How It All Began

Starting on our own is something Martyn and I have always talked about doing, but what would it be? A pub? A wine bar? A coffee shop? We weren’t sure.

We’ve both spent many years in hospitality, travelling the world with it before we met. In fact, it’s what brought us together, working at Perran Sands Holiday Park all those years ago (I’m not telling you how many!).

We both went off and tried other careers for a while, but it was always there in the back of our minds: one day, we’ll do something of our own.

Then the café space became available, right in the middle of the village my family has always lived in and we thought, if not now, then never.

Could we make this work at such a disastrous time for hospitality businesses? We decided yes, we probably could. Because we actually are really good at it. We know we can work together, and we’ve got an unbelievable support system (shout out to the parents for… basically everything).

So, we got to work.

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The Concept

Martyn is allergic to everything. Honestly – even cucumber. Then he discovered he was gluten intolerant, and had to cut down on dairy and eggs too. Going out for food became a bit of a nightmare.

That’s where the deli idea started to take shape. We wanted amazing gluten-free options. Dairy-free things that still taste great. And if you don’t want cucumber? No problem.

We decided everything on the menu should be flexible: add something, take something out, make it your own. The goal was for everyone – even the most “challenging” diners – to sit down together and enjoy a meal with proper choice, not just the one boring thing on the menu that happens to fit their diet.

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The Counter, the Veggies, and the Vision

We actually acquired our massive deli counter (thank you, Facebook Marketplace) before we’d even signed on the dotted line. It lived in our garage for a while until move-in day and it took five massive blokes to lift. Thank you, boys.

Then we needed something to fill it – veggies. Loads of them. Cornwall does growing so well; it would be daft not to show it off. Plus, everyone’s so much more aware these days of what goes into their bodies. We wanted to give people all the good flavour and make it nutrient-rich.

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The VIP Coffee Supplier

Next step, the most important supplier – coffee. Enter the epic Potterbeans team. We knew we wanted them on board from the get-go. They roast their beans in the open air over Cornish wood fire, which gives these subtle, beautiful flavours and their branding is gorgeous. Plus, they’re really nice people.

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The Finish Line

And so we had our building blocks, and everything else has grown from there. There were definitely ups and downs along the way (my mother-in-law certainly cursed me while putting on the eighth coat of green paint) but we had incredible support from family, friends, and the village community.

On the day we opened the doors (and people actually came in – phew), it all felt completely worth it.

The goal was always simple: to welcome people in and give them a lovely time. After all, that’s what it’s all about.