We're having a Spring clean at Papadeli - after 8 years of business, and adding bits to the original deli and cafe, we've decided that it's high time to change a few things and paint a few walls.
We set up Papadeli 8 years ago, with some shelves from Habitat, an electric hob and cooker and two display fridges. A year later, with the arrival of our second little boy, Sam, we opened a cafe upstairs. It was immediately pretty busy, which was wonderful and scary. Our systems were pretty simple and all the food was carried all the way up two flights of stairs from the kitchen area downstairs - dodging the customers and olive tables on the way. That sure kept us fit, for one thing. All the washing up was done downstairs, so all the dirty plates had to be carried down too. Two years later, we got planning and finance to build a kitchen on the flat roof, which meant we no longer had to negotiate the stairs armed with plates of food. We also bought a dishwasher which really did change our lives!!
As the cafe got busier (we often have queues down the stairs!) we put in a couple of tables in the deli downstairs. Looking at them now, we see they are not perfect - a bit wide, a bit clumsy, they block the shelves and make life a bit difficult. So, we have decided to put in a couple of bars in the window for customers to grab a coffee or Lahloo tea and watch the world go by. Hank and Sophie, who are doing the refurb, are putting in a new, narrower table, sorting out the shelving and making the kitchen area downstairs into a streamlined bakery.
It's all a bit nerve wracking as closing the shop for a week will mean having to pay staff but not have any income - we are really hoping it will all be worth it!
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