Sarah and team roll out seasonal food and hospitality at Café 24 at Stonham Barns Park
Stonham Barns Park – one of Suffolk’s premier leisure, retail and holiday destinations – has unveiled its newly enhanced foodie café to coincide with the outdoor eating season. Café 24 – which has undergone a complete remodelling and relaunch – is a new and relaxed café and restaurant which is opening during normal opening hours. It is not open all day and night!
Owner Sarah Shaw has achieved the life-long dream of her late Mother to own and run a café with the backing of husband Robert. The aim of Café 24 is to be big on quality seasonal food and exceptional service. And a place where people can meet up with friends, family and colleagues and spend time together socialising. Located at the entrance to Stonham Barns Park on the A1120, the café is named after its address – No 24 Stonham Barns Park. The relevance of number 24 is that it has personal attachment to Sarah’s life.
‘I have put this together as a tribute to my Mum who was my role model and inspiration. She was a home baking enthusiast and very much a people person. So, it’s a dream to be able to follow in her footsteps and do what she wanted to do.’
Together with the kitchen team – of Michael, James and Dawn – Sarah has put together a simple but tempting menu for the start of the spring/summer which will include locally sourced ingredients. Visitors to the venue will be able to Dine In, Dine Out on the new outdoor seating area and also benefit from a Takeaway service.
London-born Sarah, who moved from Essex to Stonham Aspal, continues, ‘Of course, we do coffee for coffee lovers, but we do so much more. This is also a restaurant with a top chef who delights in plating up delicious food and mixing up the menus. The meat is locally sourced, the vegetables and herbs too. We live in Suffolk where agriculture is all around us and so we produce food that reflects our countryside location. It’s all top-quality food served in a friendly, relaxed and informal setting.’
Sarah isn’t just bubbly she positively fizzes with enthusiasm, ‘I love the idea of a foodie café bringing the community together and that’s what I hope we are achieving here. The staff are all like family, we come to work to have fun and that filters through to the customers who are out for the same thing – coffee and cake, a tasty lunch or dinner, afternoon tea – and some fun!’
The number of staff varies throughout the year flexing from 5 to 12 during the height of the summer. Visitors come to Stonham Barns Park to enjoy the attractions including The Owl Sanctuary, The Stonham Discount Garden & Home Centre, The Golf Centre, The Antique Centre, Legends Sports Bar and The Retail Village. This keeps the café and restaurant busy with customers, but Sarah wants to encourage members of the Suffolk community to drop in too.
‘We want to be the venue choice of people from the villages as well as visitors to the venue. It is good to get to know the people who make Suffolk what it is. Many who work away from home residents do not get the chance to socialise with friends and neighbours. Most people are stuck for time. This is where meeting places like Café 24 do work to give everyone the opportunity to grab whatever time they can for some refreshments and chill-time.’
‘The Café 24 team are excited for the future. We are delighted with the newly constructed Dining Outside area which is always busy on a sunny day. It features planting from the Stonham Discount Garden & Home Centre which helps us to attract garden lovers from the area too!’
‘We look forward to welcoming new faces to a place where people will want to return time and time again. And it is true that I am doing this for the love of my Mum. She would be so proud of this!’
Café 24 serves freshly made cakes and savoury classics including everything from Mozzarella, Sun-Blushed Tomato, Pesto and Roasted Pepper Panini to Suffolk Smoked Ham, Egg and Chips, Delicious Lasagne and the everyone’s absolute weekly favourite – yummy Sunday roast!
The new and contemporary venue design features tonal greys with a pop of pink colour to brighten the look. Opening hours are 8am until 4pm, 7 days a week.
For more information or to book a table call 01449 711257.
Visitors to Café 24 can call into the adjacent Stonham Discount Garden & Home Centre at Stonham Barns Park to combine a café and shopping experience. It sells a huge range of plant pots, plants, shrubs, trees, garden sculpture, ornaments and planters.
