A Swansea cafe which left people "gutted" when it closed its doors in the city centre has returned - and it's bringing back its popular menu back too.
The Crepe Vine, which has been located at Whitewalls for six years, and before that Parc Tawe, closed back in September 2018. A statement at the time explaining the decision read: "So sad but simply not enough people in town anymore."
The business was run by Steve Herbert, and what followed was the launch of a new business in Uplands called Maisies Streetfood and Bar, backed by Mr Herbert and run by his daughter Georgia, quickly establishing itself as a successful part of the culinary scene along Uplands Crescent, gaining popularity for its brunch menu and sweet treats including crepes and waffles.
READ MORE: One of Swansea's most popular breakfast diners is going takeaway only
But we recently reported how there are now fears for its future, as Miss Herbert explained there had been considerable drops to footfall at that business too amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the impact of adapting to social distancing restrictions. She admitted the business was "living day by day with not enough money coming in".
Now, in a bid to revive footfall, The Crepe Vine has returned to Maisies since Thursday, January 20, with a statement on its Facebook page stating it was "just what you have been asking for."
And co-owner Mr Herbert says it has already been a massive success, with a 260% increase in business and people queuing out of the door to get served the famous crepes once again after a four year wait.
Mr Herbert said: "It was my daughter's idea to go back to The Crepe Vine, and it has really helped.. The decision was made because of the issues we are experiencing, but we were having people, especially students, contacting us saying things like 'We were thinking you were still the Crepe Vine, you're not, we want the Crepe Vine back'.
"We looked at it and asked, 'Have we simply got the menu wrong?' When we opened up, Lance Pardoe from Uplands Diner had said to me: 'You should have come up here years ago, mate'. I didn't realise what he meant. We said to ourselves, Uplands, a bit more refined, twenty something age group there, let's go heavily onto food. Whilst the people love the street food by evening, by day we were having nobody coming in.
"We decided, let's go back to what we did best. Crepe Vine was incredibly successful until the town died. We took the existing menu, tweaked it, added a few more refined items and went from there.
"We trialled it for a week, and we had a 260% increase in business and that's during Covid. So we thought, let's take the risk, and it's a massive risk, because you have got to bring in new equipment, retrain staff, and spend money on printing, at a time when you are needing funds to survive.
"We printed the menu, launched it last Thursday, and that has resulted in a record week, ever. On Saturday during the day, it was freezing cold and people were sitting on outside seating waiting to come in. On Sunday, we had a constant eight to ten people sitting outside in the freezing cold, willing to wait half an hour to 40 minutes for a table.
"The word has really got out. There's always a fear that it's a storm in a teacup, but it looks like, given by the number of bookings we've got, that the rebuild for The Crepe Vine and tweaking the street food menu, is going to provide a great future."
The Crepe Vine menu will be served all day long, and the street food menu that Maisies has become known for will also be served in the evening, with some of its traditional breakfast options available too until 5pm.
Together with the relaunch of The Crepe Vine menu, Mr Herbert and his daughter have just launched bottomless prosecco nights, which have also been well received with lots of interest and bookings.
Mr Herbert added: "We appear to be bouncing back, but it's difficult because we still have bills to pay and VAT, so we're still in absolute desperate straits. Covid has devastated us. I had around £30,000 sitting there to do it, but we've had to use it to stay afloat, which has caused irreparable damage.
"At the moment we're still praying the GoFundMe fundraiser works, as we still have outstanding bills to pay and VAT. We want to be able to build this garden out back which will take us to 120 seats, a huge increase from the current 42.
"Hopefully over the next five or six months we can get the money together, first of all to survive, and secondly to create an extension out in the garden and things can move forward."
If you would like to support the fundraiser to develop an outdoor seating arrangement, you can do so by clicking here.
