In the eighth of our Q&A spotlight series, celebrating the wonderful personalities that personify Fudge Kitchen in all its quirky glory, step forward the Masterfully Moustachioed Matthew, manager of the Windsor shop, who cut his sweet teeth in the Bath store and now presides over a tiny shop in the shadow of historic Windsor Castle.
Though it be small it be fierce, however – to paraphrase – attracting visitors from right across the globe. “There are very few nationalities left to visit,” says Matthew “but I’m doubtful we’ll get a North Korean in.” Never say 못 (that’s Korean for ‘never’)! This is, after all, the #3 Windsor TripAdvisor spot, beaten only by St George’s Chapel and that old castle thing. From whence, incidentally, there used to be a connecting tunnel into the shop for a king, so the story goes, to meet his mistress.
Nowadays the closest they get to royalty is a mysterious customer called Elvis, who works for The Family, but won’t say who he regularly buys fudge for. And the only unseemly union seems to have been an unholy threesome between yeast extract, cream and sugar.
All present at the shortlived introduction of Marmite fudge were firmly in the ‘Hate’ camp and “the shop smelt of yeast for a week”, Matthew told us. “Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake, with fresh fruit and mascarpone was excellent, however”, he adds hastily, of the shop’s prolific track record for inventing new flavours.
As with all seven Fudge Kitchen shops, Sea Salted Caramel is the hands down favourite. “We can’t make enough of it”, says Matthew; and coming from some one who has made 500kg of fudge in three days before, that’s quite a statement.
As is this …. “There are a lot of kind, smart, funny, strange and creative people in this company and thanks to our MD, Sian, there’s a lack of corporate nonsense and a great freedom of self expression. This makes for a great environment to work in and overall, for me, a feeling of ‘home’. I feel very lucky to have been welcomed into the fudge family and the whole experience has taught me a lot.”
Give the boy a rise ….!
- Name? Matthew Young
- Position? Manager
- Location? Windsor
- How long have you worked at FK? 6 years
- Favourite flavour? Either peanut butter or Belgian chocolate swirl
- Favourite FK product? Other than the fudge, Almond Bark
- What do you like about your job? it’s all a bit silly really
- Favourite activities when you’re not at work? I collect hobbies and like to learn stuff. Currently enjoying carpentry
- Tell us something that might surprise us about you? I don’t like beer
- What’s one thing you couldn’t live without? Play
- What kind of music do you listen to? I’m a massive hipster, so no one you’ve heard of.
- What’s your favourite TV programme? It’s always sunny in Philadelphia or Louie
- If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Neapolitan pizza Margherita and ice cream.
- Dog or cat person? I like the indifference
- Motto or Personal Mantra: Have an opinion, not an assumption
- How long is a piece of string? context
- If you could sell fudge to any person alive or dead who would it be? Dr Barry Fudgeman
- What is the most overrated film of all time? Star Wars
- In the event of a zombie apocalypse, where would you run to and what would be your weapon of choice? I live next to a castle and an army barracks, so probably the park. As for the weapon …. VOODOO!
- Who would play you in a film of your life? Champion the Wonder Horse