Residents of a Nottinghamshire village are thrilled after a family has launched a new cafe. Sally Bastable, 56, of Collingham, opened Lulu's Kitchen on the village's High Street on Tuesday, November 1, with the help of her husband and twin daughters.
The family run business has been well received by the village, where residents say they have been in need of a cafe for a long time. Located on the High Street which runs through the village, the business has seen dozens of customers each day and sold out of their homemade cakes, sandwiches and pastries, every day last week due to the high demand.
Sally said: "We've been looking for a long while for a unit in Collingham as there's no where to get a coffee or anything. Then we saw this space was opening and I was the first person to ring.
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"I've had shops in the past as I'm a hair dresser by trade, and the girls have both worked in hospitality. My mum and dad used to go to the coffee shop at the garden centre nearby and have been to nearly every garden centre in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire but always said that there's no where to have a coffee in Collingham.
"From the roundabout at the McDonalds in Newark to the coffee shop at Torksey, there's nowhere you can just pull up outside and go get a coffee, and that tends to be what people want to do nowadays." Sally named the business Lulu's Kitchen, as Lulu is a nickname she gave her twin daughters as it was a combination of their names, Laura and Charlotte Louise.
The 56 year old explained that the response from residents in the village has been "fantastic." She said: "It's been really good, we didn't realise how supportive the whole community would be.
"On Saturday we should have closed at three o'clock but we shut at two o'clock because we had nothing left to sell. We do proper coffee, like espressos, and ground the beans and make sausage rolls and all the cakes are hand finished.
"We serve a breakfast menu and then after that we do sandwiches and cakes, which have gone really well. We did a competition at the beginning to chose the cakes but we are going to swap them about."
When asked about her thoughts on the village's response, Charlotte, 24, said: "They have wanted it for so long and have said it's a great thing." Laura added: "It's just what the village needed, there was nothing really before except the co-op."
The family pride themselves on having locally sourced ingredients and "fresh" products every day. She said: "We use Lincolnshire sausages and bacon from the butchers."
Later this year the family also expect to offer some Christmas products, including mince pies and festive drinks. Residents are thrilled over the new cafe, saying it's wait the village had been waiting for.
Collingham resident, Karen Chalkley, 56, said: "It's definitely what Collingham needed. It's got lovely friendly staff and the food is amazing, and the coffee is very nice. This is my second time here, my first time was last week when I came with my mum and she really enjoyed it.
"It's a very nice establishment." Another customer who did not wish to be named said: "It's just great for the area, I went in the other day and got a cup of tea and a bacon butty.
"We didn't have a cafe or anything before, so it's nice to have one now and it's easy to get to being on the main road. It's a good family run business."
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