Business and life partners Jo and Dale Annells have shown amazing community spirit over the past twelve months by adapting their offering to ensure local residents have all they need in difficult times, and we'd like to thank them for their ongoing efforts.
Nobody can dispute the fact that 2020 was life changing for each and every one of us. Home schooling, working from our kitchen table, shielding and wearing masks to venture to the shops became the norm, and at the very beginning of the first lockdown, concerns about food scarcity were at the forefront of many people’s minds.
Miss Polly’s wife and husband team, Jo and Dale Annells, were quick to adapt their café offering to support the local community. Working with other local providers, including Paull’s Fruit and Veg in Thames Ditton, Surrey brand Chimney Fire Coffee and Frankonia Bread House in Surbiton, the duo developed food boxes for delivery and purchase at the door of their Walton Road café.
In such strange times, it’s amazing how a little bit of normality within the daily routine can help. By keeping the shutters open on their Walton Road store throughout 2020, Miss Polly made sure that the daily caffeine supply and conversation continued to flow (in a responsible socially distanced way, of course!)
We just know that Miss Polly Riverside is going to be the location for many summer meet ups by the river, long lunches, afternoon teas and a cheeky glass of wine by the Thames.
If negotiating Covid, home-schooling, food boxes and constantly changing business restrictions wasn’t a large enough job for their year, we were delighted to hear that Miss Polly would take up a second East Molesey residence at the Cricket Club. While lockdown has temporarily put a stop to eating in and socialising in groups, we just know that Miss Polly Riverside is going to be the location for many summer meetups by the river, long lunches, afternoon teas and a cheeky glass of wine by the Thames.
Knowing first-hand the pressure our new way of life can put upon busy households, Jo and Dale also teamed up with local resident and amazing cook, Layla Hanwell to provide a home catering service, offering a menu of delicious family meals, soups, sauces and treats (including the most ridiculously tasty chocolate and raspberry amaretti ever tasted). Just the ticket for adults wanting nutritious, delicious and real food for their families without cooking from scratch, as they negotiate the highs and lows of lockdown 3.0.
At the time of writing this, multiple vaccines are on the horizon and there’s real hope that 2021 can only get better. For Jo and Dale, the new year has already brought a blessing with the arrival of their third child, a beautiful boy named Dylan. With three children, two cafes, a catering service and no doubt many more wonderful culinary initiatives in development for the year ahead, Jo and Dale certainly have their plates full – but something tells us they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Find out more about Miss Polly: misspollycafe.co.uk
Instagram @misspollycafe.co.uk & @misspolly.by.layla
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