New vegan and vegetarian restaurant and bar opens in Melton

Owners of Apteekki, based in a former manor house on Burton Street, say they are offering a completely plant-based menu and drinks with plenty of health benefits, such as organic smoothies and vitamin lattes.

The name of the establishment comes from a Finnish word for pharmacy, to reflect the ethos of the place.

Owner Georgia Barnes said: “Our new juice bar and eatery will be a Nordic lifestyle space focused on living a healthy, happy life.

“The Nordic countries are well known for their pared down simplicity and focus on health, and that will be our ethos and aesthetic too.

“Our menu will be entirely plant-based, as whether vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, meat-reducer, or even carnivore, nutritional research and studies suggest that we should all be eating more plants for longevity and health.”

The eatery’s entire menu is built around eating and drinking for nutritional or medicinal benefit.

Meals contain the 10 potions of fruit and veg we are advised to eat every day.

Georgia said there will be a commitment to being environmentally friendly.

It will be run along the same lines as her previous venture - Folks and Fables at Bingham - where food waste was less than one per cent, she said, compared to the 25 per cent many restaurants and cafes operate with.

Apteekki will aim to be over 90 per cent plastic free and all takeaway containers and straws used will be 100 per cent compostable and made from potatoes not plastic, said Georgia.

Suppliers and distributors are ethically sourced.

The long term aim is to offer healthy activities such as yoga, holistic therapies, meditation, cookery workshops and other wellness events.

Georgia added: “Melton Mowbray is by all accounts the rural capital of food and drink, famed for its meat and dairy.

But, it is our hope that Apteekki will be adding something excitingly alternative, and refreshingly different, into the town’s status.

“Produce from the exceptional fruit and vegetable growers in our locality will be the stars of our menu too.”

We have had a slight delay in the refit of the property, but it is our hope that we will be open for business before the end of April.

Our website with menus is www.apteekki.co.uk