Welcome to our February news round-up ❤️
Welcome to our February news round-up, which you’ll notice has a bit of a theme ❤️ We’ve had a LOVEly month, and it is great to be able to share it with you.
From gallery exhibitions and community projects to kitchen creativity and gardening in the rain, our Trainees have been learning, leading and sharing their talents in so many ways. As well as our news, please check out our upcoming events for March and April, and, as always, thank you for your support.
For news as it happens, please follow us on
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Get Your Tickets For the Mayor’s Variety Show
We’re so proud to be one of the Mayor of Colchester’s chosen charities for 2025–26, and very excited to share this headline event coming up in aid of local organisations – including Level Best.
Stars of the Mayor of Colchester’s Variety Show 2026 will include celebrity magician Michael J Fitch, Colchester’s Comedian of the Year and a semi-finalist from Britain’s Got Talent.
For one night only – Sunday, 12 April 2026.
Book your ticket here.
Share a Cuppa Kindness ☕
Our Cuppa Kindness initiative with Colchester Food Bank is a pay-it-forward scheme helping provide hot drinks for those in need.
Buy an extra cuppa, pick a handmade flower magnet for our board, and help make kindness part of everyday life.
The adorable flower magnets, created by our Trainees, are available now with every cup. 🌸
Come and join us for our Women’s Month Pop-Up Market! 👭
Join us as we celebrate women everywhere in our special Women’s Month pop-up market with handmade gifts for all the amazing women in our lives.
Bring your mum, sister, partner, friend, colleague or any special woman in your life.
Level Best Cafe
Friday 13 March 2026
10am to 4pm
Level Best Art Gallery News 🖼️
Our March 2026 exhibition is an intense journey of surrealism and fantasy in ‘The Beswick Collection’ by Elianne Beswick. See the exhibition in the gallery from 3–30 March 2026.
Our February exhibition ‘postpARTum’ has been incredibly popular and was featured in the
local press.
What did our Trainee Gallery Assistants make of postpartum?
Read the review.
Finally, we’re excited to share that our very own Megan Neko will have her first solo exhibition at Level Best in April 2026. Keep an eye on the website for details.
Cafe Meets Gallery 🎨
The Art Team have been busy drawing Level Best Cafe favourites in our studio to display downstairs.
What’s your pick?
- Lasagne
- Jacket Potato with Cheesy Beans & Salad
- Beans on Toast
- Lovely Yummy Cake
News from Our Kitchen Enterprise 🧑🍳
Thank You, King Coels Kittens
We want to say a big thank you to King Coel’s Kittens for funding the whole team getting new aprons.
Everyone loves them, and we are looking smart and fresh for spring.
LGBTQ+ History Month 🏳️🌈
Alongside our special drinks menu, we have a range of themed treats celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month, including Owen’s rainbow cupcakes.
Shelby’s Valentine’s Lunch 🥰
Shelby planned and delivered an extra special Valentine’s lunch for all of her friends at Level Best.
She wrote the menu, planned the decorations and made sure that everyone was involved.
It was a team effort with Elizabeth making her extra-special Valentine’s chilli jam to pair with the front of house menu.
Other kitchen Trainees joined in the preparation.
Who delivered the Valentine’s Menu?
- Love heart pizzas by Shelby and Eb
- Love heart potatoes by Eb
- Chocolate brownie by Anthony and Tom
- Love heart croutons by Angela
- White chocolate and raspberry bar by Sophie
- Chocolate shortcake hearts by Elizabeth
- Love heart loaf cake by Charlie, Noah and Ryan
- Prosecco cake by Anthony
- Smarties cookies by Claire, Angela, Dean and Owen
What an amazing week in the Level Best Kitchen, full of learning, teamwork and good vibes.
Well done everyone!
Cakes! Which One is Your Favourite? 😋
Rhubarb Tart 🥮 Chocolate Heart Cake 🥮 Victoria Sponge 🥮 Prosecco Cake
News From Our Seasonal Enterprise 🫙
New Product – Spiced Apple Chutney
Our seasonal Trainees worked together using their knowledge of flavours and spices to create their own original recipe.
The result is a spiced apple chutney with a blend of classic chutney fruits and vegetables and traditional spices.
It’s delicious and available to buy in our café while stocks last.
News From Our Art Enterprise 🎨
Sophie’s Valentine’s Masterpiece 💕
Just because Valentine’s Day has passed, it doesn’t mean we’re giving up on love.
Look at this gorgeous piece of work made by Sophie.
She used oil pastels, foil leaf and ink to create this beautiful mixed-media artwork, which you can see on display in our cafe.
Woven Hearts for Valentine’s
Another popular handmade treat at our Valentine’s Market was woven hearts (displayed here by Jude) that the Art Studio team made to be stuffed with cookies.
Simon’s Gallery Visit
Simon spent an afternoon at The Minories with our old friend Connie, looking at the Anglian Abstract show.
He particularly liked the work of Peter Collingwood, which he described as “Alright!”.
He would like to try and make one someday using wooden sticks and metal sticks.
News From Our Gardening Enterprise 🌱
Our intrepid Horticultural Trainees Ian, Connor and Jamie are keeping the momentum going on our community project “Reclaim the Folly”.
All three set off to do a litter pick down at Kendall Folly.
The lads discussed how disappointed they were with the amount of dog waste left on the path.
So our enthusiastic Jamie has taken it upon himself to produce some more posters asking people to remember to pick up after their dogs.
Jamie says: “Dog poo is very unhygienic.”
We agree!
Rain – No Problem!
The start of this year has been very wet. Not letting the terrible weather get in their way, the Gardening Team have been doing indoor gardening instead.
In one session, we spoke about microgreens, their health benefits and how to grow and care for them. We also sowed a few seeds ourselves.
The team have also been collecting seeds from last summer’s harvest, drying them out and packaging them ready for sale in our cafe.
If you remember the iconic sunflower outside Level Best, those seeds are also for sale. 🌻
And Finally Some Sunshine! 🌞
The last weeks of February finally sent us some sunshine, and the Allotment Team wasted no time getting their hands dirty.
We’ve been prepping growing beds, sowing seeds, planting dahlia tubers and pricking out broad beans.
It finally feels like spring is in the air, and Trainee Angus even made a new friend 🐞
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Review and win!
Take part in our quarterly prize draw. If you fancy winning a hamper filled with Level Best goodies and treats, simply visit our
TripAdvisor page and leave us a review.
