Cassie Robertson has swapped her classroom blackboard for cakes and pastries to bring a new café to the Arbroath area.
The former school teaching assistant has spent 17 years in classrooms and was inspired to open her own business during the pandemic after falling back in love with baking.
Having been an avid baker from a young age and working as a chef in her 20s, the French-born mum decided to leave the teaching profession to challenge herself in a new way.
Opening the doors to Serendipity Café today at Berryfauld Farmhouse in Kirkton Industrial Estate in Arbroath, Cassie has recruited the help of her family to bring her vision to life.
Teaming up with her partner, Brain Doig, who owns B. Doig Builders, the duo have worked tirelessly to build the café from the ground up and have designed the venue’s eye-catching bold interior using local resources.
Cassie, 49, will also work alongside her daughter Melissa Robertson (22) and son-in-law Connor Grewar (31).
She is responsible for making all of the sweet items whereas Connor, who has worked in hospitality for more than 10 years, will specialise in the savoury offering.
Melissa will handle the front of house and will serve customers alongside the rest of the team.
What’s on offer?
With a breakfast and lunch menu available, the café, which seats 18 inside and eight outside, is open to customers from 8am to 4pm from Monday to Saturday.
Customers can choose from pancakes, scrambled eggs on toast, bagels or a roll, petit pan au chocolat, croissants, porridge and more for breakfast.
And for lunch they can expect sandwiches, bagels, paninis, rolls, bagels, soups, cakes, scones and traybakes.
There is a multitude of fillings including coronation chicken, prawn Marie rose, egg mayonnaise, cheese and ham, tuna mayonnaise, smoked salmon and cream to name a few available to try out.
All of the food is suitable for both sit-in and takeaway and there are gluten-free and vegan dishes available, too.
Pandemic inspired change
Born in France, Cassie moved to Glasgow during her secondary school years and then went on to work as a chef in her 20s.
She took a break from hospitality after and moved to Balmullo, Fife where she has since worked as a personal teaching assistant for children with additional needs at Bell Baxter High School.
Just before the pandemic hit, she started to rekindle her love for baking and cooking and as a result, decided it was time to open her own place.
After applying for planning permission for the site in 2019, she finally got permission to progress following the multiple lockdowns.
Family at its core
While Serendipity Café is very much Cassie’s dream, her daughter Melissa was eager to be involved and wanted to be a part of this new community hub.
The long-term goal for the café is to set up a social enterprise and employ individuals with special needs to work and serve customers in the café. The venue is also wheelchair accessible and is dog-friendly.
She said: “It is entirely family orientated with mum’s partner Brian building it himself, and myself, Connor and my mum all working together to start with.
“The artwork on the walls are also made by Brain’s daughter Emma Doig, so the café is eye-catching and the colours are beautiful.”
“We are quite anxious about it all because it is quite new, but we will be relying on Connor’s experience. It is really exciting and we will see where it takes us.”
Address: Berryfauld Farmhouse, James Chalmers Road, Arbroath, DD11 3RQ
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