A COFFEE shop in Sherfield on Loddon has been voted as the Basingstoke Gazette and Andover Advertiser Café of the Year.

The café, named The Coffee Shop, gathered the most votes from our readers.

Manager Suzanne Nixon and her staff were ecstatic to hear the award news as they thanked the community for voting for them.

“The coffee shop has been a great success and this couldn’t have been done without the support from our villagers and customers,” Suzanne said, adding: “We can’t thank enough the people who voted for us.”

The Coffee Shop was opened in August 2020 after The Shop Londis bought the shop and the post office together to keep them in the community. It is a central point for the village and the Sherfield on Loddon community.

However, the journey has not been easy for the shop because of Covid-related restrictions.

Suzanne said the café still kept going during the lockdown because of the perseverance of the staff.

“It’s been great support from Nikki, Kathleen, Billie, Diane, Emma, Ingrid, Elara, Sarah, Sarina, Ayesha, Milly, Lilly, Hannah, and don’t forget Roger.

“To open during Covid was hard with so many restrictions and in and out of lockdown. However, we kept going, and even during lockdown we stayed open serving takeaway coffee and food.

“We also did Crazy Saturdays during lockdown where we did six weeks of dressing up and raising money for local charities.

“We did 80s theme for Bramley school, superheroes for our local playgroup Happy Faces, Star War characters for Food Bank, book characters for The Loddon School and PJs for Chloe’s and Sophie Special ear foundation. We also had a fundraiser for NHS staff.

“Though we didn’t raise much money it was fun and the customers loved it.”

The Coffee Shop’s aim, when it opened was to sell newspapers along with good coffee, good cake, and great food.

It uses locally sourced sausages and bacon from local butchers. They also serve farmhouse bread delivered fresh each morning.

“We serve a very a lovely breakfast menu consisting of Coffee Shop Breakfast consisting of two sausages, two bacon and two eggs and beans,” Suzanne said, adding: “We also have scrambled eggs and smoked salmon to avocado and tomatoes on toast. And our cake lady is an award winner.

“Our coffee is Red Label from Mozzo and our freshly homemade cakes are from A Sweet Affair.

“For lunchtime we serve, sandwiches, paninis, jacket potatoes, quiche of the day and don’t forget our amazing Ploughman’s which will fill the greatest of appetites.

“We also did a Macmillian coffee morning which we co-hosted with one of our amazing villagers Chris Horton, where we raised over £1,000 for this great charity.”

“We also welcome our four-legged friends. Unfortunately, we can’t welcome them inside. We make a fuss of them outside with water bowls and doggy biscuits if we are allowed. We also serve doggy icecream, and new forest icecreams for humans.”

Suzanne has worked in the hospitality industry all her career, starting as kitchen porter/chambermaid at the Wellington Arms Hotel in Stratfield Turgis.