A Newport cafe has been named one of the best in Wales in the Observer Food Awards.

Lou Lou's in Market Street was named as one of three Welsh runners up in the best ethical restaurant category.

Lou Lou's, run by owner and chef Louise Cook, has been in business for four years. The popular and cosy cafe also provides outside catering and takeaway meals.

The cafe had entered the food awards in two categories and encouraged customers to vote for them. However Louise had heard nothing from the award organisers when she went to pick up the Sunday papers one autumn morning.

"I started going through the food magazine and there were the food awards," she said. "I looked at all these successful people thinking 'how do they manage to do that?' I turned the page and there we were. I nearly fell out of bed."

Louise got an e-mail a couple of days later to say that her cafe had been named as one of the best ethical eateries in Wales.

"It was a really lovely boost," said proprietor, manager and head chef Louise Cook. "It was a really nice surprise and very unexpected. It was totally our customers that got us that far. It's amazing."

Louise said the cafe did it's best to trade ethically; shopping locally and using food from sustainable sources as well as a lot of organic food.

"I'm so grateful to the people that voted for us," said Louise. "It's just lovely that they thought to do that and that we meant that much to them.

"What's important to us is to do with service, creating a place for our customers to be and creating nurturing food.

"For the people that work here it is not just another job, it's about a quality of life and I hope that people who come here can feel that.

"It's not just somewhere you can grab a bite to eat. It is a reflection of us and of all of us. That's the most important thing."