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The Newsletter
Hello and welcome. You’re reading the very first Stage email news-letter which will be a new form of communication to fans of the food and service we give who have contributed to our journey. 
I’m Blaise for those who don’t know me already, the one normally found behind the stove feeling the heat but I’m taking a short break from melting away to put this together.

I think there were a lot of times last year where we all really pushed ourselves but I remember a day where we opened up a burrito bar at the units where we do our prep in Cornwall. Its at a bee centre with a small car park but it filled up pretty quickly once people started coming down to queue. 
I was on the trailer that day with Robbie and with the team split between both locations it was definitely a push, we were all going down but made it through the day and all sat down afterwards on the beach.
It was pretty clear all we’d prepped the day before and that day was gone- to open another day would mean prepping through the night.

We were all really burnt out and decided that we wouldn’t try anything like that again, sure we could absolutely go for it and try to serve as many people as possible but it could have broken us.
I think that’s why it feels really good for me to be cooking in Stage right now, its less people but we’ve been able to raise the standard of food and service to give them a really good experience that we hope they enjoy.
 

Its also nice for Robbie, Jevan and I to return to a place that holds good memories of attending the university, we all love the city and it’s a nice change from Cornwall while remaining just as hospitable.

As to why we’re moving onto a more natural and conversational form of communication, it came from realising that we had to take Instagram and some social media in general out of our lives. I feel like a lot of people can agree that it occupies a lot more space than it should in people's lives.
So as well as being an update on aspects of the Stage restaurant we wanted it to be a collection of conversational pieces from each of the boys that want to contribute and didn’t want to make it too formal either.

It took up a lot of Felix’s time and effort keeping up the Taco Boys Instagram and while he definitely enjoyed it and threw his own jokes in there along with subtle undertones of revolution I could see that he was beginning to be done with it, and that’s when we decided to fill the vacuum with an email newsletter instead. But first I wanted to do a cheeky insert of a poem our good friend Hector wrote:

As they set out,
Sails to the wind,
Rattling boys bungled together,
Aztec bits for the day trippers,
Earnest, only earnest food,
Because food is gospel,
And the gospel is good,
Food is gospel and the gospel is good.
.


And So onto the pieces from each of our team, you'll find them very myriad and interesting I hope. Thanks for reading.


 
Felix
"The pitfalls of social media"
 
"This (sic) shouldn’t be the measure of success or happiness. Hype builds too quickly and we become obsessed by news feeds and trends that in reality no one can keep up with, this shouldn’t be a race or a competition. This should be enjoyed with those right here beside us, as it was by those before us and hopefully can be by those that follow, when we spend too much time just fighting to keep up, its easy to forget and in turn waste the gift this life is.
It hasn’t felt right for a while now. We’ve lost sight of what really matters to us and we need to slow it down, take a breath and look at what’s happening.
Taco boys has become bigger than we feel we deserve or can handle, somewhere along the way we’ve lost our sense of purpose, the thing we do best and what to do forever, cooking food that comes from our soul to yours.
Love is how we do that, its not about how rare our salt is or what cut of meat we use.
Food is about love and the time we devote to share this food with you and those around us, we love what we do and we love who we do it for- but twelve thousand people? Its too many.
As we reopen our doors at Stage, we want to devote ourselves whole-heartedly to the 24 sat at our tables and the friends and family that are sharing this experience with us.
Its time to stop racing and start cooking with love again, thank you for a phenomenal two years and peace to everyone that’s been a part of it, its been a long time coming but for now we say- Goodbye Taco Boys and peace out. We’re onto our next Stage."
Also by Felix Craft
"A case study in serving squirrel"
 
"Around 5:45pm on a busy Thursday night, just as we are setting up for service and the Welsway out of Bath is full of commuters and car lights wizzing by. A man pulls up onto the pavement in an army green defender. I didn’t fully catch his face but I’d never seen him before and wasn’t aware he was coming.
Chef goes out to see him and comes back with a handful of rabbits, a couple of woodcock and one squirrel. He took the legs off the squirrel, made a cut just above the knee joint removed the smaller of the two bones and rolled the meat down to one end to form a lollipop of thigh meat. The rabbits were prepared for confit and ready to serve for guests that night, while the two squirrel legs were reserved for us. One for Chef and one for myself.

