A new coffee shop and restaurant has opened next to Cardiff's Victoria Park after the previous owner closed their business and moved to France. Gathering Ground has opened a third site in Cardiff at the site of the much-loved La Crêperie de Claudie after the business closed earlier this year.
Gathering Ground has two other sites in Roath and Whitchurch and is an independent, family-run restaurant and coffee shop. The dog-friendly business offers coffee and cakes as well as hosting burger nights and live music events. The latest site has opened on Victoria Park Road West in Canton.
Currently, the coffee shop is going through a re-brand and the Victoria Park site is serving coffee and cakes. Co-owner Terry Morrell says that the site's kitchen will be opening this weekend. He added that the team is working on a consistent menu that will be available across all three of the sites.
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"I think it's a great choice because it's a great location next to Victoria Park and it had a fantastic reputation before with the previous owner. Customers like what we've done with the place and we've got good feedback. Hopefully people will start to find it and like it," Terry said.
Terry, who has lived in Cardiff for 20 years and co-owns Gathering Ground with Ross Williams, hopes that the independent coffee shop can give people "a bit of a different experience" from other coffee chains in Cardiff. The coffee shop's first site opened near Roath Park Lake on Wedal Road, while its second site on Park Road in Whitchurch last year.
La Crêperie de Claudie closed earlier this year after business owner Claudie Ravon announced that she would be moving to France. In a Facebook post announcing the closure of the popular café, she said: "I am announcing with extreme sadness that La Crêperie de Claudie will be permanently closed from April 28th. It has been an amazing journey with you all.
"I would like to thank my staff, my customers, and all the support my family and I received through these unforgettable 10 years. The crêperie wouldn’t be what it has become without you. I look forward to a new chapter of my life, in Strasbourg - Alsace, France. I will be selling some of my paintings at a knocked down price [...] Feel free to come in to have a look at the canvases."
The creperie closed its doors at the end of April this year, but Gathering Ground has since given the site a new lease of life, opening their coffee shop earlier this month. The inside of the café had been completely transformed, with the walls now decked out with wood and corrugated metal, as well as industrial-style lighting and vintage tea and coffee signs.
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