Crossword Genius

Cafe has new dire surroundings restored (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

diner

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'cafe' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'new dire surroundings restored' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'new' could be 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament) and 'n' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'dire' is 'dier' which is within the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'has' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for diner that I've seen before include "one taking several courses" , "one at banquet?" , "(Person eating in) restaurant" , "Restaurant customer" , "(One using) restaurant car" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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