High street cafe sets up new service

A town centre coffee shop launched a Tex-Mex takeaway service this week - and it could become a permanent fixture if successful.

Stag Coffee started filling orders at its high street branch yesterday (Wednesday).

Named El Ciervo, or The Stag in Spanish, it is hoped the side-business will be popular enough to expand to its Canterbury site in the future.

Founder Freddie Hewett said: “We kept adapting our business over the pandemic to pay the bills and survive, starting in March with a grocery delivery service for people who were shielding in Ashford, Canterbury and even up to Sevenoaks.

“When the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme came in, we reverted to a coffee shop but we had special dining nights where we tried out four cuisines - Greek, Mexican, American diner and vegan.

“We particularly enjoyed the Mexican and American night and they went down really well.

“The second lockdown wasn’t quite the same, so we decided to just fully close down but we knew we needed to come up with a long-term solution to lockdowns because who knows whether they might happen throughout 2021.”

Now having experience of deliveries, and with Mr Hewett having spent time travelling in Mexico, the Stag Coffee team settled on Mexican and American takeaway.

Also having a drinks licence, the high street shop - which has been in Ashford for almost five years - will be offering cocktails alongside the food.

Founder Freddie Hewett at his Stag Coffee site