A new restaurant isn't just opening its doors - there's a retractable roof to let the fresh air and sun pour in. Since there's still a chilli in the air it will be a few more days before the open-air seating area at Bronte & Co is fully in action because the heaters haven't arrived.
However, Nottinghamshire Live was treated to a demo of what's in store as the shutters draw back. Customers will be in for a treat this spring, eating and drinking under blue skies by day and the stars at night.
The new restaurant in Sherwood has been a long time coming due to import delays but it finally welcomed customers today with a low-key opening. Despite not advertising opening day it was buzzing within a couple of hours.
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The first to tuck into one of the speciality Turkish breakfasts were Tamer Simsek and his wife Havva, of Arnold. Mr Simseck said: "It's really nice. Nottingham needed something like this for the Turkish community as well as British people.
"It's bringing our eating out culture to the UK and sharing what we are all about. This breakfast is really famous in Turkey." Mrs Simsek added: "We love to eat colourful food in the morning."
It was last November that plans for the new venue, in Mansfield Road, were revealed with the transformation of a graffitied amusement arcade that had stood empty for nearly a decade. Opening in December was proposed but that got pushed back to February and then March, meaning anticipation has grown and grown.
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Co-owner Elmas Karadag said: "I am really excited. I can't really believe it's finished. I couldn't imagine at the beginning what it was going to be like and it's actually better than what I thought. I am really happy to see the result of what we have put in. It is a product of ourselves so I am really proud of everyone.
"When we were cleaning up and putting the furniture in so many people were coming in and asking when we were opening. They are so excited about the menu."
The retractable roof will stay closed until heaters arrive from Turkey. "They're a a bit late because in Turkey at the moment it's snowing. For about 30 years we haven't seen that much snow.
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As soon as we have the heaters we will open the roof - we don't want people to be too cold," added Elmas, who has partnered up with Receb Kececi, from Turkey, and Keran Borisov, from Bulgaria, to create Bronte & Co. As well as the seating area at the rear, customers can relax in the sun-trap at the front of the restaurant, named after the Bronte sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte, whose novels sit on a shelf opposite the counter.
A main attraction is the elite premium breakfast for two, which costs £20. Diners can tuck into eggs, cheese, Turkish sausage, olives, tomatoes, cucumber and traditional aegean pastry called boyoz. completing the feast is jam, honey and sesame seed paste with molasses and a pot of Turkish tea to wash it down.
The breakfast is also available for one and there's a veggie version without the egg and sausage. Smaller appetites can be satiated with scrambled or sunny side eggs on toasts or menemen - scrambled eggs with tomatoes and green peppers - up until 11.30am when breakfast time ends. For a quick snack boyoz, and other pastries with feta and dill are just the job until lunchtime when burgers take over.
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Elmas said: "The burgers are so different from the ones in the UK. It's the Turkish sausage kind of patty and it's very delicious, it's also a bit spicy. We have four at the moment but we will add buttermilk as well."
For something healthier chicken, pasta and salad is an option. Or for something naughtier it's got to be chocolate cake, carrot cake or strawberry magnolia.
The menu has been scaled back for opening but in coming weeks more options, including pizza and alcoholic drinks, will be added. And for now the premises will close at 6pm until they're firmly on their feet.
Consultant Goktan Sendervent, of G Property Services, who negotiated the lease, said: "The end result is stunning. I'm sure it will be a big hit with the Sherwood community and attract people from further afield."
