Last Thursday night our staff were talking about the unimaginably awful situation in Haiti. So we decided to try to do something to help. We decided to arrange an extra paella lunch, with ALL proceeds donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee. We know that many people will already have made a donation, and that anything we do will be a drop in the ocean, but with the generosity of our staff and suppliers, we hope to maximise the funds we can raise.
Within 15 minutes of announcing our intention to put on a "Paella for Haiti" on Sunday 24th January, Los Gatos was fully booked for our normal capacity. We continued to receive emails and phone calls and many who came into the bar at the weekend also wanted to support the event. By today (Monday,) we had over 70 reservations - too many for us, even with two sittings!
We approached our friend Manni Madhani across the road at The Old Bank Brasserie and he has not only agreed to host the Los Gatos Paella in his restaurant, but has also pledged to donate takings from his Sunday lunch on the same day to the Haiti appeal! Manni was only too pleased to support this good cause and happy to do whatever he and his staff could to make the event as successful as possible.
This is such a tremendous outcome for all of us, as it means we can accommodate all those who wanted to support our fundraising effort, as well as potentially doubling the amount raised through the generosity of The Old Bank. We are delighted, not only at the enormous level of support from our customers, but also at the great spirit of co-operation shown by the independent traders in Wood Street. This is such a great, fun way of doing something positive in the face of such awful tragedy. We hope other businesses will also be inspired to do something similar.
The Los Gatos Paella - now full to capacity - will be served as planned at 1.30pm at the Old Bank. The Old Bank itself will be open for Sunday lunch, with bookings being taken throughout the lunch period as normal (some tables still available at present.)
Los Gatos' regular Spanish guitarists - the Betula Daubney duo - will play for everyone at the Old Bank from about 2.00 pm.
We'd like to publicly reiterate our enormous thanks, both to Manni and the staff at The Old Bank for making this tremendous joint event possible, and also to all the lovely staff and suppliers who have offered their time and donated food and drink to help us maximise the amount we can raise for this cause.
Suppliers who have already agreed to donate now include:
Magnum Wine Shop of Wood Street
Morgenrot Chevaliers wine importers and distributors, Manchester
Walter Rose & Son Butchers of Devizes
New Wave Seafood, fish suppliers of Fairford, Glos
Mevalco, Fine Foods from Spain, Stonehouse, Glos
Delicioso, suppliers of Spanish produce, Berinsfield, Oxon.
Mantinga, suppliers of continental bread and cakes, Gloucester
We are all looking forward to what's turning out to be a really exciting event.
Within 15 minutes of announcing our intention to put on a "Paella for Haiti" on Sunday 24th January, Los Gatos was fully booked for our normal capacity. We continued to receive emails and phone calls and many who came into the bar at the weekend also wanted to support the event. By today (Monday,) we had over 70 reservations - too many for us, even with two sittings!
We approached our friend Manni Madhani across the road at The Old Bank Brasserie and he has not only agreed to host the Los Gatos Paella in his restaurant, but has also pledged to donate takings from his Sunday lunch on the same day to the Haiti appeal! Manni was only too pleased to support this good cause and happy to do whatever he and his staff could to make the event as successful as possible.
This is such a tremendous outcome for all of us, as it means we can accommodate all those who wanted to support our fundraising effort, as well as potentially doubling the amount raised through the generosity of The Old Bank. We are delighted, not only at the enormous level of support from our customers, but also at the great spirit of co-operation shown by the independent traders in Wood Street. This is such a great, fun way of doing something positive in the face of such awful tragedy. We hope other businesses will also be inspired to do something similar.
The Los Gatos Paella - now full to capacity - will be served as planned at 1.30pm at the Old Bank. The Old Bank itself will be open for Sunday lunch, with bookings being taken throughout the lunch period as normal (some tables still available at present.)
Los Gatos' regular Spanish guitarists - the Betula Daubney duo - will play for everyone at the Old Bank from about 2.00 pm.
We'd like to publicly reiterate our enormous thanks, both to Manni and the staff at The Old Bank for making this tremendous joint event possible, and also to all the lovely staff and suppliers who have offered their time and donated food and drink to help us maximise the amount we can raise for this cause.
Suppliers who have already agreed to donate now include:
Magnum Wine Shop of Wood Street
Morgenrot Chevaliers wine importers and distributors, Manchester
Walter Rose & Son Butchers of Devizes
New Wave Seafood, fish suppliers of Fairford, Glos
Mevalco, Fine Foods from Spain, Stonehouse, Glos
Delicioso, suppliers of Spanish produce, Berinsfield, Oxon.
Mantinga, suppliers of continental bread and cakes, Gloucester
We are all looking forward to what's turning out to be a really exciting event.
