Little Thornton family bring a Mother's Day restaurant to their home!

The Covid-19 pandemic didn’t put a dampener on the Hesketh family, who live at The Illawalla in Little Thornton, after they created a home restaurant complete with menus and even a awning into the family’s dining room.

Henry Hesketh, 27 and his sister Victoria Hesketh, 35, better known as singer Little Boots , came up with the idea after the Italian Orchard restaurant in Preston, where they had a booked a meal for Mother’s Day, was closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

They were helped by their brothers Matt, 31 and Ed, 30 to surprise mum Gill, 62 as well as their dad Roger, 62, who formerly owned the Lawtons of Fleetwood car dealership.

Henry said: “I had booked the Italian Orchid about a month ago for a big family gathering, so my sister and I just thought lets bring the restaurant to us.

“I built the awning out of old cardboard and wallpaper and it looked alright in the end after my brother managed to get it to stick to the wall.

“We made mum and my dad walk down the road and ring the front door bell and come in as if it was a real restaurant. My other brother then offered to take jackets, gave the menu’s over and handed each ‘guest’ a glass of fizz.”

“My mum always cooks, so we wanted to give her a full day off and make it really special and make it look a bit like the real thing as well.

“It turned out to be pretty good and we called it ‘Gill’s - Restaurant & Bar’. It even had a tagline ‘always happy days.’

“Both Victoria myself cooked a full three course meal for mothers day and we created hand written menus.”

Roger and Gill were treated to a parma ham and melon starter, followed by a beef bourguignon with creamy mash and British asparagus main course , inset, and finished with a homemade baked cheesecake.