opening in Hitchin last December, we hit 2024 running with a great first year. Unfortunately, behind the scenes things were pretty tough… Listed buildings are relentless and due to our limited budget in opening a new site we took a gamble on a few things in Hitchin. Unfortunately, in the first few months our boiler broke, there were numerous leaks and our aircon & heating system needed a complete overhaul. An expensive start to trading, but worth it in the long run. Hitchin is smashing it, and we’ve settled in nicely to our second home. Bring on site number three?
Food Hygiene 5*
Both sites have achieved the maximum 5* for food hygiene, a true testament to the team and how seriously we take our responsibilities as a fresh food business. We’ve further improved this side of the business with the launch of our menu dietary guide, where guests can filter the menu with their dietary requirements or allergies to find out suitable dishes, or dishes that can be adapted.
Catered five weddings, including my own!
Who doesn’t love a wedding? We certainly do. We cater weddings throughout the year specialising in DIY weddings and open fire cooking. We love creating menus and experiences that shine, and extending our offering to weddings over the past few years just felt right. We’ve catered weddings for five amazing couples across Hertfordshire this year, plus my own down in the Cotswolds! It was pretty daunting for the team catering their boss’ wedding, and a huge logistical undertaking – but they rose to the challenge. I’m beyond thankful to the entire team for contributing to the best day ever!
Hitchin Closure (don’t worry, it’s only for ten days)
Many of you will be aware that we had a pretty bad flood back in September at our Hitchin restaurant. Torrential and unrelenting rain fell on Hertfordshire and overwhelmed all the drains in the Hitchin area. Unfortunately, this led to a wall of water coming through the back doors and filling the restaurant with 3 inches of water. The team did a great job in getting the water out, but there is extensive damage to the sub-floor that needs our attention.
As a result, we’ll be closing our Hitchin restaurant for 10 days from the 6th Jan to lift, repair and re-lay the floor. We’re gutted to be doing this so early in our Hitchin story, but needs must. Please come out to support us after we reopen – it’ll be great to see you!
We can’t wait to share our plans for 2025 with you, but for now it leaves me to Thank You for your custom and support this year, and to wish you a wonderful Christmas, and a very Happy New Year.
Adam & the Craft & Cleaver team
