The Strand Café at Riverbank Arts Centre
Riverbank Arts Centre is delighted to announce that local event catering company Catering365 is venturing into the world of café dining by opening The Strand Café at Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge on Tuesday 1st November.
Café visitors can expect freshly-baked sweet offerings, warming soups, flavour-packed sandwiches, hearty porridge and home baked breads, as well as delicious coffee and specially sourced leaf teas. Relying on fresh ingredients, locally sourced and grown where possible, the chefs will produce food items from scratch.
While Riverbank’s artistic programme is currently thriving, with full houses for theatre, music, comedy and family events, the cafe had not reopened post-Covid and was greatly missed. Recognising the need for a café on site, Kildare County Council issued an open call in August this year seeking a café provider and following a competitive process, Kildare company Catering 365 were awarded the contract.
Café owners Deiric Walsh and Davis Zhang will work alongside café Head Chef Fiona (Flo) Byrne at The Strand Café. Deiric Walsh has over 30 years’ experience in all aspects of catering management, having worked with accomplished chef Davis Zhang for 20 of those years. Davis has created an exciting menu for the cafe, with tempting fresh lunch options each day. Head chef Flo has over 30 years’ experience and she also has worked with Deiric and Davis for over 20 years. This dream team are delighted to venture out into the world of café food and look forward to meeting you at The Strand Café.
Venue director Caroline Williams is delighted to welcome The Strand Café. to Riverbank, “The café has been a missing ingredient for our audience members and will be hugely welcomed by all the artists and organisations who use our arts centre. People are clearly delighted to return to live events and having an excellent coffee before a cinema screening or a glass of wine before a theatre show adds to the sociable side of a good night out. We’re looking forward to the daytime buzz too, Riverbank Arts Centre has always been a friendly, relaxed venue to drop in to or a place to meet friends, and The Strand Café. promises be an excellent spot for this. And if you have never visited us in Newbridge, is there anything more tempting than the smell of fresh coffee?”
The café will be open from 10am –3pm weekdays and Saturday, and an hour before evening events at Riverbank Arts Centre.