A WORLD champion dancer and his wife have diversified during lockdown and pointed their feet in the direction of bar ownership.

Keith and Janey Davies, opened Temple Cafe Bar on Witton Street on September 9, having spent the last twenty years or so immersed in the world of dance, including running current company, Revolution Dance.

As lockdown came into full effect back in March, dancing was no longer possible, including the company's freestyle events held at Northwich Memorial Court, which have been a regular fixture in the town for the last 12 years.

Keith explained: "We had a huge turnover last year, it was our most successful year ever, and then all of a sudden we had nothing for six months, which was of course very worrying for us.

"We had 300 dancers that would go once a month to Northwich Memorial Court and although we're based in Stockport, we dance all over the place.

"Because of the dancing side of things not operating during lockdown, we couldn't bring in any income so we started talking about what else we could do.

"We got offered the chance to buy the bar and we spoke about it because it was something we'd been thinking about, although it had always been something we wanted to do closer to retirement age when we'd stopped dancing.

"It's probably not the best time to be buying restaurants, but for us, we thought, if we can get through the next six months or so, we've got a great opportunity to look to the future then."

Although both Keith and Janey have been dancing for much of the last two decades, in the years before that, both gained valuable experience in the hospitality industry.

Keith said: "Janey was a chef before she got into dancing and she opened a wine bar called Henry's in Manchester in the 1980's.

"She's also worked in one of the big hotels there, while I've opened bars for other people in the past and ran the front of house at the Kinderton Hotel in Middlewich.

"We've always done it for other people, but it's been nice because it allowed us to get that experience you need to run your own place."

Northwich Guardian:

Janey and Keith behind the bar at their new business venture on Witton Street.

Keith said he wants Temple Cafe Bar to offer Northwich something continental in nature, with both he and Janey having a love for Spain and in particular, Barcelona.

He added: "We dance a lot in Spain, in places like Barcelona, and we just love the culture and the cuisine over there.

"While we haven't gone down the tapas route, we've gone a little bit more European with the way we're thinking about things, including by bringing a lot of local and home produce to the table.

"We're not solely a vegan or vegetarian restaurant by a long shot, but we're trying to build our menu around having plenty of those kind of options.

"We're obviously aware that people are trying to eat more healthier and stay away from the likes of red meat."

The bar opens early and caters for breakfast, brunch and dinner crowds, and in the first five weeks of business, things have gone well, despite Cheshire being placed into Tier 2 Covid-19 restrictions last week.

Keith went on: "It's been lovely that everyone seems pleased with the food and the ambience.

"The ambience of the place is really important to us, and the music we play gives the feel of a chilled out bar in Barcelona, which is the type of feel we want.

"It definitely dropped off last weekend.

"The week before was our busiest Saturday so far, when we had an increase in everything by about a third.

"We just noticed there were less couples.

"In the past we'd have couples of four in their bubbles coming out for dinner together.

"I guess the latest restrictions have taken the fun out of it a little bit."

Despite the looming threat of further restrictions in the near future, Keith said he feels less worried than other more established businesses, because of when they opened.

He added: "We went into this with our eyes open knowing what might happen.

"Without meaning to sound stupid, we're probably less worried than most because the businesses that are more established than us have probably really noticed a drop in profits from where they used to be.

"Whereas we've never had any profits in the past, we're starting from scratch.

"We know we've got an uphill struggle for the next few months, but for us it's just a good way of building and getting a lovely reputation.

"And here we are, starting a new restaurant business from scratch having not made any money for six months through dancing, so it's been a rollercoaster ride that's for sure."

Temple Cafe Bar is open 9am-5.30pm (Monday to Thursday) 9am-10pm (Friday and Saturday) and 10am-5pm Sundays.