Mistral Changes Hands

The beer was flat, the equipment filthy and the restaurant had to be closed down.

It was New Year's Day but Sally Warren did what she thought necessary to protect the customers.

She has been working ever since to clean the Mistral up and says the turnaround is nothing short of "miraculous."

Sally said: "The worst thing was how grubby the place was.

"It was filthy and dirty.

"I had to stop serving any beer because the beer lines were dirty...they were appalling - the worst I have ever seen."

"Also there was no gas left, so the beer was running through slow and was rather flat."

"I knew that I had some springcleaning to do, but I didn't expect it to be as bad as it was. No way. I phoned a friend and said - I could just cry right now.

"I was thinking - what have I taken on?"

She felt that the restaurant was in need of a "deep" clean so closed it for 10 days with the aim of re-opening on Friday January 11.

"I cannot thank my friends enough - they pitched in and helped me. They have been really kind and that has been wonderful. I have been humbled by the way people came in on New Year's Day, and the Bank Holiday, and we got it all back together piece by piece. In just these few days to have a re-opening for the restaurant is nothing short of superhuman."

Another immediate problem for her to tackle at the Mistral is a number of existing bookings for which she has scant or even no detail.

"I am working my way through contacting people where I have details, but I have got some with no names or telephone numbers. There is a wedding booked and this girl has paid 100 deposit according to what has been written down, but there is no telephone number, so I have no way of asking her what is expected, or numbers of guests, or anything. So if anybody has got a booking and they want some reassurance, or to discuss their booking at all, I would like to talk to them."

Sally can be reached on 01424 734225