Bay Tree Café in Bury St Edmunds' St John's Street taken over by new owner who brings in fresh menu

It’s all change for a Bury St Edmunds café which has been taken over by a new owner.

Alex Rotherham, 52, took over Bay Tree Café two and half weeks ago and has completely revitalised the menu, cutting the number of dishes down and using locally produced Butterworth & Son coffee.

Alex, originally from Vancouver in Canada, had his own restaurant in his home city and worked as head chef at No. 4 Restaurant in Abbeygate Cinema for 11 years, helping to set up the eatery and designing the menu. After leaving the cinema last year he felt it was time to start his own venture.

He said: “My wife made the comment that I’m never going to be happy working for somebody else. The time was right. Our kids are a little bit older now. I thought I’d take the gamble and see what happens.”

Not everyone has been completely satisfied with the change, with a few regular customers missing the old menu, but Alex is hoping to win them over.

"Unfortunately some of the regulars are unhappy that I don't have the old owners' menu," he said.

"But some of the other regulars and new customers are coming in are saying I've got the best paninis in town.

"The whole atmosphere and service that they loved is exactly the same, it's just I'm bringing a new culinary vision. There's new exciting food to try and we make all our baked goods and cakes in house."

Despite only been running the business for a matter of weeks, Alex is already seeing the café thrive.

"I've been really pleased," he added.

"We've cut down to five days a week, the previous owners were open six days, and we're actually running exactly the same number of sales that they did."

Going forward, Alex plans to completely refit the kitchen and focus on the food. He hopes to add more food to the menu like rice bowls and loaded fries. In the spring/summer time he plans to open seven days a week.