A number of promising new bars, restaurants and music venues were set to open in Bristol this year, all of which have been temporarily put on hold due to Covid-19.
Businesses not able to launch as planned included the city's first cider taproom in St Philips, an ethical supermarket and bakery in Bedminster and the latest branch of Indian street food chain Mowgli.
Elsewhere, the former Lloyds bank on Church Road was set to reopen as a new multi-use venue headed up by a team with serious pedigree.
Having transformed The Christmas Steps into one of the city centre's best pubs, the winning partnership of Crack Magazine and the owner of The Spotted Cow on North Street had planned to build on their success by opening The Red Church in April.
With space for more than 100 diners and a kitchen headed up by Simon Miller, formerly head chef at The Ethicurean, there was plenty of excitement ahead of its launch, which was sadly scrapped due to coronavirus.
"It was crushing not being able to open in April as we had planned," said Dave Smeaton, owner of The Spotted Cow and Christmas Steps.
"The response from the community had been really positive in the weeks leading up to the launch and we were all ready to go, so it was a huge disappointment."
Thankfully however, Tom Frost and Jake Applebee of Crack Magazine and Dave have lined up a revised opening date as the hospitality industry prepares to gradually return.
"The silver lining of lockdown is that it's given us even more time to make the site as good as it can possibly be, and we're really looking forward to being able to throw the doors open," he added.
"We're going to monitor the situation closely over the coming months and plan to open in Autumn."
Dave, who hopes to reopen Spotted Cow on July 4 with social distancing measures in place, said there will now be the option of takeaway food at The Red Church for those who still don't feel comfortable dining in.
With a vinyl-only music policy and first-rate Pinewood Studios sound system, the new venue for St George will welcome Bristol’s finest DJs on a regular basis to complement the food and drink offering.
