NEW owners have taken over an iconic cafe kiosk at Dartmouth’s Coronation Park.
Will Froude and his partner Jasmine, along with Jasmine’s mum, Clare Harvey, were able to finally sign the lease on the alfresco business on Friday.
The deal brought to an end months of speculation over the future of the popular café on Coronation Park, which closed in November.
The family have lived in the area for over 30 years and are no strangers to hospitality and catering, having run the Anchorstone Cafe in Dittisham for the last 15 years.
They say they are delighted to be in Dartmouth and have exciting plans for the cafe – to renamed Anchorstone Dartmouth – and they hope to be open by early March. The business will be taking on new staff during the summer months.
Already painters have been giving the building a splash of colour and a new commercial kitchen has been installed alongside rewiring, plumbing and an outdoor paved seating area created.
‘We really want to build on the trade that was here with early morning breakfasts and lunches,’ said Jasmine.
‘We feel very fortunate to be in such a beautiful location by the river and are all very excited about it.
‘We know a lot of locals were upset when the previous owner Colin Brown went, but we hope to be able to put our own mark on the business and offer somewhere for families, locals and visitors to enjoy good food and drink and watch the world go by.’
Developments almost ran into trouble on Monday when a digger arrived on site and started cutting the turf on Coronation Park to create the paved seating area outside the kiosk
Mayor Rob Lyon said: ‘The town council knew nothing about the plan. The new owners seem to be enhancing the facility at their own cost and we have to be pragmatic and sensible when it comes to making improvements. However, neither South Hams Council nor our three district councillors asked or involved us in this, which was upsetting and concerning.
‘We are all trying to find a consensus to work together and improve the town.’
Mr Froude said we hope to improve the muddy and wet outside seating area and create something more family friendly that is accessible and free from dog mess and puddles.
A spokesman for South Hams Council told the Chronicle: ‘The successful tender of the cafe at Coronation Park has been issued with a licence to carry out improvement works, this includes constructing a new seating area at the front of the cafe.’