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A cafe and deli in West Didsbury has announced it is to close this weekend – just a week after the high profile departure of Green’s restaurant just around the corner. A Taste of Honey will serve up its signature cakes, tripledecker sandwiches and coffees for the final time on Saturday, January 13.
Owner Penny Lynch announced the sad news on the cafe’s official instagram page on Wednesday. It was greeted with a deluge of comments saying how much regulars will miss the venue.
Only last week Penny had told the M.E.N. how she had been left crying over the news that chef Simon Rimmer’s restaurant Green’s was forced to close over a 35 per cent rent increase and rising costs and called the current hospitality crisis ‘a s*** show’. It follows the news that West Didsbury retailer Moth is also to close at the end of the month.
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Penny previously told the MEN just how hard it is across hospitality right now, amid a raft of high profile closures in the region.
The news of A Taste of Honey’s closure was announced on Instagram. Owner Penny wrote: “Dearest Friends and Family of West Didsbury, here is our final love letter to you all. After nearly 6 years including a global pandemic, we are hanging up our kickers and A Taste of Honey is off on a new adventure.
“We close the doors on Sat 13th Jan and it will be our final hurrah before we exit the Building. It’s been an absolute honour to work in this wonderful community and see all your faces each day.
“From heartbreaks, hangovers, love stories and drunken tales we have loved every single minute here. In the great words of Bill Hicks it’s been a ride!!! Please come and say goodbye to us this weekend, we will be here with a smile.”
Penny also hinted that new owners would soon be moving into the site, on Burton Road in West Didsbury. She wrote: “Fear not, the new owners will be announcing their plans soon enough and will do you all proud with their exciting new venture in this legendary shop.”
Followers reacted with their sadness to hearing the news. One fellow local businesses said: “You’ll be so missed” while DidsburyFM wrote: “End of an era. Another loved business leaves us.”
Speaking last week after the Green’s closure, Penny had told of how difficult the situation was across hospitality.
She said at the time: “Sadly, it’s a similar situation across hospitality right now. It’s difficult because no one has any money and rents are increasing, bills and energy are going up. I know I’m not meant to say this, but honestly, it’s just a s*** show.”
On the issues she’s currently facing, she said it’s tricky to entice customers who can get a cheaper meal deal next door, pointing to her neighbour Tesco Express. “It’s been so hard to the point that it brings you to your knees, whatever you try and do to keep going, it just doesn’t seem to work.
“People want to support the hospitality community and shop local but you can’t compete with Tesco for example on things like sandwiches and meal deals. And you can understand why people are buying cheaper meal deals and coffees.
“It’s just very difficult, we have some lovely produce, some is even sourced from Macclesfield Forest, but you can’t compete with the big supermarkets.”
At the weekend another West Didsbury business, independent retailer Moth, also announced it is closing at the end of the month. Owner Hazel Marchant said they are closing the shop after 17 years but will continue with the business online.
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