The Team
Jennie Bashforth
Jennie Bashforth owns and runs Tart Café and Foodstore along with her daughter, Ellen. For Jennie, the business is the realisation of a lifelong ambition. Having lived in the area for most of her life, when she decided to leave a successful, highly paid career in the public sector to open a unique café, Bristol’s Gloucester Road was the perfect venue.
Jennie oversees the business and looks after developing ideas for keeping Tart fresh and exciting. She works closely with Ellen and their head chef Andrew to maintain the high quality and variety of food that the customers have come to expect from Tart. Jennie is also an expert at identifying opportunities to offer customers something different for special occasions, such as Christmas and Mothers Day.
‘It’s amazing to look around Tart and to think that it is ours – we created all this’ says Jennie. ‘I didn’t want just another café. It’s very ambitious, very aspirational, and I just wanted it to be different. I’ve always loved traditional afternoon tea but it has suffered from a bit of a dusty old image and you just couldn’t find a good one around here. We serve ours on contemporary white and chrome stands and the tea pots are Art Deco. It’s just one of the many ways we put our unique stamp on what we offer our customers.’
Ellen Bashforth
Ellen Bashforth runs Tart Café and Foodstore on Bristol’s Gloucester Road alongside her mother, Jennie. Ellen says. ‘My favourite part of my job is interacting with the customers. I love working with people and always knew that I wouldn’t be happy sitting behind a desk. It’s been a steep learning curve and we have had to evolve with the business, but working for myself has been a great experience and has given me a lot of confidence.’
Ellen originally trained as a social worker thinking that she would follow the same career path as her mother. ‘When my Mum said that she was going to follow her dream of opening a café, I realised that it was something that I wanted to do as well. I leapt at the chance to be involved’.
As for how she copes working with her mum – ‘I love it!’ she says. ‘It was tough when we first opened because we were under a lot of pressure but she’s so great to work with and I love that we are now at the stage where I can manage the business leaving my Mum to concentrate more on planning and developing the business as we go into our third year’.
‘We’re moving with our kitchen team to keep our menu fresh for our loyal customers and exciting for people who are finding us for the first time. We are so proud when people say “there’s nothing like Tart on the Gloucester Road” and we have big plans in place to make sure we remain unique and retain the wow factor!’
Andrew Griffin
Tart’s head chef Andrew Griffin worked for fifteen years under one of Bristol’s most accomplished and influential chefs - Stephen Markwick at Markwicks in Corn Street and Culinaria in Redland - before taking up his current post.
Andrew brings his considerable experience as a chef to Tart where he and his team turn their hands to creating the most delightful short, buttery pastry and filling it with a variety of savoury fillings such as leek, thyme & gruyere, stilton & walnut, and caramelised red onion & goat’s cheese. But they don’t stop there. The specials board changes daily as Andrew devises seasonal dishes using locally sourced ingredients. And Tart offers a wonderful selection of cakes all of which are baked daily on site.
Andrew says, “The menu is constantly evolving. We have our favourite dishes such as eggs Benedict which the regulars flock in for at the weekend and the Boston cake, a wonderful confection of vanilla sponge and chocolate ganache which always flies off the cake stand. But we’re also able to surprise our customers with something different, since I’m able to change the menu daily. We might make a fish pie using whatever the freshest fish our fish man can supply one day, and then decide on chicken liver parfait the next. I made a mushroom, caramelised onion rarebit for the mothers’ day menu which was so popular we’ve decided to put it on the brunch menu. I have a great team here and I really enjoy working with them as we welcome old and new friends to Tart.”
James Staunton
Assistant Chef James has been with Tart since it opened its doors in 2008. With a huge passion for food and cooking, he started his career at Bristol’s Culinaria restaurant where he spent five years working his way up under the supervision of Andrew Griffin. When Andrew moved to Tart, James followed, looking to build upon their relationship of mutual respect.
“Andrew and I work really well as a team,” says James. “We both get excited by the same things and, importantly, are able to be really honest with each other. It’s wonderful to work in an environment where culinary creativity is encouraged and I love developing new ideas for the menu.”
James is also the culinary genius behind Tart’s famous sweet and short crust pastries. “We get a lot of comments on our pastry, and I’m really proud of the recipe we use. It’s completely foolproof and always tastes delicious.”
James’s passion for food doesn’t stop when he leaves work and he enjoys cooking at home, taking inspiration from places like the River Cafe. “I have quite a rustic style when it comes to the dishes I create. It’s got to look good on the plate, obviously, but it’s definitely more about the flavour. That’s why it’s wonderful to be able to use a huge variety of local, top quality ingredients in the dishes I create at work.”
Molly Griffin
Apprentice Chef Molly Griffin has been working alongside her Head Chef father Andrew and his Assistant Chef James in the Tart kitchen since March 2011. Upon completion of her AS levels, Molly decided against a Catering and Hospitality course at Bath College, instead leaping at the chance to pursue a more hands-on approach to developing her culinary skills. Molly developed an interest in catering at a young age when she was struggling with type 1 diabetes. Baking gave her an escape from her illness and a sense of control and achievement. She’s loved cooking ever since.
Today, she brings what she has learned thus far to establishing a NVQ Level 2 qualification at Ashley Down College; attending one day a week which is split between practical tasks and written theory, underpinning the important aspects of the catering industry such as stock-taking and health and safety. The remaining four days of her working-week are spent in the Tart Kitchen creating delicious dishes including cakes, salads and scones, as well as learning new skills from making Tart’s signature pastry to gutting a fish! She says that her favourite tasks include making cheesecakes and Boston cakes; a real treat for Tart’s clientele!
As for the best thing about working at Tart? ‘The people!’ she enthuses. “There is such a lovely atmosphere at Tart and working with my dad in particular is really building the bond between us.” With an obvious passion for her craft and the industry in general, Molly is an asset to the Tart team, fitting with its ethos and joining the next generation of talented chefs.