Sponsored by
Spings Café, Havant
The Havant Arts Centre has morphed into the Spring Arts and Heritage Centre, named after the 20 freshwater springs in Havant.
Residents and visitors are spoilt for choice with the likes of art exhibitions, jazz nights, films, opera, singers of all kinds, plays, family history sessions and talks.
Spring Caf is the hub of this centre, its turquoise and light pine chairs and tables well spaced out for easy access to the rest of the space, which includes a gallery and gift shop.
The menu is simplicity itself, all food made on the premises by a one-woman band who is keen on baking, the kitchen off the servery prepping the likes of carrot cake, rhubarb cupcakes, date and apricot slice and rose and orange blossom cake, all snapped up by a steady stream of visitors.
No doubt about it, Spring in all its guises equals community.
Savoury tarts are this caf's stalwarts, pastry bases filled with seasonal vegetables and cheeses.
Savoury pastries – chicken and leek or spinach with Emmental – are also on view, as are the remarkable selection of salads including carrot, potato with dill, tomato with onion, rice and couscous.
There's a Spring salad too – mixed leaves with roasted and marinated artichokes and peppers with soft cheese – plus a Greek salad, homemade soup with malted wheat, sandwiches with goat's cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, baked ham or Brie and cranberry.
As I said: simplicity is the byword of Spring Cafe. That, and locally-sourced food and genuine hospitality, the welcome warm.
Fairtrade coffees including the rarely-seen macchiato (espresso marked with milk) join mocha and the novelty baycchino, a small cup of foamed milk with chocolate. They're licenced for beers, wines and spirits.
Tarts on display when I went included a rather striking red onion and Brie one, another with a tomato and cheese filling and a pea one – my choice.
Too many peas rather crowded out any cream and egg filling, the less-is-more principle missing. Result? A pea-crammed quiche without enough moisture. You can overdose on peas, peas, peas.
The salads more than made up for any tart downside: you get the six-strong lot – a Havant bargain – and all for 5.95, a pound less for a simple green salad.
A rich, dense slab of date and apricot slice followed. If you're after a homemade dessert come here to remind yourself that there are people out there who still bake rather than resorting to industrial sawdust sourcing.
Spring Arts and Heritage Centre has reinvented its local roots and cares about its visitors' whole experience, food, drink and having a rounded experience all part of its charm.
My bill came to just under 9.
Carol is a chef, former restaurateur and editor of Savour, the Guild of Food Writers magazine
Spings Caf, Spring Arts and Heritage Centre, East Street, Havant PO9 1BS (023) 9247 2700.
Open: Monday – Saturday from 9.30am until 3pm and on performance evenings.
Food: ***
Service: ****
Atmosphere: ****
Disabled access: Yes.
How to get there: Exit at Havant on the A27 and follow the signs for the station. Once on East Street, take the second exit on the small roundabout and follow the road around, the centre on the right.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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