WEBVTT

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Hey there, I am at Erie Street Gastropub in their

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event room, which is available for rental if

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you contact Erie Street Gastropub. And they were

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nice enough to allow me to use it to film some

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podcasts here today. And I am with Marleine Alaga.

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Yes, Alaga. And she is the new owner of Lotus

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and lattes, which is a cafe at the back of Erie

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Street Gastropub. How you doing today? I'm doing

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great. And you? Oh, I'm doing fabulous. I hope

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you guys have this on video, whether you're watching

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YouTube or Spotify, because the spread that Marlena

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made is amazing. Thank you. And if not, just

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check us out on Instagram, because we will have

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pictures of it. What made you decide to start

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Lotus and lattes? Was this a dream you've had?

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Or have you owned a cafe before? No, not at all.

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It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid.

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And everywhere I travel and I see little cafes,

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I'm like, I want one. I don't want anything big.

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I just want the cutest little cafe. And it just

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came across the opportunity came I was here visiting

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a gastropub. I usually come here for my martinis.

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So and then just open a conversation with Graham

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and Iris and then from one thing to another,

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the cafe, the, you know, opportunity is here.

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I might as well just jump on board and give it

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a try. So here we are. And it's cute. You have

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some wonderful touches. Even there's bamboo around

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the fridge. I love those, the detail, the little

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tiny details. Yeah, it came out perfect. I'm

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very proud of it. It's so cute. It's me. And

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this is the plan, is to put whatever I want,

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like whatever me represented, I just want it

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in that cafe. Whether in my baking, whether in

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my drinks, anything I'm making, it's just going

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to be me putting my passion in. So I'm very excited

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about this new adventure. Now you've been baking

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for quite a while. Yeah, since I was 12. Yeah,

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I started at 12 and then it's been, you know.

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started with the catering I think eight years

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ago and it's been truly doing well. I was working

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with Oxley Beach Golf Course in Harrow and I

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do all the events there and then from there you

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know micro weddings, engagements. birthdays and

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you know, and here we are. And she has made me

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what is this heavenly match that I'm going to

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taste right here because it just looks way too

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good. This is the ube coconut matcha. Now what

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is ube? Ube it's a purple potato. And it's actually

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the extract of the purple potato. Okay, I had

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to taste that twice because you see purple and

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you're expecting lavender. Yes. oh my goodness

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that is really good you can taste the coconut

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that is a very very nice smooth drink it is a

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treat that gives you an energy i mean you could

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do it with any milk a choice of milk you want

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and you can skip the you know syrup and the added

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sugar just do like with just a coconut just a

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matcha and here we are but just a this is a combination

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of the milk some coconut the matcha and on top

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of it I do the cold foam with the coconut essence

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and I top it up with a little bit coconut shreds

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and rose petals I like the rose petals. That's

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a nice touch. Now you have quite a few different

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matches and you use really good quality much

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as well. Yes, I do use the ceremonial matcha

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Japanese ceremonial matcha and all my drinks

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and I have a quite a selection. I can make pistachio.

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Mary Berry now is for the holiday season. I have

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posted it yesterday on Instagram. Yeah, a lot

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of and I can make your own if you have a flavor

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in mind that you want to try. I can do a gingerbread.

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I can do like, you know, something different.

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I know I tried the last time I was here, the

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lavender. Oh, I don't even think I made it home.

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And I'm the type that I usually don't, I won't

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drink a whole drink. But these treats here are

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amazing. I've had these energy bars and So good.

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We don't have the matcha ones here because those

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have sold out. Yes. Yeah, pistachio matcha with

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the dried raspberry. It was a hit this week.

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So I think it's going to be on the menu regularly.

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Oh, you better have extras in stock because that

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was so good. And then we have the baklava and

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my favorite cheesecake. and what flavors do you

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have there? I have the lotus cheesecake and I

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have a peanut butter cheesecake and gingerbread

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cheesecake today. And you make those all from

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scratch. Yes, I do. I'm a big fan of cheesecake

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and I've been making cheesecake for the last

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10 years, actually. And yeah, I do a lot of flavors.

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She's my new best friend. Everybody knows me

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knows that I love a cheesecake. Now you also

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have other other beverages as well as the matches

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you have the cappuccinos, the espressos, everything.

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And what are your hours? Now currently for the

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winter just because it's dark. cold. Monday we're

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closed. Sunday we open nine to four, and then

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the rest of the week is eight to six. That's

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perfect. Yes. And anything hot, cold, come on

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in here. She has it available for you. The treats

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which are heavenly. Thank you so much. I appreciate

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you being on here for a little short episode

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to introduce the newest cafe to Windsor Essex

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County. Thank you so much for having me. And

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it was a pleasure, you know, serving this and

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hope that audience like the baklava and the treats

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today. Make sure to follow Lotus and Lattes on

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Instagram. And again, my name is Tracy Martins.

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Thank you for joining me for another episode

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of YQG in Bloom. You guys all have a wonderful

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day. you