Jamie and Jimmy's Southend Pier café set for new lease of life

Currently operating as Tea With The Tide, and more famously known as the film set for the Channel 4 hit series 'Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast', expressions of interest have been invited for both the term of lease and proposed rent of the pier café.

The café (Image: Dedman Gray)

Dedman Gray, which is marketing the restaurant on behalf of Southend Council, has already received an "encouraging" level of interest, some even coming from operators on other piers across the country.

The café has welcomed a number of A-List celebrities through its doors over the years as guests on Jamie Oliver’s much-loved cooking-and-chat show, which aired between 2014 to 2021.

Famous faces - A host of stars have visited the café (Image: Newsquest)

Famous faces including Usain Bolt, Danny De Vito, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Barlow, Ellie Goulding, Fearne Cotton, Alan Carr, Alesha Dixon and Hugh Bonneville have all visited as part of the programme.

The café was affected in a fire on the pier in 2005 and, from 2013 until 2019 it was only used for two weeks a year for the show.

The cafe has received a level of interest from operators on other UK piers (Image: Dedman Gray)

It was opened to the public in 2019 after the council reached an agreement to keep it running when Jamie and Jimmy were not using it as a film set. 

An advert says this presents a "unique opportunity" for chefs to be part of a landmark which has hosted "some of the UK’s most loved celebrities".

Close to the head of the pier, the venue offers panoramic views, with internal seating for 30 diners and al-fresco seating for 24.

This comes after Southend Council revealed it is considering bringing in a "commercial operator" to run the pier under a host of cost-cutting plans for the city.

Interested parties are urged to act fast, as it is expected to garner significant interest. Expressions of interest must be with Dedman Gray by January 8.