Gusto - taste with your heart

Archive

Sunday Brunch

From February 3rd Gusto will be open on Sundays from 10-4pm for brunch. The shop will be open as usual for groceries and bread (our baker has finally agreed to make bread on a Sunday for us!). A sample menu is available in the shop and the caffe is available for private breakfast hire every day.

Gusto Going Greener

We are happy to announce that all of our Gusto carrier bags are now 100% recycled and biodegradable. We are also introducing a bag recycling scheme where you can bring back your Gusto shopping bags to be re used. You will also find in store our new Jute “Bags for life”, which we hope you will be interested in.

We are currently looking at our waste disposal. All of our delivery boxes are returned to suppliers for re-use. Our food waste is used by Neal’s Yard Remedies in Montpellier in their wormery to create compost for their herb garden. We are liaising with the council who currently do not offer trade recycling facilities, but will hopefully have cardboard and paper recycling in June.

We have asked our suppliers to do a review of all disposable products and are looking for cost effective solutions.

In a bid to reduce unnecessary paper this will be our final newsletter which will be posted, however we will continue to email. If you don’t already receive this newsletter by email and wish to be kept informed of all our news, please let us have your email address ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

At Gusto we believe in sourcing the highest quality Italian food and drink products which cannot be found anywhere else in the country. The same quest for high quality is hopefully reflected in the food we prepare in our kitchen for take-away, the caffe and outside catering. Our food is delivered daily from reputable local suppliers (all in Gloucestershire). Our butcher is in Cheltenham itself and in turn uses local suppliers (including veal) and a local abattoir. Our suppliers are briefed to supply top quality ingredients only. We currently do not prepare any organic dishes although would be interested in your feedback on this issue.

Food Facts

Gavin and I are both concerned about animal welfare issues and watched Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall’s ‘Chicken Run’ with interest. It has highlighted many issues from the cruelty of food production to the influence of the big supermarkets on our shopping habits as well as price issues – but also the nation’s lack of interest and understanding of food production and food preparation.

We will be offering free range chicken dishes in the caffe sourced from a local producer and hope that you will support this. However, we chose our butcher as we were happy with all his suppliers in terms of rearing, welfare and the use of local abattoirs. We are also switching to free range eggs immediately. We will be using free range chicken in our take out food and outside catering but this will unfortunately incur increased prices.

If you have any comments on this issue we would welcome feedback.

On a lighter note in season at the moment are cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli, venison, salmon, radicchio and Sicilian blood oranges. You will see these seasonal products in the food we are serving over the next few weeks.

Italian Lessons

Following on from the success of our last course we will be running two sets of Italian lessons by Rosella Rigattieri on Thursday evenings starting on April 17th. Beginner class will be at 6.45pm until 8.15pm and intermediate lessons will be at 8.00pm until 9.30pm. The format for the evening will be arrival with drinks and canapé in the shop followed by lesson in the caffe. All course materials will be supplied. The course of six lessons will be charged at £145 payable on booking. To reserve your place please speak to Rachel or Gavin or email us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Supper at Gusto

Two dates for the diary – We will be hosting two more of our successful supper evenings on Thursday 13th March and Friday 14th March.

We are looking forward to introducing you to some of our suppliers who will be giving a brief talk about their products and current Italian food trends.

The evening will start with a welcome glass of prosecco followed by a supper and coffee. Cost per person is £35.00. To reserve a table please call Rachel or Gavin or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Credit card details will be taken to secure reservations.

Gift Ideas

Mothering Sunday- We have a selection of cookbooks which would be ideal, especially “Just like Mama Used To Make” or great coffee table book “Roads to Rome”. Prosecco, chocolates or a gift hamper.