The owners of a Perthshire bistro fear it will take several months to reopen after water flooded through their ceiling just before Christmas.
Steven Dalton and Laura Raimondi were preparing for the busy festive period in Scone bistro La Sicilyana when a burst pipe flooded the venue on December 19.
All Christmas and New Year’s bookings were called off at the Perth Road venue as two inches of water covered the floor.
The couple is now preparing to renovate the bistro again, less than four years after opening.
Steven says: “All the renovation we did when we bought it – it looks like we’ll have to do it again. We’re still emptying out buckets of water at the bistro over a week later.
“The damage is extensive to the point that we’re having to take up floors, take off walls and take both ceilings down.
“All the electrical equipment has to be tested to make sure it’s OK. If it doesn’t pass, it’ll need to be replaced.
“It’s not just pulling a few sheets of plasterboard down and putting them back up, it’s going back to the brickwork in the walls and down to the earth in the floor.”
Losing months of trading
As the bistro needs to be completely dry before work can start, the owners don’t know when they can reopen.
At best, Steven hopes La Sicilyana will be ready again in March after losing a whole quarter of trade.
He had to cancel all Christmas and New Year’s bookings, but what hurts more is turning bookings down, he says.
“A lot of places like ourselves rely on a good festive season, but we didn’t get the chance to fully embrace that,” Steven adds.
“We were looking at Christmas and New Year to make our first recovery step out of Covid and get back to some sort of normality.
“What really was heart breaking for us, my wife’s family had come over from Sicily to see our bistro. A lot of them were looking forward to Christmas dinner in the bistro, but we couldn’t do it.”
Community support for La Sicilyana
As well as the bistro, Steven and Laura run La Sicilyana Wines. Laura’s family help them source Sicilian wines to sell in Scotland.
Despite the venue closing, the couple were able to send and deliver wines ahead of the festive period.
For customers in Perth and Scone who normally collect their wine, Steven has offered delivery runs free of charge.
He says: “Right up till Christmas Eve I was running about like a headless chicken trying to deliver everyone’s wine. Which was great, and everyone’s been very supportive.
“We’ve been feeling a bit humble and overwhelmed about the response we got from everyone.
“Someone told us, you’re part of the community now and we need you here.
“That seems to be echoed by several other emails, calls and social media messages we’ve received, people have been great.”
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