Last updated 16:24, Monday, 05 January 2009

Colin and Louisa Le Voi outside the Quince and Medlar in Cockermouth

A RESTAURANT in Cockermouth will be celebrating 20 years of service by its owners this week.

The Quince and Medlar, on Castlegate, was taken over by Colin Le Voi and his wife, Louisa, in 1989.

The restaurant offers vegetarian dining, organic wine and fruit drinks.

Colin and Louisa trained with the late Francis Coulson and Brian Shack at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in Ullswater before moving to the Quince and Medlar.

Colin, 46, said he did all the cooking while Louisa prepared the desserts.

He said: “It is fantastic that we have been open 20 years but it doesn’t feel like it. It is down to our loyal customers that we have been going so long.

“When the Quince and Medlar was offered to us we jumped at the chance to own it. We fell in love with it as soon as we saw it.”

The restaurant has won numerous awards including the National Vegetarian Society Restaurant of the Year in 1989 and 2003, Vegetarian Living Restaurant of the Year 1992 and has won the Loo of the Year Award twice.

He said: “The awards are special and we have enjoyed the moment but for us we are doing the best we can by providing good quality food and service.”

Colin said he liked running a vegetarian restaurant because it gave him more freedom to try out new dishes.

He said: “My wife and I have always leaned towards vegetarian cooking and have just grown into it since moving to the restaurant.

“We use as much local produce as possible because we feel it is important to support the local market.”

Shelagh Swindells, 59, and her husband Roy, of Parklands, have been going to the restaurant every month for the past 20 years and she said that when they lived in Manchester, they even travelled to the restaurant for a meal.

She added: “When we moved up here in 1988 we just wanted to find somewhere to eat so we went to the Quince and Medlar and have been going there ever since.

“Colin and Louisa are always welcoming and we always have a good experience when we are there and have something wonderful to eat.

“The restaurant is always fully booked on Fridays and Saturdays and when we plan to go for a meal there for New Year’s Eve, we always book the year before.”