New café opens in Leigh Park and hopes to be a 'community hub'

A NEW café has opened in a shopping centre, breathing some new life into it.
Tanya Birch, owner of Tanya's Kitchen and Elaine Bettam, who works at the cafe, which has just opened in Leigh Park. Tanya Birch, owner of Tanya's Kitchen and Elaine Bettam, who works at the cafe, which has just opened in Leigh Park.
Tanya Birch, owner of Tanya's Kitchen and Elaine Bettam, who works at the cafe, which has just opened in Leigh Park.

Tanya’s Kitchen opened in Greywell Shopping Centre in Leigh Park on Monday.

It is owned by Tanya Birch, who previously owned the Harbour View cafe on The Hard in Southsea, before the café was demolished in 2015.

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Now, five years on she has decided to take the plunge and open a new business in the town where she grew up.

Elaine Bettam, who works at Tanya's Kitchen and Tanya Birch, who owns Tanya's Kitchen in Leigh Park. Elaine Bettam, who works at Tanya's Kitchen and Tanya Birch, who owns Tanya's Kitchen in Leigh Park.
Elaine Bettam, who works at Tanya's Kitchen and Tanya Birch, who owns Tanya's Kitchen in Leigh Park.

She said: ‘I live in Cosham now but I used to live round the corner so I know the area very well.’

Tanya’s Kitchen takes the place of what once was Time Out café.

It has undergone a refurbishment, which has seen new flooring installed as well as plastering and window displays.

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Tanya hopes that the new café will be a hub for the community and has a dedicated space for groups to hold meetings and catch-ups.

She said: ‘We’re trying to make it a community hub. We found that you don’t get much like this anymore. We’re in between a coffee shop and a café so we’re trying to do something a bit different.

‘We wanted to make it like a community so people can come in and feel like they can feel at home, even if they are on their own.

‘Rather than being a coffee shop where they just make their order and go and sit down, we want to be a community.’

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She offers a 15 per cent discount to armed forces, veterans, NHS and emergency services personnel.

Tanya makes the food fresh, on site every day and serves up a special homemade meal for lunch daily.

They also serve up paninis, toasties and a range of cakes.

The team had an unofficial opening day on Saturday, January 25, when they handed out free cakes and sausage rolls to shoppers at the centre.

The cafe was decorated with balloons and a giant balloon arch to celebrate the opening, which were all in blue and white colours as Tanya is a big Pompey fan.

It is open from 8am until 3pm from Monday until saturday and is closed on Sundays.

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