The owners of a cafe which takes inspiration from the Little Shop of Horrors have announced they will not be renewing the lease but they plan to celebrate and go out on a high. A closing date hasn't been set for Feed Me! Fully Loaded but Joanna and Lee Benfield said that is likely to be late autumn.
The colourful cafe, in Lilac Crescent, Beeston Rylands, opened in February 2020 serving vegan junk such as pancakes, loaded hot dogs, and desserts with quirky theatrical and film names. Posting the news of the closure on Facebook the couple said it was "after much deliberation."
They said: "We have had an incredible two-and-a-half years and have loved sharing our food, fun and creativity with you all. We are so proud of what our cafe has become but with our lease approaching its renewal point we needed to make a decision about what our long term plans are. Although the business is doing great, we are not sure this is the right thing for us long term and we would much rather celebrate what we have achieved and close on a high!
Read more: Nottingham shop closes down after just seven months
"We want to say a huge thank you to all our customers who have made Feed Me! Fully Loaded what it is today. We also must shout out to our AMAZING team, Eleanor, Hester, Lucy, Martha and the original member of the gang, Ali who have brought our place to life.
You will have a few months to still enjoy our food, as we will be aiming to close late autumn (exact date to be confirmed). Over the coming weeks we will provide you with more details of the closure and keep an eye out for all the fun things we have planned in the lead up to the end.
"We have no intention of going out quietly and hope you will all continue to support us over the coming months. Come and celebrate our creative little cafe whilst you can and if you haven’t been already then you better hurry up!"
Joanna, who trained in musical theatre and once worked as a performer at Alton Towers, was a school admin when she started devising vegan recipes and trialled them at Sneinton's vegan market before opening the cafe - just a few weeks before the UK went into lockdown at the start of the Covid pandemic.
The cafe serves dishes inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dr Seuss and Tots TV, including Augustus Gloop's stack of chocolate chip pancakes, One Fish, Two Fish bagel topped with smoked salmon style carrot and Tilly, Tom and Tiny fried tater tots loaded with vegan toppings.
A decadent dessert for four to share with a mud pie, cookies and ice cream is named The Ralph, after Joanna's 110-year-old grandfather Ralph Hoare, who was the third-oldest man in the country when he died in 2019. Whenever he was asked the secret of a long life the RAF veteran, who lived in Gloucestershire, would reply "golf, gardening and sugar".
The couple said that they're not selling Feed Me! Fully Loaded, but are looking for a business or person to take over the property with the equipment included. They added that it has a low rent and a large vegan customer base.
Customers are saddened by the closure. Customer Susan Hart said: "That's such a shame. Your food is fab. Let’s hope you sell it on to someone with the same passion for vegan food."
Another said: "This is terrible news! Yours is a place where you can rely on getting excellent vegan food consistently, cheaply and with a great sense of fun. You will be sadly missed."
