After week one of self-distancing, we're obsessing about the perfect countryside breakfast...
Like you, the corona virus is keeping us indoors and contained in our home. And, though it’s just been the first week, we’re already exploring ways to utilise the extra time to further refine our guest experience - starting with breakfast.
In the past, we’ve always felt that hotels, especially boutique ones, need to focus on finessing their core offer first before adventuring further. To us, that meant providing comfortable guest rooms conducive to a good night’s sleep, complimented by a delicious breakfast each morning - albeit with a local context to boot.
To do this, plush bedding was a must. A decent mattress, ample soft-to-touch pillows, and separate comforters with breathable sheets helped achieve this (especially for those whose partners have a tendency to steal the covers).
When it came to breakfast, the coffee and tea had to be fresh and fragrant. Equally important was to get right was the fruits and vegetables - they needed to be bio whenever possible; crisp, and flavourful. The spreadable goods such as jam, butter, and dips had to be exactly that - easy to spread (hard butter is a sad state of affairs indeed). Last but not least, the eggs needed to be both free-range and made to order…
Then there was the baked goods, a breakfast-table-staple that we’re particularly passionate about. The carb, essential to any good mea,l had to compliment it all rather than play second fiddle.
And, while we have partnered with a local dairy known for its fresh butter, and though we are used to moseying-on-over to the neighbouring chicken coup when guests are arriving only to fill our basket with the day’s freshly laid eggs - we felt that we could do more. So, this winter began plans to expand our garden and started tinkering with the idea of incorporating a wider variety of homemade baked goods. As time went on, we began researching bread ovens and discussing our ideas with a local builder and artisan brick layer. Now that we’ve found ourselves with some extra time on our hands, we knew it was time to get cooking despite the bread oven being on hold. During the first week of self-distancing, in between entertaining Mr. Doggo in the private park surrounding the castle, we grabbed our copy of Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread and got to work.
With elbows deep in bowls of floury goodness, yeast, and Maldon sea salt - Matty set out to learn about and experiment with new bread baking techniques. The results so far have been delightful to say the least. After a few days, we sunk our teeth into such savoury morsels including pretzels (which will hit the spot come late-summer and fall for brunch). Each morning now I feel spoiled as I reach for another one of Matty’s savoury buttermilk biscuits made from bio-kefir and herbs - I know he has the time to make another batch.
And, it is with each new feat in the kitchen that got us thinking - crisis moments, though brought about during unfortunate circumstances, also present opportunity. At present, that means leaning into the situation to make the most of it while appreciating the little things.
The Palace at Osowa Sien breakfast will be all the better for it once we are able to welcome you back and share our favourite baked goods with you. Until then, I have a feeling that this will be one of several posts to come about breakfast - because as the title suggests - we’re obsessing over it; and we’ve only just begun.
