The Watch House Café News Release

Grand Opening!

“It’s bright, as if the outside is inside with an incredibly chic, continental feel,” is how Becky Black, Manager of the Watch House Café at West Bay, describes the ambience.

Doors opened at 9am on 2nd April with owner Steve Attrill’s daughter, Maisy, cutting the ribbon. Head chef Tim Gibb and staff posed with Steve’s mother, Joan, for photographs in the spring sunshine.

Bridport businesses have been very much involved in the building work and as Steve explains it’s been more transformation than renovation. “We’ve worked hard on maximizing the Jurassic Coast location by creating extra outside seating which has been designed exclusively for the Watch House by Fat Leaf based at St Michael’s Trading Estate in the Bridport.” Ross Clarke from Fat Leaf says, “We used chestnut, cedar and larch for the benches because it’s durable without chemical treatments. All the wood is Dorset and Devon grown in sustainable managed forests and milled at Eype Down Sawmill.” With the letters W and H set in the furniture the effect is stunning.

By 10am the café was filling up with customers coming from Dorchester to be first in line for the Fisherman’s Breakfast. Chef Tim is planning seasonal menus to offer the best Dorset produce and there will be summer events stretching into the evening and sunset.

There are 14 new jobs at the Watch House Café and with views to the massive East Cliff, the harbour and westwards to Lyme Regis, it’s set to be a real boost to the local economy and tourism at the Bay.

For pictures, interviews and more information contact:
Annette Shaw PR
Telephone: – 01308 456699
E-mail:- annetteshaw08@btinternet.com

Graham Wiffen (Business Development Manager)
Telephone: – (Watch House) 01308 459330 (Hive) 01308 897070
Web site: – www.watchhousecafe.co.uk
E-mail:- info@watchhousecafe.co.uk

Watch House Café, West Bay, Dorset, DT6 4EN

• Sun – Sat (all week) 9am – 5pm
  Breakfast 9am – 11.45am
  Lunch 12noon – 3pm

Our opening times are always weather dependant

Below are some pictures of the brand new decking area on the west side of the café looking towards Lyme Regis and Charmouth. This is almost in completion stage and is looking great! Within the next few weeks, if all goes to plan, then the bi fold doors leading onto this patio area will also be complete, making this a lovely open area to enjoy great views and food! We have also included pictures of the raised decking area and the enlarged dug out area.

As well as all of the external work to the café, Tim has also been busy planning the new seasonal menu. As soon as the finishing touches have been done then we will post it on the website to get the taste buds tingling! Remember, like our sister café ‘The Hive Beach Café’, the watch house will also have a specials board of local fish which will change daily depending on what our fisherman brings us!

Watch this space for more updates. See you all very soon!

With the quality of food in West Bay consistently getting better, the Watch House Café is aiming to be at the forefront of this change whilst providing a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere for customers from every walk of life within the newly refurbished establishment. The Watch House Café is the younger sister to the ever successful Hive Beach Café and the management are looking for staff with a few simple skills to join our dynamic team. We are still looking for full and part time members of staff for front of house positions.

To apply for a job, please email staff@watchhousecafe.co.uk with a copy of your CV and a covering letter detailing why you feel suitable for the position. Please DO NOT CALL THE CAFE as the phone line is disconnected during the refurbishment.

The outside of the café is also being modernised and updated, along with the internal areas. Work on the kitchen has now been completed and the café seating area is well underway with some funky new furniture due any day.

Outside we are installing a new, wider pathway to the rear seating areas, which will allow easy access for disabled folks with their wheelchairs.

The ‘dug out’ area is being enlarged and new benches are coming too, but the biggest change is the shingle area behind the café, which overlooks the harbour with views across the Charmouth and Lyme Regis, is being decked out and with some stylish new wooden seats. All of the wood used is coming from local woods, mostly from Hooke. It will look fabulous once completed and will allow many more of you to sit outside and enjoy the wonderful views across Lyme Bay.

To allow for easy access onto the new decking area, we are installing some magnificent bi-fold doors, opening up the western wall of the café and creating the feel of bringing the beach ‘inside’.

More news to come as these areas get finished off …. watch this space.

Becky and I (Tim) started our ski season after a few weeks of helping out Steve refurbish the Watch House. A lot of the structural work in the kitchen has all been finished as well as plans for interior design and lay out for front of house. Now the planning permission has been granted, we can start to move forward with all the outside work that we want to get finished before our grand opening!

