Writer in Residence at Delicious, Lutterworth

I spent a very pleasant afternoon at Delicious yesterday. Lutterworth anyway is a charming little spot and really lends itself to this type of café. It does face competition from nearby Morrisons and Costas, but it also offers something a bit different.“I like to come here to relax and think,” says one customer.

It certainly is tranquil, with the door open on to the street and a pleasant breeze coming in on a warm July afternoon. Is this its unique selling point? Or is it the Tea-Pigs tea, with the fuller leaves in little silk bags. The packets are roughly twice as much as you’d pay in a supermarket, but the flavours are more than twice as good. I tried the mint and liquorice. Delicious indeed. I was rather temped also by the chocolate leaves but refrained. I’d already tried their coffee and one of their gorgeous lunch-time sandwiches. The coffee is far smoother than that served at Costas or Starbucks. All the cakes are home-made and on offer yesterday were lemon-drizzle cake, fun-looking cupcakes and a rather tempting fruit cake. The café has a good lunch time trade, both takeaway and eat in, and they also supply catering-items – including pirate-ship and teddy-bear-shaped baking tins.

Delicious is just beginning to become a Creative Café. Well, I was there for one thing. They keep a basket full of arts information. They could easily accommodate a writing or reading group, a small book launch or a poetry reading, perhaps as a private function in the evening. A sensible pattern might be to ask a group to pay the staff’s wages that evening. They’d sell drinks and snacks. People who’d not been before are introduced to the café. Everyone wins.
There is a little alcove / room at the back of the café. There are a few children’s toys there. This could make an ideal meeting space. Or it could be where the Writer in Residence offers writing surgeries.
I chatted to a few people – including two members of staff – one a creative writing student, the other an avid reader. I realise that I need to have some more leaflets printed.