Restaurant stalwart hangs up apron after 30 years

A business owner is passing his popular restaurant on to another in a bid to prioritise his health.

Ugur Vata is the owner of The Galley in Woodbridge, Suffolk, which is due to close on 16 November.

The restaurant will be taken over by the owners of the Blue Fig restaurant in Bury St Edmunds.

Mr Vata said while he would miss his customers, he wanted someone to take the restaurant further.

"I'm not an old man but because of my age [I wanted] to give the opportunity to younger and enthusiastic people to take this premises to the next stage," he explained.

"It wasn't easy and since the pandemic, when the whole world changed, I'm more motivated than ever, more creative than ever.

"However physically I can't do it anymore, health and age is definitely a huge impact as to why I can't continue."

Mr Vata initially opened up The Galley in Ipswich 30 years ago before setting up the second restaurant in Woodbridge.

The Ipswich branch has since closed and since the pandemic, Mr Vata had only opened his Woodbridge restaurant twice a week.

He said this had led to difficulty in finding regular staff, but he looked back positively on his time.

"Currently so many closings are happening," he said.

"Any good operators if they provide and sacrifice, they will go at it for 30 years.

"If you want to work, and you motivate people to work for you, I think you win."

The Blue Fig restaurant will keep The Galley name for the first month, according to Mr Vata.

"They've got a very good operation," he continued.

"They're going to bring their own touch, they're going to bring something new to Woodbridge and the surrounding areas.

"I think I will miss quite a lot of the characters that come into my restaurant over the years.

"I've had lots of well wishes from all around the world - Hong Kong, Australia, America, you name it.

"I'm not giving up... I'm just hanging up my apron on the restaurant side of it."

Mr Vata will continue running The Galley ice cream shop a few metres from the restaurant.

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