Birmingham's Café Opus exceeds sales targets
The café business set up in February by a professor of the culinary arts, who believed the brasserie and gastropub market had plateaued, has exceeded its sales forecasts by 30%
David Colcombe, chef director of the two AA rosette Opus restaurant, and visiting professor at Birmingham University opened Café Opus at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham in February, along with Ann Tonks and Irene Allen.
Tonks, managing director at Café Opus, said: "When we first came up with the idea of opening a café, we never imagined it would take off so quickly.
"We set ourselves some pretty high targets, so to see them being surpassed by almost a third underlines how good the decision was to open at Ikon. The focus of Café Opus is to offer simple dishes cooked to a very high quality and this proves that there is obviously a demand amongst the public for good quality food at these low prices.
"We like to promote the origins of the food on our plates because sourcing is key. By buying direct from farmers and markets, we can ensure that we can get the freshest ingredients possible and the results can be seen in the dishes."
Deborah Kermode, deputy director, Ikon, said: "Ikon Gallery has exhibited some hugely important and popular shows in recent months, including historic and little-seen drawings and sculptures by the Neoclassical master John Flaxman, and so visitor numbers are higher than ever. Café Opus has allowed us to extend our hospitality and is proving to be a significant and important extra draw to our visitors."