Pig & Pastry helped feed 13,000 needy people in lockdown

The popular and award-winning cafe on Bishy Road in York is now open again, from Monday to Saturday, 8am to 3pm.

Steve and Julia are The Press's latest Traders of the Week.

Steve took some time out from running The Pig to tell us what makes the cafe so special.

If you would like to nominate our next Trader of the Week, fill out this online form.

How long has the business been going?

We just had our 12th anniversary. We opened in 2008 during the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis.

What do you sell?

Fresh salads, hot sandwiches, great coffee, breakfasts, homemade cakes and pastries, quiches and other homemade savouries, (Tripadvisor bribes!).

Ciabatta sandwiches on sale at The Pig & Pastry in York

What's special about The Pig & Pastry?

Well, in normal times, we pride ourselves on being a bit of a community hub. People may come in alone, but thanks to the sharing tables, people generally strike up some conversation with each other and I'm proud to say that many friendships have been born in the cafe between customers. Post lockdown? Well, we're still here to chat to the ones looking for company even though table sharing has ended for the moment.

The Pig & Pastry in Bishopthorpe Road, York

How have you adapted during the Covid-19 crisis?

Just before the lockdown, we decided to put our business on hold and we created the Supper Collective with a number of other great restaurants, bakeries and cafes in York. Together, we made over 13,000 meals during the 14-week lockdown period that fed the hungry vulnerable and isolated in their homes as well as feeding frontline NHS staff and the homeless everyday.

It’s been nice easing back into being a cafe again. We’re still largely running a take-out only service, but we have just started allowing a small number of seats inside and out which seems to be working great. We’re taking the changes slowly.

Have you won any awards?

Yes! Top 25 Brunch Places 2019 (The Times) and 50 Best Places for Breakfast 2019 (The Guardian) We almost won the Yorkshire Life 2019 Best Cafe Award. Maybe next time, Mum! And for the Supper Collective, we were proud to win the Daily Telegraph Community Lockdown Project Award (although we didn't get a trophy or even get a certificate for this - you'll just have to take my word for it!).

Steve and Julia Holding set up the Supper Collective during lockdown to feed the vulnerable in York

What is your favourite story about the business?

In 2014, I wrote the Hipster/Hamster blackboard which went viral and was even number one on Reddit. I told my Mum, but she just said: 'What the hell is Reddit'? Fair enough. The joke is on me now as hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't send me a picture of this blackboard where it has been copied in Australia, the US, South Africa, etc. And the real kick in the teeth is that everybody else's handwriting is far superior to mine.

Steve has a great sense of humour; his 'No Hipsters' board went viral

The Pig & Pastry, Bishopthorpe Road, York

Find out more at: thepigandpastry.com

Want to sing the praises of your favourite trader? Send your nomination to us!