Jo Seagar’s Cafe at Oxford

Lunch at Jo Seagar’s Cafe in Oxford was on our “must do” list, and we have been eagerly looking forward to it.  Jo and her family had relocated here several years ago from the North Island, and runs her thriving Cafe, Cook School and Kitchen Store in this pretty little town.  Jo Seagar, with her bubbly nature  is a “Kiwi Treasure” and I love her TV programmes, and have several of her cook books at home.  She has made the term “easy peasy” very much her own, as well as her oft repeated statement, “never trust a skinny cook”.    With eight people in our group I asked if we could put some tables together, and the staff happily obliged.  Now, let’s check out those menus.  Everything sounded so tasty, what shall we order?  Steaming plates were delivered to a table close by ours, and the young ladies enjoying their meal  were happy to tell us what they had ordered.  That made up our minds – we want what they are having!

Friendly staff in the cafe

Paintings of rural New Zealand farm scenes lining the walls were for sale and seemed quite reasonably priced to me.  Sheep, border collies,  cattle and rusty old barns were all beautifully captured.

New Zealand farm scene

Beautifully worked cross stitch panels adorned the walls on the way to the bathrooms, and these were stitched by Jo’s mother, the staff told me.  Except perhaps the oldest sampler, the stitching read “M Stares, aged 8, 1821”, obviously a family heirloom.

Made by Jo’s mother

Stitched in 1821

We enjoyed our delicious lunches and can certainly recommend a trip to this wonderful cafe.  Jo was busy teaching her pupils in the Cook School today, we were told, so there was no chance that we could say hello.  Check it all out on www.joseagar.com