Teapot Cafe just their cup of tea

THE oldest cafe in Maidenhead celebrated its 25th anniversary this week and it’s owner has vowed to keep serving for many years to come. Jeff Pullin has run the Teapot Cafe since he was 18-years-old and has become one of the town’s most popular faces.

Along with his wife of 17 years, Debbie, 37, he has served thousands of fry-ups, teas and coffees to hungry Maidonians. And on Wednesday he celebrated his 25th anniversary in style by giving away goodies to his customers and donating every penny spent on coffees and teas to Breast Cancer Awareness and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

The 42-year-old said: “It’s been great, we’ve been really busy and have got lots of cards and flowers with messages saying hope your around for another 25 years.

“I really enjoy being here, I’ve been around a very long time and have seen many changes in Maidenhead and get all different sorts of life in here.”

Jeff and the Teapot have moved around during his 25 year stint in the town, he originally owned a ‘wooden shack’ on Nicholsons Way before it was knocked down in 1982 to make way for a more modern brick one. He stayed there until 2002 when it was knocked down and he was relocated to new premises on Frascati Way.

He said: “I was told it would be open within a year but it ended up taking nearly two-anda-half.

“It was frustrating but I love it here, it’s three times the size of the old one and has disabled toilets. The kitchen is about the same size as the old cafe.

“This means we can have a bigger menu, instead of just fryups we can serve home-made food like steak pies and spaghetti bolognese.”

The Teapot is certainly a family run business as Jeff and Debbie’s three daughters, Abbie, 17, Natalie, 16, and Jessica, 14, all work there on the weekends. So what plans now for the family from Farmers Way, Cox Green, Jeff said: “I’ll keep going, I couldn’t give up work, I’d go mad. It was hard enough for the two-and-a-half years the cafe was shut.”

(this article was taken from icberkshire.co.uk)