the fab four – big greek bus – 10 year anniversary

The Fab Four – Folkelife takes a moment to celebrate four traders who have been at Folkestone Harbour since 2015.  As they mark 10 years of trading, and we wanted to know what those first moments were like.  The Fab Four are: Simon and Jess from The Lighthouse Champagne Bar, and since 2022, The Tasting Rooms;  Bernie and Emma with the Big Greek Bus, which has now grown into Cavells Mediterranean Lounge; Alison Abbott started with Go Dutch, moules and frites, and Dutch pancakes – poffertjes and now has Shesells Seashells; and lastly Mark Babbins with Sole Kitchen, then adding on Harbour Coffee, The Fish Shack and Sailbox.

the big greek bus

Everyone can picture the Big Greek Bus on the Harbour Arm until it succumbed to the brutal, seaside elements and had to be towed off in 2024.  Bernie and Emma turned up with the Bus when it could still move in 2014.

Bernie: “We had heard about what was happening down here and had our bus, which we used at live events.  Everyone says they remember me banging at the gates to be let in, and it’s true.  We wanted to be involved in what was going on here as it was exciting.  Our previous experience had been running a restaurant in town, but we’d got the bus in 2014 and had gone to events to serve our Greek food at music festivals and so on.  It just seemed like the right place for us to be, so we asked if we could come.”

“I can remember seeing Diane and Denice Dever coming down and seeing their faces drop as they saw the size of our double-decker bus.  At first, we were going to be by the Folkestone sign, but we realised that we didn’t fit there.  So we chose the widest part of the Arm, and parked at an angle, and (apart from the end of the first season) never left.”

running on generators

“That first summer, we were running on generators, and we were a little naïve about the size of the kitchen. By the second season, we realised the kitchen we had wasn’t going to be sufficient to serve everyone.  We ended up changing the kitchen three times as we grew in popularity over the years. 

“The site grew and grew, and with that there were opportunities for other members of the family.  Emma likes ice cream and cakes, so taking on Bubbles and Cones seemed natural.  Hannah, my other daughter, had the Little Greek Bus which was supposed to go to events outside Folkestone, but then Covid struck.  She came down here to serve for the Drive In cinema and then opened up Greek Street in The Goods Yard, and hasn’t left.” 

cavells

“As the popularity of the site has grown, it’s been really important for us to be able to trade all year round.  To start with, we were only working for 5 or 6 months a year.  It got to the point where the state of the Bus was deteriorating.  In conversation with Paulo, the general manager here, and the rest of the Harbour team, we worked on a new venue.  Cavells, our Mediterranean Lounge,  is a converted parcels carriage, commonly called a Cavell, and it’s the next step in our journey here.”

Read more about Cavells and Bubbles and Cones here.