SIP and Tuck is the grown-up café with a school theme and is about to shake up Colchester High Street.

Tucked away opposite Colchester Castle, in what was the old tourist information centre, its emblem-style logo and sports hall markings on the floors are both quirky and a nod to its family-friendly vibe.

Founder Matthew Maestrani, 32, a trained chef and property developer, has spent three years picturing his venture since purchasing the building from Colchester Council and creating housing upstairs.

He said: “I wanted to combine both of my interests and to make it stand out from the coffee offerings in Colchester.

“Rather than just the produce, it should be an experience for the customers.

“The school theme came from my university days when I had to run a project for a night and decided on a school dinner theme, inspired by what Jamie Oliver was doing at the time, but it was high-end food.

“Jamie signed all of our menus and we visited London to meet him.”

Gazette:

Happy-go-lucky Denny Wright serving up a hot beverage

Trendy school chairs have been incorporated into the design alongside chalkboards, roller blackboards for children to doodle on, and not even the table is off limits for sketching.

Initially Sip and Tuck will begin as a café with speciality coffee and teas, nitro cold brew and all the usual homemade cakes, many of them vegan without being advertised as such.

Next month when the head chef joins them from Rivenhall Oaks Golf Centre, Matthew, whose baristas are trained on speciality coffees, will begin the next stage.

He said: “Over the weeks we’ll ramp up to hot meals and supper club events so it becomes more of an European bistro with beers, wines and cocktails.

“I bought the whole building from the council with the intention of renovating three flats upstairs, but given the commercial space downstairs and location, all of a sudden I thought let’s do a bit of both.

“For the last three years I’ve had no rest. It’s definitely a labour of love, but this is what you have to do when you want to pursue a project and don’t have a big venture capitalist.”

Gazette:

Matthew Maestrani is no stranger to Michelin-starred restaurants

Matt has focused on property for the past ten years so returning to hospitality is something of a childhood dream fulfilled.

Aged nine, he was working weekends at the Dedham Boathouse, owned by his parents, where he initially began as a chef before spending four years at Oxford Brookes University.

He added: “I came out of university and there were no jobs so I had to think of my feet. Once I got into property development, I never looked back. Then I decided I wanted to revisit my career.”

Visit sipandtuck.com for opening hours.