Amble cafe to become Thai-Vietnamese restaurant after weekly specials sell out

At the end of June, it was announced that Gracy’s Coffee Lounge and Eatery, in Queen Street, would close for a short break while ‘exciting developments’ were in the works.

Completely moving away from the traditional cafe set-up, it has now been revealed that the business is to rebrand as a Thai and Vietnamese bistro.

Owner, Thomas McBreaty, spent a decade in Thailand before moving back to Amble and taking on Gracy’s.

He said: “What we started doing every Wednesday was offering Thai specials.

“They would sell out every single week and then we started doing Thursdays as well, so I thought, why don't I focus on something that's actually working and that is selling out?”

The restaurant – now named Lotus and Lemongrass Kitchen - will focus on authentic Southeast Asian cuisine with the help of experienced Vietnamese and Thai chefs.

Thomas added: “We just want to offer something that's a bit different, with tasty, vibrant, healthy food.

“We had a wonderful tasting session with our chef, Moon. She displayed some of her amazing dishes that she's made previously and we sort of fell in love with her food.

"If we're going to have everything authentic, the chef needed to be authentic as well.”

Thomas described how he wants to encourage a more personal dining experience – where customers can see their food being freshly prepared right in front of them.

He added: “We want it to be almost intimate with the fact that they can come up and see the cooking as it's open kitchen.

“It's not just a case of sit down and eat, it's getting involved, seeing what the chef's doing, getting to know what's going into the dish and be involved with us.”

Lotus and Lemongrass Kitchen is due to officially open to the public for the first time on Thursday, August 27.

Thomas added: "The reaction so far has been super, super positive which has been a real motivation to us.”