Llanidloes, Powys' Wild Oak vegan cafe reopens its doors

With a new name to mark a new chapter, The Wild Oak Cafe in Llanidloes reopened its doors for the first time since Christmas Eve at 10am on Friday (June 9).

New manager Wil Wild, who will be a familiar face to regulars at the former Great Oak Cafe and Caffi Clywedog, said the encouragement from locals has been "amazing".

Wil Wild outside The Wild Oak Cafe in Llanidloes.

"I fell in love with the place the minute I walked I here," Wil said. "There was something about it. I absolutely loved the place.

"I had always wanted to run it and didn’t think that would happen in a million years."

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Wil added: "There’s nothing like this café. We’re very lucky to have a reputation going back a number of years. It’s a well-known spot. We’re going to carry on with that ethos and quality. All home cooked on the premises daily.”

Wil Wild in the Wild Oak (Image: Anwen Parry/Powys County Times)

Wil said he couldn't have done it without the community's support which has helped fundraise a brand-new coffee machine, and donated furniture to help kit out the cafe which was left empty after last year's closure. He added that quite a few of The Great Oak Café staff who were made redundant will work at the new café.

"When the café closed just before Christmas there was a bit of a local dismay, one of the things the [landlords] Compton's Yard Trust did was hold a meeting to see how the community felt about going forward and they overwhelmingly wanted a café here still but a lot of them said they wanted to donate in some way.

"We thought the coffee machine is the heart of the café and a good way for the community that wanted to chip in and have a little bit of ownership of the café. We’re going to donate that money back to the Trust and they will hold it on behalf of the community so if I ever leave or go onto other things this coffee machine will stay."

Following Friday’s launch, The Wild Oak Café will be open between 9.30am and 5pm from Monday to Saturday.

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