"We're back, but not without you. A few words of thanks. 
"Friends, family, customers…community. Welcome to what we here at Wandering Cooks are calling, rather understatedly, phase two. As I fired up the burners and went back into a smooth service last week, it was hard to even begin to fully process just how much had changed in the last year. There I was, operating in a wholly new location, running a seriously pivoted business, working in a role I had long ago stepped back from, amid new key team members, on the other side (fingers crossed!) of the worst of a thankless global pandemic that did everything but scatter our dreams into the winds. I can’t pretend otherwise; we were oh-so-nearly ground to fragrant powder between the blunt pestle of bad luck and the mortar of our bottom line. Oh-so-nearly. But…there I was. There I was doing what I love most - cooking for my community - in the most beautiful new kitchen. Serving familiar and curious new faces. Looking over a space that already felt more intimate and warmer than the old warehouse that had seemed too wonderfully haunted by our strange history to ever be replaced. My team, who have gone way, way beyond even the loosest interpretation of their job descriptions over the past couple of months, were already in full swing after just a couple of hours back to their true professions. There I was, watching them from the kitchen doorway as they welcomed, served, informed, charmed and cleaned with the eagerness of remote inn-keepers at the end of a long, quiet off-season. There I was, indeed, looking out at living proof of what stubbornness, ingenuity, hard work, extreme frugality, lollies, late-night pizza, coffee, beer, imagination, expertise, good advice, an infinite sense of humour, a little pride and whole lot of care for one another can achieve against a terminated lease and unprecedented economic odds. There I was, indeed, recalling the phenomenal response to our pleas for support from our community. To those who pledged to our wishing tree. To those who turned up unannounced in recent weeks to load and unload moving trucks. To paint. To work an unpaid bar. To the little girls who painted our little clay fundraising fruits. To the kids who spruiked their homemade lemonade. To everyone who paid with their hearts for beer and wine and afternoon tea at our Fish Lane farewell. To the generous suppliers who handed over an abundance of stock for our fundraising efforts. To the various businesses who contributed to hampers. To our Mums and Dads and siblings and lovers, who washed clothes and wiped tears and walked dogs. To those familiar faces that were coming back through our doors already. There I was. Never before had I felt so powerfully the presence of a community in and around me. A community I only now perhaps realised the true privilege it was to variously employ, serve and contribute to. Because simply to be there, looking out across Wandering Cooks’ fledgling second life, was to understand of who and what my dream was truly made. And to be a humble cook, indeed. So yes, we’re back open. Serving food and drinks Wednesday through Saturday. And the farm gate isn’t too far away. And yes, there’s unfinished bits everywhere. But there always was, and probably always will be. Can’t wait to see you all in again soon.
Ange." | 
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