Taking over the café in Fryers St, Shepparton in September, Ms Prajapati said she was ready to own her own business after years of working for other people.
“I thought, ‘let me put all the effort into my own business’,” she said.
“Now that the restrictions have lifted, we can have more people, it’s going good,” she said.
Since taking over, Ms Prajapati has refreshed the menu for summer, adding extra salads and a few vegetarian meals to the food list.
The café is still open for breakfast and lunch, however Ms Prajapati is also excited to bring functions back to the old church cafe site.
“I’ll start taking bookings for functions,” she said.
“If people want to have a big booking, and they want to come for dinner, I’ll start doing them.”
During her career to date, Ms Prajapati has made the rounds across Shepparton’s hospitality industry, including seven years in the kitchen at Eastbank Centre, three years as the head chef at Terminus Hotel, and another three years at Sherbourne Terrace.
Ms Prajapati said her new role as owner of Friars Cafe hadn’t been without its challenges, one of which was getting used to being front and centre at the register.
“I usually spent all my time in 15 years in the kitchen, but now I think everyone knows me,” Ms Prajapati said.
“I’m doing good I think, but yeah, missing out on the kitchen work.”
25°C