For those of you who haven’t popped in there yet, Aroma Café and Kitchen, is situated on Keymer Parade. Since mid-October, they have opened for evening meals on certain days. “We’d just like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have already dined with us from our new Friday and Saturday night menu,” says manager, Natalie Steer. “We’re already working on the next one and are very excited to share it with you soon.”

Her business partner, Matt Penfold, says: “We are waiting for confirmation that our alcohol license has been granted so fingers crossed!” Matt and Nat originally worked together at the locally renowned Café Elvira and Jeremy’s Restaurant at Borde Hill.

Aroma will also be offering a seasonal menu. Matt says: “Our Christmas themed menu is very much in the works, and we will serve this on Friday and Saturday nights as well as offering exclusive dining on a Wednesday and Thursday evening, so if you haven’t organised your office party yet or are planning a pre-Christmas family gathering then we can host up to 16 guests.”
www.aromacafe.uk

To celebrate their evening opening, here’s a recipe from Aroma

Ingredients

125g margarine
250g caster sugar
2 medium free range eggs (preferably Macs Farm ;-) )
1 tsp Danish vanilla sugar (you can use a few drops of vanilla essence as a replacement)
250g gluten free plain flour
2 tsp gluten free baking powder
4 very ripe Bananas
175g chocolate chips or chunks (I prefer chunks)

Method

Cream the margarine and sugar
Lightly beat in the eggs
Mix in bananas (use a fork to squish them a bit!), vanilla sugar and chocolate
Slowly sifting, add the flour and baking powder, stirring all the time
Line a bread tin with grease-proof paper, transfer mix, then bake low and slow for roughly 1 hour at 160°C
Check it’s cooked all the way through with a knife. If it’s clean when you remove it, it’s cooked!
Serve as a slice by itself or warm and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, custard or cream for a delicious dessert.