What we got up to during lockdown

There’s no hiding that lockdown hit us – and every other food and drinks business out there – really hard when we were least expecting it. I am not somebody who can’t stay still; I need to always be doing something, so most of the time you’ll see me moving about keeping busy. There were two weeks between the start of lockdown and re-opening for takeaways on 1st April where I had so much free time, I ended up doing nearly every trend that was going. I’m ashamed to say that I even participated in a few Tik-Tok videos.

After about 10 days, I got in touch with the Caldera team and asked if they would be comfortable to re-open for takeaways, and thankfully they were more than happy; they too had had their fill of tik toks and dagona coffee.

The first few weeks of Ubereats and Deliveroo were slow and sluggish, but a massive thank you goes out to everyone who ordered from us in that time! You know who you are. The support we got in that time, gave us the boost to serve, keep smiling and continue with our purpose as a local community-based restaurant and serve our neighbours during times which I am sure have been difficult and draining for everyone. Nothing perks up a mood more than great food.

We started by offering care packages to our lovely residents of the Monohaus building where we are based with a sample of our salsas, tortilla chips and some lovely British tea and biscuits.

Ever since we opened our doors last year, we have focussed on creating a comfortable and enjoyable atmosphere inside, without giving much thought to our online look, so we used the opportunity to take some nice foodie shots for our delivery pages, which meant making lots of pictures for photoshoots – and since we hate waste – there was only one solution…. Having a feast for ourselves (and the flatmates and families we live with).

Now we face a new challenge – coping with social distancing measures and trying to offer something close to normality for our customers.  For now, we are still operating on a limited menu and hours, but we are slowly increasing both. We know that dining out can be a bit of a luxury for many people now as redundancies are made and hours are being cut.  That’s why we are running days like Taco Thursday (whilst we are closed on Tuesdays) – two taco pieces for £5, and soon we will be bringing you both bottomless margaritas and our Mexican-inspired brunch on the weekends, making up for lost 2020 time so grab some friends and book in. We always guarantee you smiley faces, great food and delicious drinks here at Caldera.

Thanks once again, see you soon.

Arya, 
Caldera founder