Boxing graze helps eatery beat festive blues
OWNERS of a restaurant undaunted by a series of Christmas cancellations from diners spooked by the soaring Covid infection rates put their festive fare in ‘graze boxes’ for their customers.
The husband-and-wife team swung into action with their food parcel plan when people who had booked the Christmas meal at
GemNi started backing out.
People who wanted the food were invited to pick up the boxes from the restaurant.
The Rawtenstall restaurant can cater for up to 60 people, and on Christmas Day one party of 12 couldn’t attend because of Covid.
The restaurant is run by Michael Pilkington, 36, and his wife Gemma Collier-Pilkington, 33.
Michael, the former head chef at Nutters in
Rochdale, and Gemma, embarked on their first restaurant venture in September 2020.
Gemma said: “We started the grazing boxes idea during the first lockdowns, so when people started cancelling we put the same plan in motion again.
“Although we’ve had a lot of cancellations we’ve actually had a lovely time. Those people who couldn’t attend have come to pick the grazing boxes up.
“We’re going to carry this over the New Year celebrations also, and while the Covid outbreak is on.”