A NEW cafe has opened up in a prime city centre location, just a stone's throw from York Minster.

Cafe FeVa, on the 1st floor of the Red House Antiques in Duncombe Place, York, has been taken over by Lloyd Villanueva, 32.

Lloyd, originally from the Philippines, had been working as a clinical service manager, and living in Harrogate with his partner Paul Feehan, 57, when he noticed that the site was up for sale on Gumtree and saw it as a “real opportunity”.

He said: “My partner is working at Bootham School and I thought this could be a new venture that would allow us to move to York.

“I have always been interested in, and enjoyed, hospitality and when I went to view the building I knew this would be a great setting, right next to the Minster.”

Lloyd added that they moved into the building at the start of August, and after a month of work, getting the cafe ready, the eatery opened on September 14.

He said there was a lot of work to be done.

Lloyd said: “It was a stressful month redecorating.

"A lot of the decor at the site was authentic so we decided to base our new design around a similar theme.

“I think the layout is now modern but still has an authentic feel, and we now serve breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea so Cafe FeVa is very much a culinary experience for visitors.

“Café FeVa has a wide range of menu from eggs royale to daily homemade soup and sandwiches

“Our light and luxurious cheesecake have also been quite popular along with the mini Yorkshire puddings with roast beef, gravy, horseradish sauce, and onion chutney.”

The restaurant can sit 19 people and has a new head chef.