EVENING opening for Cracoe Cafe, Cracoe, proved to be such a rip-roaring success during the summer's Tour de France Grand Depart that it will be a permanent fixture beginning this weekend.

"During the Tour de France we put a temporary bar in and we were fully booked for three weekends, people kept saying we should open all the time, so now we've done it, " said owner, Neil Thompson, who runs the cafe with wife, Tanya.

Cracoe's by Night, as it will be called to separate it from the daytime cafe, will feature a different menu and a new bar and reception area. Dishes will include halibut steak with a seafood sauce, duck and a full range of steaks. Seafood will be sourced from wholesalers in Harrogate, while the meat will come from Jackson's Farm Shop just across the road. There will also be a specials board and the menu will change every month. It will also serve real ale and draught lagers.

The cafe is a real family business for Neil and Tanya, who between them have been serving the Craven community for 66 years. They have run Cracoe Cafe for six years, and previously ran the Queens Arms at Litton. When they first took the pub on, Neil was the youngest landlord in Wharfedale, and when they left 18 years later, he was the longest serving.

Before the pub, he was at the Craven Cottage Restaurant, Grassington, and before that, at Long Ashes, Threshfield.

So, it will be a return for evening bar work for Neil, who is generally front of house while Tanya does the bulk of the cooking.

However, Tanya is a keen horsewoman - she and the couple's two daughters have two horses which they keep at Wilkinson's Farm Livery, East - and when she is busy with riding and competing, Neil takes over cooking duties.

Neil, who is looking forward to once again working in the evening, believes the secret to success is excellent food and excellent service. "We are family run and our customers become our friends. You have to give people what they want and that is excellent food and service and fresh produce. We will bend over backwards to give our customers what they want."

He believes Craven's reputation for good food also means plenty of tourists. "Everywhere is good, which means tourists will visit us." Cracoes by Night will open for the first time tomorrow and from then on, on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm to 9pm, in addition to the cafe, which is open six days a week.