A well-known vegan restaurant in the county is now under new ownership.

Apteekki in Melton Mowbray has been taken over by Luck & Boo, a vegan duo otherwise known as Marcus Jefford and Becky Daykin.

Having previously run pop-up events at Apteekki, they have now taken over the running of the restaurant - which is now named Luck & Boo @ Apteekki.

Michelin-trained chef Marcus, who began his career at Marco Pierre White's Mirabelle in Mayfair, has worked all over the world in Michelin-starred restaurants.

Becky, who is deaf, has spent the past 15 years working as an advocate for disabled people.

The couple became vegan in January 2018 and Marcus decided he could no longer work in his head chef role where he had to work against his ethics.

Luck & Boo, aka Marcus and Becky
Luck & Boo, aka Marcus and Becky

So, they set up Luck & Boo in January 2019 and began doing regular vegan pop-ups at restaurants in the East Midlands.

One of these was at Apteekki, and they eventually worked there every Thursday and Saturday evening, serving their vegan world sharing boards in many different themes.

"These have been sold-out most weeks and so when the owner of Apteekki asked us if we wanted to take over the running of the restaurant full time from January, we jumped at the chance!" Becky told LeicestershireLive.

"I have given up my 15-year career as an advocate for disabled people and we have flung ourselves into improving and re-designing Apteekki – which has been very hard work, but we’re looking forward to the exciting times ahead, and have lots of things planned!"

The food offering has been extended, to give customers a wide variety of vegan food to try.

Luck & Boo @ Apteekki in Melton Mowbray
Luck & Boo @ Apteekki in Melton Mowbray

The daytime menu is based around brunch/lunch items and includes banoffee toast, Mexican corn waffles, a 'Boodha' bowl and a ploughman’s lunch featuring homemade Melton Mowbray “no piggin’ pie”.

According to Becky, the venue has a more intimate atmosphere in the evenings, when themed events are held.

Thursday is #takeawaytastes night where you can enjoy a different type of food each week plus a “perfect mess” sharing dessert and mocktail to match.

Friday is #Fridaynightdinner where another world theme is served, plus an “almighty mess” sharing dessert and mocktail to match.

Saturday is #sharingiscaring night featuring three different sharing platters, a trio of sharing desserts and three different mocktails. 

A platter from Luck & Boo
A platter from Luck & Boo

All nights are bring your own alcohol and there's no charge for corkage.

Luck & Boo have also created a new 'Little Boogers' menu for young guests, and have also invested in some highchairs, a baby changing unit and some children’s books and activity books to make it more family-friendly.

Apteekki's extensive drinks menu remains - featuring specialist coffees, smoothies, juices and soft drinks.

All food and drinks are available for takeaway and you'll get 10 per cent off if you take your own container/cup.

"We hope to host regular live music and tapas nights in the future and provide excellent food for all the people of Melton - not just vegans. Most of our regular customers are not vegan themselves - they just love the chef’s delicious food and vibrant atmosphere of Apteekki," added Becky, who is keen to make the restaurant as accessible as possible. 

"Due to my own experiences of being deaf, we hope to make things more accessible for different groups of people and we’re looking into hosting baby sign language mornings, deaf meet-ups and more. We also hope to make contact with local groups to find out how we can make things better in terms of access and be creative in our approach."

Luck & Boo @ Apteekki is open Monday to Saturday 9am - 4pm and then also Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings 6pm - 11pm.

You can find the restaurant in Burton Street, Melton Mowbray.