I never saw squirrel on the menu again, not there or anywhere in fact. Not even in the furthest eateries of Tofino or in the lower mountains surrounding Geneva, but i’d had the taste for it and knew of its potential. Pate en croute was another mystical beast of my career, i’d watched the chefs of Tom Kitchin’s Castle Terrace prepare, care and marvel over their creations while I peeled my carrots in the background, even saw it on the menu from a few culinary visits to Paris, but the price still deemed it out of reach.
It was Hossegor in the south western cape of France where I tried my first en Croute, in a wine bar that backed onto the busy carpark, we were there spectating the Quicksilver Pro that year and my girlfriend and her friends seemed much more interested by the a-list turnout of the worlds best surfers, than the simple yet perfect 5 course bar menu, I managed to sneak to the sidelines and enjoy a whole slice of beautifully prepared Pate en Croute to myself.
A good Pate en Croute has texture through the terrine, normally comprised by nuts, fruit or pickles, it also uses the whole of the animal so chunks of liver, kidney and even heart should be present. It takes its name from whatever meat holds over 50% majority and the pastry should be golden, with the air gap at the top filled with a jellied stock much to resemble a Melton Mowbray Pork pie, but the stock should be clear and seasoned with a nice bottle of whatever’s best in the cellar because this is France and not the windswept pocket of a four buttoned illegal fox hunter. A Pate en Croute deserves respect and is a good indicator of a chefs skills, from the layers in the making of the pastry to the resourcefulness of breaking down and using a whole animal. What better way to show respect to our little grey tailed friend, than to open the menu with a Squirrel Pate en Croute, a gruelling three day process from fur to fork.
Unfortunately it seemed this respect was not shared, with bookings dropping like flies and one woman reduced to tears in the street. We even had a delightful visit from the local environmental health officer (always fun) due to a number of complaints that we were serving squirrel, and questions over wether this should be legal after what we’ve just endured from perhaps a too daring Wuhan member of the culinary arts.

Of course we were not phased, and our humble squirrel catcher who prefers to remain un-named, would chant in a thick Devon accent “you tell them anti-squirrel warriors these pesky bastards are getting killed either way, they’re f**king the trees in their crucial stage of their life, just as they turn 18, they begin to bud and the squirrels cause havoc. We lose numerous trees each year at this time and there ain’t nothing else we can do.” All I could think about, was at least those pesky bastards had manners to wait till they were 18, nonetheless we had a job to do.
We met each Wednesday to skin, butcher and prepare our long tailed friends, I learnt a lot about squirrels, I even began to see them in a different light, one morning as I was pulling up the hill to work I found my mouth watering at the sight of a squirrel darting away from me.
My cousin who works for Natural England in the area informed me, squirrel is the most sustainable source of protein in the UK and our friendly environmental health officer left stating “you better sell a few more of those because I would love to see a red squirrel before the bucket kicks in”. So life was looking up for us squirrel chefs and we found numerous people wanting to give us their dead squirrels for free and bookings beginning to recover.
I decided to put it all to the test at my girlfriends surprise 21st birthday party, all the guys from work were coming and all the guys we live with too, the plan was to have a bonfire and a boogie, obviously a bit of grub was needed to be prepared and naturally that fell down to me and whoever turned up without beer. Fourteen confit squirrels were skinned and served whole alongside two farmed salmon fillets, smoked over the fire. All garnished with a bit of Skye's home grown salad and a dressing made from the squirrel fat. It was just after the release of sea spiracy so I thought the salmon was controversial and was interested to see where this would go. Much to my delight I looked around the fire just after sunset and saw people dancing with squirrel carcasses in their hands and smiles on their faces a successful post apocalyptic party atmosphere was in full flight and she was going to bed a happy lady.
-Ok perhaps they weren’t dancing, but I’ve always been a better chef than a DJ anyways. Peace out"
Robbie
"Why Exeter?"
 
