FOR Sara Turner, the perils of lockdown at least brought one silver lining: it gave her the chance to fulfil a dream of owning her own bistro business.
And so, Sara, 42, saw ‘Lockdown One’ in June 2020 as the opportune moment to take the plunge, opening a vegan delivery service, ‘Green Island Delivery’ from her home in Kinmel Bay.
Sara said: “I’ve always had a passion for cooking and have also dreamt of owning my own bistro, but was never in a position to do so until the pandemic.
“I had been furloughed from my full-time job as a sales manager for an education company and felt it would be a great time to test the market.
“I am a vegan and my husband has severe allergies to nuts, egg and fish, so eating out has always been challenging for us.
“Green Island began as a vegan delivery service from our home in Kinmel Bay; I would cook the food and my husband would deliver to people’s homes.”
Yet as word spread of Sara’s new business, so too did demand, and that October, she moved into the Rhuddlan site formerly occupied by the Java Square café.
COVID-19 meant they were forced to close from December until April 2021, but support for the cafe, which covers Abergele, Kinmel Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn, St Asaph and Rhuddlan, has far from waned.
Sara added: “When we were able to reopen our outdoor and indoor dining in April, we were met with huge support from customers that had visited us prior to lockdown, and over the summer, we were extremely busy, with holidaymakers as well as locals.
“Our most popular dishes include our Green Island breakfast, chilli bowl, veggie fajitas and our increasingly popular Sunday roasts.
“As a business, we are continually looking to grow and in August this year, we organised and hosted our first vegan market, which was a huge success.
“We also hold a parent and baby coffee morning every Wednesday, which is a great way for local families to meet like-minded people, and most recently, we have started a book club which takes place fortnightly on a Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
“We are open Wednesday to Sunday, serving breakfast, lunches and afternoon tea; we also have a tapas night every Friday evening and serve roast dinners every Sunday.
“I am proud to be the first and only 100 per cent vegan cafe/bistro in Denbighshire.
“Veganism is only going to get bigger as people have to adapt to a new way of life in order to protect our animals and environment, and also to lead a longer and healthier life.”
For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/greenislanddelivery.
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