Karen Wright: It’s always good to find and try ‘a real gem’

There is always something going on in my kitchen of course and now I am busy making rich fruit cakes, some for Christmas of course and some for cake creations that are scheduled for the new year.

Every few weeks I go out and about in the area for lunch and I look to find new places to try out. Last week I found a real gem, Rich and Fancy, which is in Horbury. I had met Louise aka ‘Fancy’ at a social media workshop in Wakefield and she told me a little about the café. I was keen to visit and see what it was like. Currently small, seating up to 25 people, it is very charming indeed. With a tiny open plan kitchen space where ‘Rich’ - the chef - creates his magic and ‘Fancy’ his wife looks after the customers.

It was difficult to choose lunch as everything sounded fabulous, John eventually chose a pork pie platter, with salad, cheese and pickles. I opted for a tomato and red onion bruschetta which was so scrumptious, it is arguably the best I have ever tasted. Rich bakes fresh scones and cakes every day and on the day we visited there were two slabs of lemon drizzle and a Victoria sponge on offer.

We discovered that the venue is used in the evenings sometimes too, for regular supper clubs and workshops. As is often the case, one thing led to another and before lunch was over, our conversation developed into an idea where we could collaborate and hold an event together. We are hosting a ‘book’ event on Wednesday 29th November at 7pm. I will be cooking samples from my recipes and chatting about my journey from Bake Off and beyond! Tickets can be booked directly with Rich and Fancy: https://www.richandfancy.co.uk/

Since my visit there has been some breaking news too, the premises next door has become available and in the new year Rich and Fancy will be expanding! I am so delighted for them, and I look forward to discovering what the new space will look like and hopefully getting involved on a regular basis, as the saying goes “watch this space”!