AT BISTRO Bach in Craig-y-Don, there’s never any danger of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Primarily because there’s only one cook, and he accounts for half of the entire two-man operation.

For the last five years, the dynamic behind this family enterprise has been simple yet effective: business partners Bobby Sirrah and Craig Jones cover front of house and the kitchen respectively. Yet if they appear short of staff, rarely can the same be said for customers.

Since reopening on August 31 following an enforced closure of almost nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the phone has scarcely stopped ringing.

Now open throughout the week during the day, as well as on Friday and Saturday evenings, it is, by Bobby’s own admission, like they never went away.

He said: “We’ve got bookings pouring in as far as November now. We’re actually turning away well over 100 people on Friday and Saturday nights. If I get a cancellation, the table’s full again within five minutes.

“Trade’s still picking up. One of the big things that’s played a factor is Venue Cymru reopening; with our proximity to it, we’ve got a lot of people booking for early evening dinners pre-events. Billy Ocean is on next week (September 25), so that evening’s fully booked already.

“It’s a double-edged sword with it just being two of us; there are limitations on how much we can do, but it does mean that we can maintain the standards the way we like it. We know how we like it, and we always have it done the same way because we’re doing it all ourselves.”

Bobby and Craig also pride themselves on running a bistro which stays true to its Welsh roots. They let artists from the area display their work for free in their restaurant and sell it on their behalf, yet refuse to take any money from sales.

Plus, the vast majority of their produce is sourced from Wales; be that the cheeses they typically stock at Christmas, the meat and butter they use, or the fish for their signature smoked haddock chowder, which comes from Llandudno’s Mermaid Seafoods.

“We made 10 litres of that one day and it sold out in 45 minutes,” Bobby laughed.

“We actually get people phoning us asking if the chowder’s on that day, and if so, can they reserve their portion!”

They’ve not been short of recognition for their efforts, either. In 2019, Bistro Bach was nominated among the 10 finalists for Outstanding Restaurant of the Year as part of the Welsh edition of the Restaurant Awards, while the Welsh Assembly marked it as a business of interest for Welsh tourism.

“Our restaurant stocks a lot of local Welsh produce, so we were recognised as part of that scheme,” Bobby added.

“We always prefer to buy from small, local businesses if we can. A few of our suppliers are people we’ve known most of our lives; up until it closed, even the bakery we used to get our bread from was a childhood friend of the chef’s!

“It (Restaurant Awards nomination) was great, particularly as it was unexpected. We found out when the actual award’s Facebook page put a post up and tagged all the restaurants. We have no idea who put us forward for it!”

For more information, visit their website at: www.bistrobach.wales, or their Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/bistrobach.

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