It’s Pride month. Richard Dash and Jamie Carter bring us their 2024 Pride in Hospitality round-up.
Yas Bean
This fabulous pink coffee shop is no stranger to our Pride stage. In fact, we’ve featured Yas Bean every year since creating this yearly round-up, with good reason. To some, Yas Bean is “that pink coffee shop in Macclesfield”. To many others in our community, it’s a safe space to sit and enjoy a coffee with friends, it’s a loud and proud voice speaking up for those that aren’t quite ready to speak up for themselves, and it’s a husband and husband team that have so much heart.
Yas Bean have carved itself a beautiful corner in Macclesfield regularly hosting LGBTQ+ meetings and food pop-ups, and you’ll find them most days creating some sort of wild, sass-fuelled content on their social media channels. If you haven’t been to visit, go now, or if you’re a little far away but still want to support this amazing business, you can get a box of treats delivered to your door – they are seriously good and worthy of any stage, Pride or not!
Drinks & Bites
Welcome to Drinks and Bites at 35, owned by wife and wife team, Gemma and Holly Crocker. Owners since January 2013, Gemma and Holly have worked incredibly hard to build a community hub that is inclusive and welcoming for everyone. We first met the girls in 2022 and even though we only spent a brief moment together the girls have left a very special place in our hearts. They’re warm, genuine and they have an infectious energy about them which we absolutely love to see. You’ll see it too if you follow their social media; coffee and cake selfies galore over there!
Gemma and Holly tell us the people of Middlewich have been more supportive than they originally expected. Sometimes there is a fear a small town could be quite narrow-minded, but Middlewich have shown nothing but love and support. Go Middlewich!
@drinksandbitesat35, drinksandbites.co.uk
Sam’s Bakehouse
Sam’s Bakehouse is as it says on the tin; a Manchester-based bakehouse that operates throughout Cheshire at pop-ups and events. We spoke to Sam about how he started his baking journey and why he thinks Pride is still so important in 2024. He told us he always enjoyed baking as a hobby, finding it very therapeutic. He set the business up as a side hustle in 2019, and decided during the pandemic he needed to do something that brought him more joy, so dived right into baking full-time. Sam says it’s always been important for him to operate as an openly gay business owner because it’s important to be visible, even now in 2024. Sam has sadly been the victim of hate crimes on two separate occasions in the last 12 months. It saddens us to hear that not one person came to help him either - we really still need our allies and support right now, so when people don’t step up it feels like a step back. Sam continues to support LGBTQ+ charities through his work, one of which is the George House Trust, where he donates a portion of the proceeds from his Rainbow Pride cookie pies, so get your orders in.
@sams_bakehouse, samsbakehouse.com
Outsauced Media
Some say shameful, some say opportunists — we’ll let you decide…
Jamie and I have been proudly shouting about Cheshire and its glorious food scene since 2019, when we decided we would put our spare time to good use and create Lost in Cheshire. Over the years, our love for Cheshire and its hospitality continued to grow, and to our surprise the feeling is mutual. We’ve worked with hospitality businesses of all sizes to help place them in front of new audiences through our social media platforms and through monthly magazine features (*ahem* thanks Cheshire Living Magazine *ahem*). As our network grew, so did our understanding of how to correctly market a business and how to build a brand. Taking all of our experience, knowledge and network, we opened Outsauced Media. A social media and content creation agency that specialises in working with hospitality businesses.
In case it wasn’t clear, Jamie and I are a couple, and business partners (I know!). As we work on such a public platform it’s always been important for us to make it clear that we were together. We both come from small, rural towns and didn’t have the support we really needed growing up. The more visibility we bring to the LGBTQ+ community, the better. We’re just really proud to be a part of it.
@outsaucedmedia, outsaucedmedia.co.uk
Find more of the best of local food and drink at lostincheshire.co.uk and on Instagram @lostincheshire
