TV chefs the Hairy Bikers made a surprise visit to a Fife cafe on Tuesday for a full Scottish breakfast.
The pair, who became famous for their cooking and travelling-based television programmes, stopped off at Campbells Coffee House and Eatery in the village of Falkland.
The duo, David Myers and Si King, are no strangers to Fife, having taken their show An Evening With: The Hairy Bikers to Dunfermline in 2019.
‘Quite a surprise’
Reece Campbell, head chef, who owns the shop along with brother Lewis, 37, said: “It was quite a surprise to have the Hairy Bikers in.
“I recognised them straight away. The two younger girls we have working are only 18 and 17 and I don’t think they watch many cooking programmes.
“It wasn’t until one of the customers pulled them over and said, ‘Do you know you’ve got a couple of celebrity chefs in?’
“The girls came through and told me that we had the Hairy Bikers in and I couldn’t believe it.
‘Breakfast was excellent’
“I went out and straight away I recognised them. They had a Scottish breakfast each and said it was excellent – it’s good to hear that as a chef from another chef.
“They were a couple of gentlemen and were more than happy to have their picture taken when they were finished. I stuck my head out as they were leaving and said ‘thanks very much for coming in’.
“One of the customers wanted a photo with them as well, and they were happy to do that.
“They were just really nice guys, tipped generously too.”
Reece said he had been told the pair were in the area to do some filming in the Anstruther area.
Reece and brother Lewis grew up locally and also own a hairdresser and women’s clothing boutique in the village.
They opened the coffee shop in 2013.
Other famous guests at the coffee shop
Reece said this wasn’t the first time they have welcomed celebrities in for some food, having served musician and author Roseanne Cash – daughter of music legend Johnny Cash.
Cast members from the hit series Outlander, which filmed in Culross, Aberdour Castle and Falkland were also guests in the eatery.
And, cast and crew from the 2016 film Tommy’s Dream also visited while in production, with St Andrews and Falkland two of the filming locations.
Reece added: “Because Falkland is such a lovely wee village, it’s a good location for films and television.
Covid has made it a tough year
“It’s been a hard year with coronavirus so it’s good to have people in and the place busy again.
“We reopened on April 27 so it’s good to get back to some normality.”
Waitress Lucy Kane, said: “The Hairy Bikers arrived around 10.30am for breakfast. I didn’t manage to catch why they were in Falkland but I overheard something about filming or doing some work in Anstruther and St Andrews.
“They just seemed like a couple of normal guys that were in for a good full Scottish breakfast.
Falkland ‘a lovely village’
“We didn’t realise who they were at first until the chef Reece pointed it out. That and all the customers were commenting back to us about it.
“They didn’t say too much to us, we just let them enjoy their breakfast. Other than they said food was perfect and that the place was lovely as well as Falkland being a lovely village.”
Fellow waitress Rachael McNicol added: “They were lovely gents and very friendly. They loved the place from the decor to the cake cabinet and had no problem at all with us taking their picture.
Happy to pose with customer
“They even let one of our customers take a picture afterwards, and said they would try to come back for lunch before they leave the area.”
Myers and King have known each other since the 1990s, with both having backgrounds in television production. Their first appearance on UK television was presenting The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook. The show began on the BBC in 2004 and continued for four series.
They followed this with shows including The Hairy Bikers’ Food Tour of Britain, Hairy Bikers’ Best of British, The Hairy Bikers’ Bakeation, Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight, and The Hairy Bikers’ Pubs That Built Britain, among other shows.
Prior to their breakfast, the pair enjoyed a stay at the Balgeddie House Hotel in Glenrothes.