Support local! Northampton restaurant launches takeaway menu to accomodate customers staying at home

A 48-seat Northampton restaurant is having to adapt the way it serves its food after being hit by cancellations as some would-be customers stay indoors to self-isolate.

It comes as the Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday advised diners and drinkers against going out - but critics from the hospitality sector have fought back against the decision saying they don't know where they stand with their insurance.

Bread & Pullet, which serves British Tapas in the town, is one of the thousands of businesses across the UK which has been affected by the Government's decision.

As of today (Tuesday) restaurant owner, Jennie Bowmaker, has now launched a takeaway service and is calling on foodies in the town to not forget their independent restaurants.

The lower-priced takeaway service will operate by over-the-phone payments only - to avoid using cash - and the food will be packaged up by chefs to collect, or it can be taken away in customer's own containers.

Jennie, who understands her customers choosing to stay safe, said: "We are going to do takeaways now off our own backs for people who still want to eat our food, or don't necessarily want to come in or can't come in."

For now, the service will operate by a collection-only basis before judging if the demand is there for delivery, locally.

Dishes on the menu include katsu crispy chicken wings, salt cod and chorizo scotch egg and spicy fried lamb with buttermilk flatbread.

"If the Goverment would have come out like other European countries and said 'right, close down', everyone would know where they stand but they didn't - it's left it in limbo," Jennie added.

"We are stuck in catch 22. People are being advised not to come out but we can't shut realistically, we still have staff to pay and bills to pay. I think we will see what happens this week.

"We've had some cancellations and we've had people call up and say they don't want to come so it's one of those.”

The restaurant, which employs three full time staff plus part-time weekend staff, is still keeping it's opening hours the same, between Tuesday and Saturday.

Measures are also being taken by the team to limit the amount of customers eating in the restaurant at once to avoid crowding.

She added: “You can’t go against what the Government are advising but if people still want to come out and eat, we are happy to serve them!”