We try the cooked breakfast at the cafe near Bristol that encourages people to take free food from the fridge

Most cafe owners would celebrate the fourth birthday of their business with a party or at least a glass of fizz, but Cat Midgley marked the recent anniversary of Temple Street Canteen a bit differently.

After four years, Cat has decided to rebrand her popular Keynsham cafe to match the neighbouring farm shop she opened last year.

By the end of February, both sites will come under the same banner of Savour Farmshop and Kitchen, although the cafe will continue to run in the same way.

Cat took over the Temple Street Canteen in January 2020 just before the pandemic took grip of the country so in some ways, it has been an achievement to survive four years, unlike many food businesses.

Cat and her dad refurbished the cafe throughout the covid lockdowns and reopened it as soon as restrictions allowed.

The previous owner had build a reputation as a cafe focused on the community, which is what drew Cat to take over and she has built on this over the past four years.

One of the most striking things about the cafe is the community fridge near the front door. It’s run by a committee of volunteers from Keynsham as they needed a public space to provide local people access to surplus food. 

Cat says: “As a business we are keen to keep waste, especially food waste, to a minimum, as we know the hospitality industry can be notoriously wasteful. So helping to save the waste food really fit with our plans.

“In May 2023, we opened a farmshop next door, with fresh produce, cleaning refill products and a cheese and deli counter. We use local suppliers as much as possible and even send our compostable scraps to a local farm, who then supply some vegetables back to us in the spring/summer.”

During our visit to the cafe on Saturday morning, there was a steady stream of locals popping in and taking a few items from the community fridge, including fresh vegetables.

Most tables in the two-floor cafe were occupied, with others reserved for lunch when specials included steak and ale pie with mash and peas (£15).

On the counter, there was a range of cakes including lemon drizzle, cherry Bakewell and chocolate brownies.

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In the afternoon, the cafe serves a cream tea (£8 per person) and a sweet or savoury afternoon tea (£22 per person).

But until 11.30am, it’s all about breakfast, including bacon sandwiches (£7.20), scrambled eggs on toast (£7.20) and an ‘open’ BLT (£8) comprising bacon, tomato, chilli chutney, lettuce and tomato served on toasted ‘doorstep’ bloomer.

I went for the ‘classic English’ breakfast (£11.95) and it was hard to fault, with excellent grilled back bacon, a good quality sausage, creamy scrambled eggs, crisp hash browns, glossy baked beans, grilled tomato, juicy grilled field mushroom and buttered toast.

This isn’t ‘fast’ food but the fact the breakfast took a while to arrive meant it was cooked to order and every component was piping hot and perfectly cooked. Like the well deserved fourth birthday of this popular community cafe, it was worth the wait.

Temple Street Canteen, 20 Temple Street, Keynsham, Bristol, BS31 1EH.