Do you feel as if there’s a gaping big hole in your life this
week? Have you found yourself missing that daily dose of rich Brazilian coffee, craving a satisfying bacon sandwich, or simply wondering where you’re going to meet your mummy mates for a catch-up? That’s because the Station Hill Café is no more. RIP. On Thursday it opened its doors for the last time… But before you reach for that handkerchief in your pocket, don’t be too disheartened, because we have good news - it’ll be back under a new name at the end of the week, better than ever before, as the Pizza Dreams Café. 

 

Are you eager to try it? I am! Especially as I’ve just arrived home after chatting to Manjit Jaspal and Ian Roff, two of the loveliest people you ever did meet, who have collaborated to bring about this new café/pizza restaurant. As they began to tell me about their plans, the enthusiasm oozed out of them, their excitement palpable. Understandable too, for this joint venture has been a year in the making. 

   Manjit, owner of Station Hill Café and co-organiser of the Penn Festival, says: ‘We met through the Penn Festival where we have worked closely together these last few years. I have been looking for a new addition to our menu for sometime, but didn’t want to go down the gastro-pub route. I got talking to Ian, of Pizza Dreams, as he sold his wood-fired pizzas from a 1965 classic Citroen HY Van and converted vintage horse trailer. The pizzas were a huge hit with the festival fans, who were asking when he was going to open a restaurant. So he came up with the idea to do it 

here, in the café. Wood-fired pizzas are a perfect fit for the café menu and will allow us to offer a new option for our customers and to extend our opening hours into the evening.

   ‘Ian and I share a passion for many of the same things and have similar ideas – even down to how we envisaged Pizza Dreams Café to look and the colour scheme.’

   Ian continues: ‘The main feature of the restaurant will be the £10,000, wood-fired oven, commissioned especially for the café. The chimney breast in the café has been here since at least 1905, so we are going to hollow it out and fit our new oven inside it. Customers will watch as 

their pizza is cooked to perfection in just 90 seconds, and the smell of the wood fire and ingredients will have your taste buds tingling.’

   Manjit adds: ‘We believe good food should be prepared freshly to order – and it certainly will be!’

   90 seconds? I like the sound of that. If you went to this year’s Let’s Rock the Moor festival, you may have been lucky enough to try the pizzas there.    Ian says: ‘People love our pizzas at festivals as often the only thing available is poor-quality food or burgers, and there’s nothing for 

vegetarians or people with special dietary needs. We give them more choice, offering vegetarian, non-vegetarian, and even gluten-free pizzas. We even offer Pizza Bambino – a smaller one for the kids, available with all our usual toppings. Combining forces with Manjit means we can now 

sell pizzas from a restaurant as well as for outdoor events, which is great.’

   You may be thinking all this sounds amazing, but what if you still just want a reviving cup of coffee and a flapjack, or a healthy salad? Don’t worry, the new café has it covered. 

   Manjit says: ‘We will continue to serve coffees, cakes, breakfasts and lunches - including pizza - in the daytime, but we will become a full-blown pizza restaurant by night. We will do kids’ teas, fine wines, takeaway, a relaxing evening meal experience… all at nice prices.’

   Ian continues: ‘We hope people will relish having the choice of a local Artisan pizza place that can also offer take away. They will come to collect it and see it freshly made while they wait, and it will cook in just 90 seconds.’ 

   The menu includes starters, salads, extras, traditional Italian classics such as Marinara and Margherita pizzas, Pizza Dreams classics including

Neapolitan, Carne Amante, Oriental Duck and Greek pizzas among others, Pizza Biancas and desserts.  

   Ian says: ‘We are keen to use the best ingredients, local where possible, for example we are using produce from Roy Gigg and the Italian Deli, and wine from the Old Butchers Wine Cellar and our desserts will be home-made every day...’

   Another string to their bow, and something I’m loving the sound of, is they will be offering kids’ parties in their back room. 

   ‘Children can sprinkle on their own toppings then see their pizza being cooked, before they tuck into it. We feel if kids can experiment, they’ll eat a wider variety of foods,’ says Ian. ‘We can also make special birthday pizzas – they can be tailored to suit every taste.’

   Well, I’m sold. But is everyone as keen? What has the reaction been locally and staff-wise?

   Manjit says: ‘We will be keeping our regular staff, who are all keen and excited to learn about the pizza business. They are also well-known by the locals and we think this is important to make customers feel welcome.
But we will be adding to our team as well. We have had so much good 

feeling toward our new venture so far from all our loyal customers, we
are delighted.’ 

   And rightly so. From what I can gather, the cafe will have the same vibe that we know and love so well, but with a difference. Pizzas! Wine! Evenings out… What more could we want? 

  Seeing just how dedicated Manjit and Ian are to their new Pizza Dreams Cafe, I just know it’s going to be a huge hit. And I for one can’t wait to grab a ‘slice’ of the action.