“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Last week I had the chance to catch up with my friend Sam, I don’t know when I became a grown up but at some point, I made the change from going out drinking shots with friends to meeting them for a glass of wine and dinner. I am also not sure when the change came that meeting friends became “I had the chance to catch up”, when did we all become so busy?! Anyway, we decided to meet 59 at the Hollies a beautiful restaurant that is part of the Hollies Farm Shop, tucked away in the Cheshire countryside and worth a visit or two. This is not an ad or sponsored post, I am writing about it because it deserves to be written about, plus I had a lovely evening with a dear friend.
“From 2 brothers, a butcher and a chef, 59 is an evening dining concept showcasing the finest fresh produce from their award-winning Hollies Farm Shop. This unique concept from a third-generation, family-run business combines the butcher’s high quality, fully traceable, locally aged beefsteaks that are matured and cut in house, with fresh produce from the farm shop. With the ability to hand-pick products from the farm shop and butchery on site combined with a passion to create great things, 59 boasts a menu of great steaks, tasty burgers, fresh superfood salads and fish dishes.”
Ok so not eating meat I didn’t get the full effort of the menu, On the night we visited the grill was broken and pretty much all there was for meat eaters was pie or chicken. The menu is limited due to using local, fresh ingredients so I would recommend checking out the menu before you go, the plus side of a small menu is what they do they do extremely well. I didn’t see any mains on the menu that were vegan so I went for vegetarian.
For starters, we opted for the same dish of halloumi with chilli jam. The food was utterly delicious however, the service was ok, the problem I had was that everything took so long, I have been here a few times now and never waited as long as I did during this evening. I fully understand that the grills were broken and maybe there was extra stress/pressure but waiting almost 45 minutes for the starter was excessive. But like I said this was my first bad experience here, I am normally very happy with the service.
For my main course, I opted for creamy garlic mushrooms (which was a starter) with side dishes of sweet potato fries, farm shop greens and roasted root vegetables. I completely over ordered as normal.
Feeling extremely full and very satisfied we decided to skip dessert (over the summer we didn’t skip it and ended up feeling full for days afterwards) however, needing our fix of sugar we decided to end the night with hot chocolates.
The evening was delicious and filled with laughter and the odd glass of wine. I have been so blessed in the last 12 months, to have developed so many incredible friendships with some wonderful women. I honestly don’t think I am naturally a good friend, I work better on my own and I am kind of a bit of a loner, but the last 12 months has taught me how to be better. It has taught me to listen more, be kinder and let people in, something I struggle with a lot. Heres to building on the friendships I have formed, making new friends and opening up a little more. Maybe we will have to throw in the occasional night of shots, you know to balance it all out, either that or I will have to actually start going the gym more!
If you are in the beautiful Cheshire countryside then 59 at the Hollies is worth a visit, find out more here.
I just want to say again that this is not an ad, I have written about it because I loved my visit and wanted to share.
