This charming man is opening a vegan café in former Bangor pub
A FORMER member of The Smiths who became a gourmet vegan chef is opening a café in a well-known former Bangor pub.
Dale Hibbert, bass player with the original Smiths line-up, snapped up the former Kings Arms (O’Shea’s Irish Bar) at auction – the day after first seeing the site.
The musician-turnedchef and his wife Svet have transformed the rundown building – investing £150,000 in buying and doing up the property.
It will reopen on Wednesday as vegan/ vegetarian coffee house Domu.
The musician, who has been a vegetarian from the age of four, says vegan cookery has come a long way since he started a veggie cafe in Manchester 20 years ago.
He said: “When I was younger vegetarian food was basically just someone scraping the meat off a meal and serving it.
“It has changed so much and now you have Michelin chefs focusing menus purely on vegan food.
“We think this is a market that will keep on growing and we think we’ll do well in Bangor.”
Dale will be head chef at the café, with Svet front of house. New staff have been taken on to support them.
Dale added: “This is such a great location near the cathedral. Like lots of high streets Bangor’s has lost a few places and we hope we can help bring people back. “There is also a restaurant due to open opposite, so we can start to create a nice little area.
“High streets are changing and are now more about the social experience and we can be part of that.”