Denmead restaurant and cocktail bar thriving one year after opening just before third lockdown
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Kassia Lounge in Denmead opened in late 2020 but was only open for two weeks before the third lockdown forced it to shut its doors.
It operated as a takeaway-based restaurant for almost six months, before finally opening its doors again for dine-in fine dining and cocktails in May.
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Hide AdIt is one of owner Kaz Miah’s four restaurants in the Kassia chain and is a smaller, more intimate version of the flagship venue in Drayton.
He said he is pleased that it has survived the challenges thrown at it and is looking forward to offering the residents of Denmead even more over the coming months and years.
He said: ‘The people of Denmead were crying out for something like this for so long, they wanted a nice upmarket cocktail bar and restaurant with fine dining, that wasn’t just a pub, that they could come and socialise with friends and family, so that’s what we wanted to offer – a place to bring the community together. Even when we teased the idea of the restaurant on social media, they seemed super excited.
‘So it was really disappointing when we couldn’t open in the way we wanted to and had to close just as we opened. We were set to be fully booked for the rest of the year after we opened and all of that was cancelled straight away. But we’ve got through the lockdown and residents still seemed to love what we were offering and even more so now that we can actually welcome in customers to dine in.’
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Hide AdKaz is planning on introducing more elements to the venue in 2022, including live performances from local singers, bands and DJs.
He is also hoping to work with the community more and said that all the local businesses support each other.
He said: ‘Denmead as a village is very community-focused and all of the other businesses will all pass business between each other and speak highly of one another. Hopefully next year we can work together as a community even more and support more projects in Denmead.’
Kassia is the first restaurant in Denmead that has offered Indian cuisine and Kaz rallied for 15 years to gain the planning permission to base a restaurant in the village.
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Hide AdHe believes more people are now coming to the area, which is helping the local economy.
Kassia is still offering takeaway options, as well as dine-in and is open from Monday until Sunday from 5pm until 11pm.
To find out more, visit kassia.co.uk/drayton and on Facebook.