A pub near Norwich will start serving food for the first time in its history as its managers transform it into a morning café.
Trina Lake and Bradley Richards will start opening the Crown pub in Costessey in the mornings to serve hot food.
From midday, normal pub service will resume, but the pair hope the morning slot will attract families, parents and locals from the surrounding area.
They are installing a kitchen in previously unused space and plan to serve breakfasts and potentially, down the line, roast dinners on Sundays.
Ms Lake said: “It’s been a room where you would store bits and bobs, and we cleared it out and thought it has kitchen written all over it.
“We feel that, because of lockdown and how things have changed, in order to get more people in this will help.”
She said feedback from locals had been really positive, adding that there weren’t many cafés in the vicinity.
“We’ve got schools near us and see parents walking past and we would like it to become a place for people to meet for a coffee,” she said.
They are also hoping to amend their alcohol licence and start it from 8am, allowing them to compete with the beer and breakfast trade of the likes of JD Wetherspoon.
The pair, who in lockdown delivered fruit and vegetable boxes to NHS staff and turned a car park into a beer garden, were forced to cancel their wedding as the pandemic began, and said they were dipping into their wedding fund to make the café a reality.
Ms Lake said she hoped it would help the business in a challenging time.
“We used to be such a thriving pub,” she said, “but obviously with Covid-19 things have changed. People are scared to come out. We were the sort of place people would go on the way into the city.
“But we can’t have any entertainment. We’ve done as much as we could.
“Food could be our only hope.”
The couple are yet to finalise opening days, but say the café will most likely open from 7am on weekdays and 8am on weekends.
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