Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s town centre restaurants have been welcoming customers back for indoor dining.
After months of closure, the owners of family-run Amore Italian Restaurant & Café on Pepper Street are among the many eateries reopening their doors. They have said their first week back after a year of challenges felt amazing.
“It is so exciting to be back doing what we do best, preparing delicious homemade Italian food for diners in our restaurant” said Cassie, who has been running the restaurant since 2013 along with her husband, Michelin trained Chef, Francesco Alfano.
The couple chose to set-up their business in Newcastle-under-Lyme – Cassie’s hometown – having moved back from Cornwall. They, like so many town centre businesses, never expected having to close for so long.
“We have gone out of our way to make sure we are Covid-safe now we have reopened, reducing capacity, creating sanitiser stations and contact points for staff and customers, and making the most of our bright and airy space so that people are even safer. We are really lucky to have such tall ceilings to help with air flow too so customers can feel reassured.”
Cassie and Francesco launched a successful takeaway service during lockdown, and also started creating mini ‘how to’ videos on their YouTube channel for people to learn how to make Michelin-star-style bread, pasta and sauces. They hope to continue both of these.
“It is great we were able to maximise the time to open up a whole new element of the business. People have been choosing us for their takeaways because they still wanted homemade, high-quality food, and we were able to use Uber and Just Eat to open up a whole new set of local customers which is just great.
“It’s not quite the same as being back in the restaurant though, with our valued customers and loyal team. Welcoming our staff back from furlough is the best feeling and seeing the restaurant buzzing again brings us so much joy. We are a true family-run business and Amore Italian Restaurant & Café is like our baby.”
Talking about the buzz and appeal of the town centre, Cassie added: “Newcastle-under-Lyme really is a lovely little town, with beautiful gardens and nice people. The BID is a way that all our businesses can come together to contribute and help to fight for our town centre’s survival and improvement.
“It’s been the most challenging year but there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. It finally feels like it’s time to thrive again.”
For opening times and more information on Amore Italian Restaurant & Café click HERE.
Newcastle-Under-Lyme BID has been supporting hundreds of town centre businesses during lockdown and as they reopen by providing COVID support packs, signposting businesses to financial support and grants, working with the Council to help safely reopen the high street, and supporting the Council with road closures and pavement licences.
For more information or to get more involved in the BID email: manager@nulbid.co.uk
