Windmill eatery blows its rivals away to scoop pair of awards
0 Comments | Lincolnshire Echo, Mar 31, 2010 | by Ashley Sale
A CAFE that opened in a converted windmill has won two awards within the space of a week.
Curio Cafe, which sits in a former windmill, received a Sleaford Civic Trust award for the renovation of the 214-year-old building and was also named Best New Business by Sleaford Town Council.
The cafe and bistro, at Money’s Mill, Money’s Yard, was opened by John and Isola Partridge just over two years ago, but it’s not just the building that makes this cafe different.
Mr Partridge said: “We provide for a very niche market.
“If you try to do the same as everyone else, for example, buying in cakes and doing chips, you’re just in a market competing not on quality, but with who can sell at the lowest cost.
“Just about everything we do is homemade. We tend to buy more expensive products and do them really well.”
Keen to please a loyal customer base, they cook gluten-free cakes and cater for people with specific diets, all in a kitchen that doesn’t have a microwave or a deep-fat fryer.
They also open for private bookings or special events evenings, which are advertised in the cafe and on their website.
These have included French bistro-style cooking and a planned fish menu in May.
“We work well together,” said Mrs Partridge.
“I usually do all the waitressing. However, in the evenings, when we are always full, you have to give people more attention, so we do employ extra staff.”
Debbie Scott, development manager at Sleaford Town Council, said: “Their customers are obviously impressed by the venture.
“One described it as a breath of fresh air.”
The couple entered the trade five years ago, restoring a Grade II listed building into what became the awardwinning Curio Cafe in Newark.
Previously, Mr Partridge worked as a sales manager and his wife was a teaching assistant. Mr Partridge said: “We sold the business in Newark and then one of our suppliers living nearby mentioned this place.
“When we first walked through the door, there was nothing in here – no heating, wiring, plumbing or toilet – just a floor and a staircase.”
The couple have restored the bottom three of the mill’s six floors into a nine-table cafe and plan to continue the renovation
homemade windmill
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