Furnace Kitchen fires back to life

Ironbridge Gorge Museum’s Furnace Kitchen has reopened – the first of the museum sites to open its doors since the Coronavirus lockdown began.

The Coalbrookdale restaurant will serve locally-sourced takeaway food – including a pizza night on Friday and full roast dinner on Sundays – as it returns to life for the first time since March.

Executive head chef Marcus Bean said: “We are thrilled that we can finally get back into the kitchen and start preparing the fantastic, fresh and locally-sourced food which has been our hallmark since we first opened.

“We have been working really hard behind the scenes with our staff and museum partners to make sure that we can open up safely and maintain the necessary social distancing and health measures that are essential at the moment.

“We will be serving takeaway food only for the time being and are also launching a pizza night on Fridays and Sunday Club for roast dinner takeaways. We hope we can help take some of the strain out of the lockdown restrictions which families are still having to deal with by serving up some fantastic food to accompany a relaxing walk around some of the wonderful local countryside.”

The restaurant will be open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9am – 4pm, from 9am to 8pm on Fridays and 10am-3pm on Sundays.

Nick Ralls, chief executive of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, said customer safety had been a paramount concern in re-opening the Furnace Kitchen.

“We have followed all the Government guidance and regulations in taking this decision and are delighted that Marcus and his team are back where they belong."

The museum – in a World Heritage Site – has been closed since the lockdown was announced in March having earlier been hit by the floods along the Ironbridge Gorge in February.