The owner of a Kings Langley bistro is looking ahead to the future after reopening following a car crash earlier this year.

Matilda's in High Street had to shut in August when a car ploughed through its front window, but Sam Cowham was finally able to welcome customers back on October 19.

He told the Watford Observer: “We finally reopened at the weekend and then launched our new menu on Tuesday and we’ve had a steady flow of customers through the door.

Sam CowhamSam Cowham (Image: Sam Cowham)

“We’re looking forward to a busy November and December, we’ve got our Christmas Bottomless Brunch which seems to be quite popular, as well as a lot of Christmas parties coming up.”

Sam and his team had to fix the front window after the incident on August 14, which saw a black Mazda CX-3 career into the eatery after a “near miss” with a grey Nissan Qashqai at the junction of High Street and The Nap.

The restaurant had only opened on June 1, taking over the unit vacated by the former The Lunch Box sandwich shop at 2 High Street.

Reflecting on the last two months, Sam said: “When it happened I felt we just had to get on with the situation and luckily it hasn’t been too bad for us to recover from. We’re looking to bounce back from it.”

The bistro is named after Sam's daughterThe bistro is named after Sam's daughter (Image: Sam Cowham) Thanking customers for their support, he added: “It felt so nice to reopen and get back into the swing of it. Everyone has been telling us how much they’ve been looking forward to coming back and we’ve had a good reaction and a lot of support from customers.”

The aim is for Sam's new menu to be "seasonal", with an emphasis on warmer items for the winter months and different types of salad more suited to this time of year.

Named after Sam's four-year-old daughter, Matilda's is open from 11am on most days, with a 9am start on Saturdays. It is currently closed on Mondays.