Heather Mills’ VBites cafe opens at Hove Lagoon

The burgers are provided with a very, very good bun, big enough and sturdy enough to take all the fillings you can dress a burger with. It won’t fall to bits in your hand. Mine was excellent. A bog standard easy host for mustard, relish, ketchup, onions, and whatever else comes to hand in a bun that did not leave me in a rage and with all that yummy gunk on my clothes. It was what you EXPECT a burger to be. For £3.50 on the day it didn’t break the bank either. I note, however, that the printed menu gives a burger price of £4.95. During her rooftop opening speech to us, Heather Mills pledged her support for the skate park at Hove Lagoon and said the skateboarders could have the £3.50 burgers for £2.50 which presumably was also only that price for the opening. My cappuccino coffee was £1.70. These are such modest prices for such a smart looking and comfortable environment! I take my hat off to Heather Mills who struck me as having taken to restaurant life like a, well, swan to Hove Lagoon you might say! She looks fabulous in the white apron and with her new short haircut. She really is crisply beautiful and spent the afternoon bustling about, radiating efficiency and helpfulness. I asked her for a photo with two councillors and she turned, walked the length of the building to give it, walking faster than I could! She was a brilliant hostess who laid on an opening party that felt like a huge and happy family gathering. Which, in a way it was.

You wanna know just HOW family?? The lady has highchairs. OK? This thoughtful touch means babies are welcome and catered for at the table. Well done on that one, Heather!

During Live Exports from the port of Shoreham The Shoreham Protesters made the old Café its base camp where chips, teas and shelter for warmth and a rest kept us going. Yes. I was one of them. For a few years after the trade was halted by the police in June of l995, The Shoreham Protesters continued to haunt the Hove Lagoon café. Every Tuesday evening we met up in what is now Heather Mills’ VBites café for a social and to continue the live export battle (Dover) and learn of all the other issues and outrages concerning animals that needed our support.

For those of us who gathered on the lawn on the 4th of July to listen to Glenn Miller-style big band music and singing, to hear Juliet Gellatley of Viva! (www.Viva.org.uk ) introduce her friend Heather Mills who formally opened the café from her perch behind the neon sign on the roof, this day was “poignant” (to quote Juliet). We were having a reunion on our old fighting turf. We are all a dozen years older and we feel proprietary pride in what Heather Mills is doing. As though she is continuing on that patch what we began in l995. What goes round, comes round as they say.

There is now the paddling pool, the skateboarders park, the much improved playground, as well as the newly renovated café to make that end of the Hove Lagoon site something really inviting and special for families. Inside the café, an extraordinary interactive crèche with a wall thing making pictures has been created too!

One room now has tables one side and a groovy looking white wave bar the length of the other side, with twinkly diamond lights from inside its overhead beam straight onto the bar. It is very Miami. Very pretty and very relaxed and warmly inviting.

For residents local to Hove Lagoon, use of the new café will be easy. Tables and chairs on the lawn will make summer there quite fabulous. A great family hangout. For people further away there are a few hurdles which I hope will be sorted in time.

Cyclists can arrive via the cycle lane along the Kingsway pavement or from the cycle lane running from Brighton through to Hove along the seafront promenade. There is no serious and regular bus transport to Hove Lagoon along the Kingsway, however; but buses along New Church Road to Wish Road are frequent and the walk down to the Kingsway short. For taxis and car drivers there is an access and parking problem we didn’t have in the days of the Shoreham Protesters use of the café every Tuesday night. The entrance off the Kingsway to get to the café is blocked by two no-entry signs promising clamping and there is a horribly steep slope to get down (and climb up!) which is daunting. I both arrived for and (eventually) left the 4th July opening party by taxi. The grievous problems I had leaving got me suggesting to the relevant people that a taxi company freephone should be installed urgently and those signs changed to allow entry by taxis and permit holders so that people can be picked up from the café door. In winter, and at night after use of the bar, this will matter! The entry points to the Hove Lagoon area from the Kingsway all sported chains and padlocks preventing walk-in access off the pavement that did not require mountain climbing skills and youthful fitness to negotiate. I have also asked the Council why that is and if they can be removed.

Providing the taxi access can be sorted to ensure people who need a taxi can have a taxi pickup from the door, and provided there is also secure cycle storage provided somewhere dry for winter and bad weather occasions, I believe this café will become a hub, a magnet for happy gatherings.

As well as the usual fast-food all-day staples of baked potatoes (£1.00!!!), chips, burgers, salads, etc., the bill of fare boasts some lovely surprises. The Breakfast Menu has porridge & Agave syrup, muesli and soya yoghurt - both are £1.95 – as well as English Breakfast with rashers, sausages, baked beans, hash browns, mushrooms and tomatoes for £5.50 – all vegan of course. The Main Meals section of the main Menu offers a choice of pasta, Bangers & Mash, Refried Bean Tacos with salad, olives, salsa, guacamole and brown rice, a nut Korma and a Lemon Grass, Coconut rice number. Falafel and Tahini in Pitta bread……..it goes on.

The opening hours are ambitious: 9:30am to ll:30pm. This is a daytime and nightime destination. There is a website – www.vbites.com – and the café and lawn can also be booked out for parties, etc. Enjoy!