Award winning Little Amsterdam will not reopen

Owner decides against reopening post the coronavirus lockdown

Banbury’s award-winning Little Amsterdam restaurant will not be reopening following the enforced coronavirus shutdown.   Owner Ilja Abbattista says the decision is taken “with the deepest regret” and hinted that the coronavirus situation had played a part in her decision noting “2020 was going to be my year, but sadly that wasn’t meant to be”.

In thanking her customers over the last five years Ilja noted those who had worked alongside her.   She said, “I’d like to thank my staff for their absolute awesomeness and their support, whether it was recently or in the past. I would like to say a massive thank you to all of my family who have always been there and especially my husband who worked so very hard by my side.

“This isn’t over as I am having to adapt and I am creating something new and will of course update you in due course”.

Little Amsterdam first opened in December 2014.    The Dutch restaurant and café quickly became popular serving traditional dishes from the Netherlands as well as coffee, tea and a selection of Dutch products.

Ilja set up Little Amsterdam with her husband Lino by her side and took up the challenge in part to prove her doubters wrong.   Writing on the Little Amsterdam Facebook page Ilja said, “For many years I was made to believe that I could never run a business by myself and I wanted to prove otherwise.   With £0.69 left in my bank account I had to open or risk never opening at all”.

Nine months after Little Amsterdam opened it received the ‘Cafe Of The Year’ award.   Other awards followed including being just one of three establishments in Oxfordshire mentioned in the book “Where Chefs Eat’.

In a final message to her customers Ilja said, “I will miss you all very much”.

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Published: 20/07/2020 08:16am by Banbury FM Newsteam

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