THE owners of a Ouaisné beach café that shut its doors recently have put forward plans to open a catering business at the site of the former Lucas Brothers farm shop in St Brelade.
Kismet Cabana bid a “heartfelt farewell” to its loyal customers at an event at the start of November.
Speaking to the JEP at the time, owner Chris Lister teased a new chapter for Kismet, as he explained he was hoping to take the private catering side of the business to “the next level”.
He said the business was looking to set up a front-of-house shop somewhere else in the Island to showcase its catering.
Now plans have been submitted to transform the vacant Lucas Brothers Farm Shop, at the bottom of La Haule Hill in St Brelade, into a commercial kitchen with ancillary storage – as well as a private events or catering showroom for prospective customers.
In the proposals, Mr Lister explained that, although Kismet Cabana was “extremely popular”, the current economic climate was difficult for “all cafés and restaurants in Jersey” and so “all must seek to diversify”.
According to the planning application, the Kismet Cabana owners want to use the vacant buildings at the Lucas Brothers site as a base for the catering and events company.
“The building would be divided into three elements: commercial kitchen, ancillary storage, showroom/office/retail,” the plans state.
The document says that the vacant buildings at La Haule Farm would be “ideal for the purpose”, with the shop having traded for over 50 years before closing in 2023.
The private catering business would serve functions such as weddings and corporate events, according to the plans.
There are also proposals to use the showroom to sell produce, such as Genuine Jersey items and local dishes.
In the application, the former Kismet Cabana owners said: “We aim to showcase what Jersey has and what we do best in produce, from different farms around the Island, and then using that to put together delicious local dishes.”