We plan to return to England in time for when the Watch House reopens, around the end of March, early April. Obviously, this date is yet to be confirmed and as soon as we know, then we will let you know!  Becks and I will be running the Watch house together, with myself in the kitchen and Becky front of house. We have both worked at the Hive Beach Cafe with Steve Attrill for many years on and off between our travels, Becks for 7 years and myself for 13 years. We want to make sure that the Watch House is a friendly, welcoming and familiar place to come and eat or have a drink in the beautiful surroundings.

We will be blogging throughout our time here in the French Alps resort of Morzine, to keep you up to date with what is happening at the Watch House, along with what we have been up to in the snow! This picture is the view from our balcony this morning, a picturesque, snowy view of Morzine this winter!

Speak to you all soon,
Tim and Becky

The walls have been prepared so the new hygienic plastic walls can be fitted in the kitchen, the difficult task of re-bracing the building and re-plaster boarding the walls finally being over.  Within the next fortnight we aim to have the majority of kitchen work completed so we are able to move our equipment back in and begin concentrating on the front of house changes we have planned.

For those of you who can’t wait to sample the new cafes menu then here’s something to get the tastes buds tingling. (Of course, you could always sample them throughout the winter at the Hive Beach Cafe.)

Line caught from West Bay wild Sea Bass fillet, sautéed wild mushroom, leek and saffron cream sauce with new potatoes £18.95

The cafe will close on October 31st for the winter.  We will re-open for Easter 2012

We still have the favourites of our ‘Ultimate Burger’ on the menu but we;’;ve added some new ones too for the colder months, like the ‘Seafood & Chrizo broth’, one to warm up the insides on the cooler autumnal days.

The full menu is shown below…

LUNCH MENU
SERVED 12pm – 3pm ONLY                                                 AUTUMN 2011

GRIDDLED HALOUMI AND ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SKEWERS £7.95
With Cherry tomatoes, mixed salad and basil dressing and a chunk of granary bread (V)

SEAFOOD AND CHORIZO BROTH £8.95
Chefs selection from: pan fried squid, mussels, king prawns and fresh fish cooked through chick peas, crispy chorizo, Tomatoes and pimentos, finished with fresh parsley and crème fraiche, served with granary bread

KING PRAWN SWEET CHILLI NOODLES £9.50
King prawns cooked with garlic, tossed with stir fried Asian style vegetables and sweet chilli noodles

SMOKED MACKEREL, BEETROOT AND HORSERADISH SALAD £8.95
Smoked mackerel fillets with crème fraiche, beetroot and horseradish dressed (warm) new potatoes, Dorset Watercress salad and local granary bread

CRISPY SALT AND PEPPER SQUID £8.95
Deep fried squid, with a crispy seasoned coating, Garlic and chive aioli with Dorset leaf salad and a bowl of chips.

OPEN LASAGNE WITH AUTUMN MUSHROOMS, LEEKS AND BLUE CHEESE £8.50
With local wild and Portobello mushrooms, crispy pancetta, Ashley Chase blue cheese and crunchy pangrattato. Mixed salad and small bowl of chips (we can leave out the pancetta to make this vegetarian, just ask)

Please take a look at our daily specials board for more choice of fresh local produce

BURGERS:
ADD CHEESE 75p ADD (2) BACON £1.00

THE ULTIMATE BEEF BURGER £8.50
300G/10oz home made beef burger in a fresh white roll with lettuce, tomatoes, red onion and beetroot, served with chips and a salad garnish

WEST BAY FRESH FISH BURGER £8.50
Tempura battered Lyme bay (when available) fresh cod/haddock fillet in a fresh white roll with salad leaves and homemade tartare sauce, served with chips and salad garnish

CHICKEN CEASAR BURGER £8.50
Fresh chicken fillet cooked on the griddle in a soft white roll, crunchy lettuce and ceasar mayonnaise, with chips and salad garnish

REGULARS:

Olde English sausage egg and chips with salad garnish – Adults £6.50, Kids £4.50

Ham, egg and chips with salad garnish – Adults £6.50, Kids £4.50

Chips £1.50 Cheesy Chips £2.50

SANDWICHES:

Chicken Tikka £4.95

Ham, salad and mustard mayo £4.50

Coastal Cheese and Pickle £4.25

Roast beef, wasabi mayo, rocket £4.50

Egg mayonnaises and cress £4.00

All sandwiches served on thick malted brown bread with salad garnish

• Mon – Fri  10am – 4pm
• Sat & Sun 9am – 5pm

Our opening times are always weather dependant