Known for its mouth-watering afternoon teas and friendly atmosphere, Nooks & Crannies has been part of Aberdeenshire’s cafe culture for more than a decade.
“Our wee tea room is a wonderful place to come and relax with friends,” said owners Malcolm Watson and Lynne Gillan.
“There’s warm, welcoming environment that has gained popularity over the years.
“We are very fortunate that we love what we do – few things have such a huge impact on happiness and the enjoyment, depth and plain fun of life as the friendships we have made over the years.”
Lynne said their loyal customers are at the heart of everything they do.
She stated: “We love to meet people, cook and entertain them.
“We believe in keeping our customers happy and providing them with products that are fresh, tasty and are competitively priced.
“The tea room a fun place to eat, combining an intriguing atmosphere with delicious home-cooked food, daily specials, lovely homemade soups, along with a daily selection of fantastic, home-baked cakes, bakes and heavenly desserts.”
The family-run award-winning tea room, which is situated on Cross Street in the fishing town of Fraserburgh, also offers a wide range of hot and cold drinks.
Lynne said: “We have varying blends of black tea, flavoured green teas, herbal and fruit teas and Galaxy hot chocolate, alongside a unique blend of slow-roasted coffee beans with the expert guidance of north-east’s Caber Coffee.
“These blends have been carefully selected and crafted for our customers to sit back, relax and enjoy their favourite coffees, including mocha, espresso, latte, Americano, cappuccino and decaf coffee.
“Our customers love Malcolm’s quality coffees, especially his extra hot lattes.
“He takes a lot of care and attention with his freshly-made coffees, which never fail to please.
“They are perfectly made and complemented with our great selection of cakes and bakes.
“We pride ourselves on making the tastiest handmade bakes and are continually working on new innovative recipes to bring customers something delicious and eye-catching.”
The cosy cafe also offers a loyalty card for its long-time supporters and coffee drinkers.
Lynne said: “For every hot drink they purchase they get a stamp, and after they collect eight stamps, they receive a free hot drink of their choice. It’s our way of saying thank you to them for their loyalty.”
Influenced by old-fashioned traditions, Nooks & Crannies’ food menu features a lot of time-honoured recipes. The coffee house’s dedication to serving traditional homemade goods made using fresh local ingredients is especially evident in their afternoon tea offering.
Lynne said: “Our afternoon teas are our speciality – we offer beautiful food, coupled with fantastic service and exceptional value for money.
“We have our own baking book and our very own homemade jams, chutneys and toffee.
“Before lockdown, our afternoon teas were served traditionally on tiered cake stands with savoury finger-sized sandwiches and savouries, followed by scones with home-made jam and whipped cream and a delightful selection of cakes, bakes and desserts – all presented on a beautiful lace table cloth and using our best bone china to make it special.”
To make sure their customers don’t miss out, Nooks & Crannies decided to offer its popular afternoon tea offering for takeaway.
Lynne said: “Our afternoon teas were all prepared in a beautiful box, packed full of the very best of homemade food designed to cheer up everyone’s day.
“These have proved to be very popular with us being fully booked every Saturday this year.
“At Christmas time, we are inundated with orders for our own produce, Christmas hampers and Christmas cakes as well as our lovely festive afternoon teas.”
The café also offers vegetarian and gluten-free options, in addition to its afternoon teas for children.
While 2020 was a challenging year for most businesses operating in the hospitality sector, Lynne believes the last year also had “some lovely moments”.
She said: “We were initially closed with the first lockdown.
“We were then given the ok to operate as a takeaway where we purchased two new display fridges – one to showcase our savoury selection of food and the other was for our homemade desserts.
“Our takeaway food proved to be very popular with old and new customers.
“In summer, we welcomed back our customers into the tea room – it was such a joy to see them all again.
“The additional Covid-19 measures taken to ensure their safety were quickly embedded and were well received.”
Celebrating their tenth year in business, Malcolm and Lynne are “extremely proud” of what they have accomplished over the years.
Lynne said: “We never would have thought a tea room of our size could ever be multi-award winning and be recognized nationally and internationally.
“One of our greatest accomplishments was to win the ‘Best tea room in Scotland’ award at the Scottish Business Awards.
“It was a huge achievement to have reached the final from thousands of nominated businesses across Scotland and to have won the title was truly the icing on the cake.”
Visit www.facebook.com/NooksCrannies43 for more information
See how Malcolm and Lynne got on in our round of quick-fire questions below:
What’s your customer icebreaker?
“Fit like the day.”
It’s the end of your shift – what do you pour yourself?
Decaf tea for myself and Malcolm would have a glass of chilled Irn Bru.
If you were a drink, what would you be?
Peach schnapps and lemonade in a tall glass with plenty of ice for me and Malcolm would be vodka and coke.
What would the theme song to your average shift be?
Malcolm says it would be Here I Go Again by his favourite band Whitesnake. For myself, it would be Follow you, follow me by Genesis as we are literally together 24/7.
Best food and drink pairing?
Nooks & Crannies afternoon tea and a pot of English Breakfast tea.
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