The nostalgic cafe, which was opened by The Patricia and Ophelia owner Nick Grieves, served its final chip butties last Saturday
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An upmarket ‘greasy spoon’ cafe in a Newcastle suburb has closed its door after its owners admitted “sometimes things just don’t work”.
The team behind Cafeteria have already hinted that a new eaterie could take its place, with bosses saying they are now considering ideas for a replacement restaurant. Nick Grieves – owner and executive chef of French restaurant Ophelia in Gosforth and The Patricia in Jesmond – opened Cafeteria six months ago, having been keen to launch a top-notch, retro caff catering for culinary needs including jam on toast, pie and mash and chip butties.
Inspired by classic cafes of the 1950s and 1960s, Cafeteria served up simple home cooked meals in a nostalgic setting next door to Ophelia, complete with paper napkin holders, Duralex white crockery and glass sugar pourers. At the time, Mr Grieves said he had always wanted to run a café serving the classics, but acknowledged it was the total opposite of anything he had ever created before, having initially made his name in Newcastle with Jesmond restaurant The Patricia which garnered rave write-ups from foodie reviewers.
Now he has announced the venue’s closure, revealing in a social media post: “It is with mixed emotions that we must announce the permanent closure of Cafeteria, yesterday was our last service. Unfortunately sometimes things just don’t work, we gave it a good shot but things never really came together and never really felt like ‘us’.
“It’s a tough time out there and unfortunately this is the best decision to make sure our business remains strong. I would like to say a big thank you to the people who visited us regularly over the last 6 months and to the team that ran it and made it happen everyday. Further info on what’s happening with the space will be announced via Ophelia Gosforth soon. '£5 pound for a chip butty or cheese on toast is he insane.' Turns out maybe I was."
After posting news of the closure, Mr Grieves confirmed that all staff would be staying on with the company – and that he was mulling how to use the space now left empty. Ophelia and the now closed Cafeteria are based in the former M Steel Cycles shop in Gosforth, which Mr Grieves’ business partner Dan Smyth acquired amid moves to create a new hospitality company.
Mr Smyth, a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Bede Gaming, joined forces with Mr Grieves to establish GRDY Restaurant Group, with a long-term vision of opening a number of new neighbourhood venues which could highlight the wealth of culinary talent within the region.
Mr Grieves said: “The decision to close Cafeteria has definitely been a difficult one to make. But with the ongoing economic conditions it was the only sensible thing for us to do to ensure we didn’t impact our main business.
“When we opened Cafeteria we wanted to try to do something different, but despite our best efforts it wasn’t the right direction for us to go in. I’m happy to say all of the staff working at Cafeteria will be relocated to Ophelia. In the meantime we’re having a rethink about how we best use the space and will announce a new direction for the site in the next few months.’’
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Retro 'greasy spoon' restaurant Cafeteria closes in Newcastle suburb
6
3
12.03.2024
The nostalgic cafe, which was opened by The Patricia and Ophelia owner Nick Grieves, served its final chip butties last Saturday
Get the latest news from Newcastle straight to your inbox
We have more newsletters
Get the latest news from Newcastle straight to your inbox
We have more newsletters
An upmarket ‘greasy spoon’ cafe in a Newcastle suburb has closed its door after its owners admitted “sometimes things just don’t work”.
The team behind Cafeteria have already hinted that a new eaterie could take its place, with bosses saying they are now considering ideas for a replacement restaurant. Nick Grieves – owner and executive chef of French restaurant Ophelia in Gosforth and The Patricia in Jesmond – opened Cafeteria six months ago, having been keen to launch a top-notch, retro caff catering for culinary needs including jam on toast, pie and mash and chip butties.
Inspired by classic cafes of the 1950s and 1960s, Cafeteria served up simple home cooked meals in a nostalgic setting next door to Ophelia, complete........
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