Vecchia Trattoria - Sad News

On Saturday Bev took Paul to the Vecchia Trattoria for his birthday meal, and we bears tagged along too as we love the food there.  The pasta was delicious, the wine was very palatable, and the entertainment factor was high as Jack bantered with the customers.  However, the evening was tinged with sadness when we discovered that they are closing in 4-weeks' time :-(  Yes, Jack is finally hanging up his pinny and moving on, so the Vecchia Trattoria will be no more (sob sob!).

Actually, he and his family are not moving very far - they are moving into the old Threshers' shop across the road, which will be a wine bar with fresh, cheap and cheerful pasta dishes, paninis, salads, etc.  It sounds lovely but not the place for a special meal.

And what is happening to the restaurant?  It has being turned into a Thai Restaurant, and since Thai food gives us bears exploding trousers and Paul chronic indigestion, I guess we won't be frequenting the new establishment any time soon!

Hopefully we can find a new Italian restaurant with yummy food and friendly staff.  Our favourite memories of Jack are:

• picking up a woman's fake fur coat and asking if it had a name
• a woman in a coat asking Jack to put the air condiition on, and Jack telling her to take her coat off if she was too hot!
• Jack throwing out a couple who wanted to smoke in his restaurant!  Even when they changed their minds he wouldn't let them back in.
• Jack refusing to serve a group of people who turned up 30 minutes late!
• Jack spotting a customer arriving before his table was ready, so Jack moved the hands of the clock back and then told the customer he was early.  The customer even apologised for being so early!
• A woman complaining that they had been waiting for their starter for a while, and Jack shouting into the kitchen, "Do we serve fast food here?"  Someone shouted back "No!" and Jack just shrugged.
• Jack agreeing to serve a group of 8 people who hadn't booked, then when they sat down he said he hoped they were big spenders
• A man asking what the specials were, and Jack saying that he was keen to get rid of a swordfish that had been in the freezer for 7 or 8 years!
• a group of people trying to order the food by the numbers in the menu, and Jack shouting at them that it wasn't a Chinese take-away!

Bye Bye Jack - you gave us great food and wine, and lots of entertainment.  Good luck for the future!