Almost every day while I see a slighty surprised Exonian ask me this simple query… Why Exeter? 
For those readers that don't know our story thus far, our first independent venture was Taco Boys; a horsebox on Baby Bay, Polzeath serving fine dining tacos to the people. Two summers of trade and reputation finally enabled us to cash in our chips and pursue our ultimate goal of owning and running our own restaurant. But why Exeter?
A rag tag bunch of chefs who work on a Cornish beach are very busy for 5 months a year but when the rainy days outnumber the sunny and the Atlantic terrifies rather than invites, the demand for beach style tacos disappears quicker than the Chelsea tractors fleeing up the A303. It was this realisation along with a distinct lack of affordable housing or available lease holds that led us to conclude that we needed to move. This decision was not taken lightly as we loved our small slice of Cornwall, but we knew that if we wanted to carry on living our dream, it now a question of where.
As with most of our decisions, we didn’t have time to dilly dally and Exeter was the best choice.
Grandiose plans were drawn up to convert our Cornish preparation site into a test kitchen, garden, smokehouse, shroomery and brewery at the Porteath Bee Centre – and whilst we were all ready for the luxury of running water, electricity and solid walls, Exeter being the heart of the South West meant we could still hold on to our dream of spending our days off exploring in our vans just like the good ‘ol days.
Exeter has been a home to us before. Three of us studied here, and while acutely aware that life in the student bubble is a very insulated experience, we were all passionate about living in such a wonderful place. Having a love for the outdoors whilst also wanting the city life meant Exeter was the perfect compromise. The hustle & bustle of a city combined with space and natural beauty provides the balance we all desire and appreciate. A sense of community is not lost amongst the busyness of this metropolis. 
With Exeter in our sights, the time came to find the restaurant. Unlike Cornwall, we were spoilt for choice and on our first day of viewings Café Magdalen was the final stop. Right away our imaginations were captivated. What a beautiful European street. What a cosy yet open space. Not too big, not too small and straight away made to feel at home by Curly at the Calvo Loco Tapas bar up the street. We could see our goldilocks restaurant unfolding in front of our eyes and were itching to start building the Stage of our dreams. 
There’s certainly more to say but if you’re an Exonian by birth or choice, you already know why this is the place to be. If you’re reading this from outside Exeter, I implore you to visit one day and see for yourself. I hear there’s a new restaurant on Magdalen Road you should try…
Cameron
"Are you happy?"
 
Are you Happy? 
A simple question, but one I feel isn’t asked enough. 
When we meet up with a friend it’s a “hey how’s it going?” And we just give a blanket response “yeah good thanks, you?” “Yeah good” and that’s it. Now I know I can’t speak for everyone but don’t you feel like there should be more to it than that? 
You can tell your peers about some new exciting venture or experience and the questions will always be standard “How’s the pay?” “How was the weather?” “How was the food?” “Is it enjoyable?”
The last one is a strange one for me because I think it’s possible to be enjoying your time in the moment but still not be happy. Now these are still good questions that show your have a genuine interest in what your friend has to say, but they’re not emotionally supportive. 
 
So why don’t we ask each other if we’re happy? Now I don’t think it’s intentional, it’s not narcissistic or a lack of interest. I think as a society we’re losing or have already lost our sense on what truly matters, inner peace and happiness. I don’t just mean within ourselves, it’s just as important for everyone around you to also have the same, but we’re all so caught up in our own worlds that we sometimes might not spend as much time thinking of others as we should. I know there are good people in the world, this isn’t a piece for me to rip into humanity and call us all horrible, nor a piece to complain that I don’t think my peers care enough - I know they do and I feel truly blessed to have the people in my life that I do. 
I just want humanity to become more... humane, I guess. 
 
It’s so important, now more than before as we come out of this covid depressed world we’ve been living in, to check on your peers happiness, there may be more going on than you know. 
 
I know I’m happy right now: I’m working in the best job I’ve ever had, I actually look forward to going in in the mornings. I have the best support network of friends and family around me. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly and luxuries when I can afford them. 
I found as I get older my basic needs for happiness have become a lot less materialistic and a lot more about surrounding myself with the right people. 
 
So I’m setting myself a challenge, and I would like to extend it to all of my friends, family and our readers. I’m going to start asking peers “are you happy?” 
It might be a bit strange at first, but hey so is the first time you try anything, but do it enough and you find it quickly becomes normal. 
 
Finally, to anyone reading this who is struggling right now, I know I have close friends who aren’t doing great. I hope you get better, I hope things improve for you, I hope you find happiness, and I want you to know that you are loved and cared about. 
 
Thanks for reading my hungover thoughts.
 

Fin

(The end)
Copyright ©Stage Restaurant 2021, All rights reserved
Take a look at our website at stagerestaurant.co.uk for more information on us and how to book.

Our mailing address is:
blaise@thetacoboys.co.uk

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