Recipe for success (From Free Press Series)

Recipe for success

THE big question on everyone's lips at the Bread of Heaven cafe is usually which cooked breakfast to plump for, but now everyone's asking themselves who nominated the Pontypool dinner for the prestigious Best Named Business in Wales award.

Owner Mark Gregory is stumped. He got a phone call from competition organisers Yellow Pages earlier in the month telling him had been nominated for the award and selected by an expert panel of judges as the winner.

"I don't know who nominated me, but I'm over the moon they did. At first I thought it was a prank, but it soon turned out it wasn't. It's a nice pat on the back for all of us here," said Mark, who was awarded with a certificate and cheque for £500 by Yellow Pages.

The ardent Pontypool rugby supporter bought the cafe six years ago and came up with the name while working in his previous job at the passport office in Newport.

"I was day-dreaming about what I wanted to do with my life and I just came up with the name for a cafe - Bread of Heaven. Everyone knows the hymn, it's on TV all the time. I've even seen kids singing it when they walk past the cafe!" said Mark.

The Commercial Street dinner is best-known for its rugby theme cooked breakfasts - the Pooler Front Row, the Push Over and the Half Back - and is something of an institution with locals who love to pop in for a bite to eat and chat.

"When I first opened a man came in and told me off for using the name saying it was sacred. Now I think it's become almost like a landmark in the street," said Mark.

The caf will now represent Wales in the nationwide awards later this year.