Five months ago, Delight café underwent a change in ownership – bringing a fresh, vibrant menu, aesthetic Instagram photos and life to Newcastle high street.
Our Keele & beyond correspondent, Joanna, sat down with café owner, Alex, in an exclusive interview talking all things coffee, rebranding and exciting business plans for the near future.
We are a family-run business with staff from all over the Mediterranean… Turkish, Greek and Spanish. My wife handles the design aspects like the menus and food presentation and I oversee finances and the running of the café.
With 25 years of business experience, Alex described his strategy behind curating the menu.
Most cafes serve only breakfast, lunch or just coffee. We didn’t want to be like that. We want to serve everything so there’s something for everyone. We have breakfast all day, lunch, dessert, coffees and our more recent menu addition, Acai bowls. That way we invite people of all ages, any time of day.
This fresh take on the café experience puts them ahead of the curve, creating a space where customers can enjoy more than just coffee at an affordable price. Local cafes in the surrounding area are notably limited to coffee and breakfast, or acai bowls and drinks at more expensive prices.
Before opening, we sampled coffees in and around Manchester to find the best taste to serve our customers. Our blend is an Italian coffee blend made of 80% Arabica beans and 20% a special mix.
Commercial coffee can be, like you said, overly milky and frothy, and so we wanted to find the best coffee for our customers.
With coffee drinking trends changing among younger generations, it’s no surprise that their new matcha line has been a hit. The small business caught onto the matcha trend and rare Spanish latte before global commercial chain, Costa did.
We love Keele students here. Our place is ideal for sitting down with a coffee and doing some studying.
When asked about the recent rebranding, Alex highlighted the need for a fresh concept.
‘Delight’ can be a generic name. With Bake & Bread, we wanted it to be unique and are redesigning the café in line with a more minimalist, fresh look.
Alex unveiled exciting plans to open up a Bake & Bread store in Manchester. This move marks a major milestone as the first Stoke-originating café to branch out into the vibrant northern city. The bold investment reflects Bake & Bread’s promising vision and potential.
“I have a friend in Turkey who teaches people how to make coffee. We’re going to recruit his expertise and then roast our own beans in Manchester.”
When asked whether entering a coffee competition is on the cards for the future, Alex light-heartedly remarked that they would need to perfect their own signature blend first. That being said, nothing was completely ruled out.
With their sights set on the busy metropolis, it’s clear that this trendy, Mediterranean family café is here to stay – bringing vibrant flavours and warmth to our high street, just in time for the frosty months ahead.
At the time of interview, exclusive student offers include a classic breakfast/lunch, dessert and a coffee for just £10. A general 10% student discount with Keele ID.
