Week One: The Real Thing

Guests, Google reviews, and the joy of Yard Sale pizza with your team

Our first official week with paying guests. Real money, real pressure - and what a week it was.

Honestly? It felt worlds apart from our soft launch. The way people ordered, the energy in the room, how the space flowed - everything shifted. Thankfully, in the right direction. It ran smoother, felt more natural, and for the first time, we got a real glimpse of what this place could be.

About 80% of our guests were just… brilliant. Warm, excited, generous with their words - the kind of people who make all the graft, the sleepless nights and the sore feet feel totally worth it. And then there’s that small-but-mighty percentage who seem to arrive looking for something to pick apart. Two tables, in particular, pushed things too far, to the point where they made our staff cry. That hurt. Someone else left a 2-star Google review because there was “nothing on the blackboard”… it was our second lunch service. We’d unexpectedly sold out of cuts the night before (a good problem, really), and there was still a full a la carte menu available. Another guest was appalled that a whole fish… had bones. Come on!

Apparently, we’re also making waves in the local Facebook groups over our pricing. A woman leaned in and whispered to me outside while I was holding my son, “Ignore the haters online; we think you’re doing great.” I just blinked at her, confused, thinking, “What haters?” I haven’t had a second to read anything. Probably for the best I don’t use Facebook.

Anyway, forget all that. The real story of this week; I got to meet you. So many of you. People who travelled across the country to eat with us. Locals who’ve waited patiently for us to open. Familiar faces from the old restaurant, back to see what we’ve built. You gasped at the height of the tomato vol au vent, raved about the monkfish salad, lit up at your cocktails. I even overheard someone say it felt like being in central London. That floored me. Thank you, truly.

Our team, front and back of house absolutely smashed it. I couldn’t be prouder. We ended the week with Yard Sale pizza and big, joyful staff meals. They deserved every bite and more.

As for me? I’m still right in the thick of it. Early starts for prep, squeezing in bits of admin, swipe of lipstick, into service, cleaning loos, running plates, polishing glasses, closing the kitchen with a full scrub down. It’s full-on. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

And now, with a bit of breathing room, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the lessons we’ve learnt; from our soft launch right through to opening week. One brilliant family came in and said this newsletter has been helping them open their own place. That was really lovely to hear.

So here it is: the good, the hard, and the useful all laid out.