A Suffolk couple who launched their first village café just after the pandemic are set to open a third outlet - this time in a village pub - in the coming weeks.
Suffolk Jungle Room has enjoyed huge success since launching its first café-cum-plant-shop in Metfield in February 2022.
Owners Samantha Coe and fiancé Tony Prince went on to join forces with Be Well Barn - a farm-based spa, fitness and wellbeing centre run by Will and Sarah Edwards at Redlingfield, near Eye. It launched a bar and café on the site when the farm diversification opened in May this year.
Now Sam and Tony are gearing up to unveil a third operation - this time at the Wissett Plough, near Halesworth. It will be run day-to-day by Tony's daughter Shania.
The Jungle Room Be Well Barn café and bar is already enjoying great success with people meeting for lunches, coffees or an evening wind-down.
"Will had seen what we had been doing (at Metfield). We came over to the Be Well Barn and were blown away by the vision and couldn't really turn down the opportunity for our second site," explained Sam.
Sam - who is a musician and originally from Eye - and Tony - whose background is in hospitality and moved up to Suffolk from Rayleigh in Essex - met in 2019 and fell in love.
The pair - who are planning to tie the knot next year - decided to go into business together and launch the Metfield site - which they called Suffolk Jungle Room because of the profusion of plants on sale there. It includes 60 covers.
"Everything has just gone crazy and a lot has happened in a short time," said Sam.
"We were offered the Wissett Plough by the landlord who loved what we were doing. He approached us to run it as a café - we wanted to run it as a bar as well as a café."
The concept with Wissett is ambitious. It includes a day-time café, some evening openings with alcohol sales - and the Suffolk Jungle Room Bake House where rolls, cakes and other baked goods can be made for the business - and they hope also for sale to other retailers.
They would like to scale up that side of the business on the site, which has lots of space, explained Sam.
A local artist has created a striking mural inside the premises featuring a wildman of local legend.
"We wanted to add something to the pub that was location appropriate and interesting. We commissioned a local artist. It's stunning - very life-like," explained Sam.
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