A popular cafe in Inverness that closed its doors temporarily has reopened after receiving overwhelming support from the local community.
Utopia Cafe, owned by Kevin Paterson, was on the brink of permanent closure this summer due to the mounting pressures of staff shortages and the cost of living crisis.
Located on Tomatin Road, the cafe ceased operating on Sunday July 3.
Kevin made his following aware of the closure on social media, with a post that partly read: “Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster for lots of us lately.
“It’s been decided that we will be taking a short break to recharge and re-energise for the difficult road ahead, and the continued challenges that are expected for the hospitality industry.”
A dream come true
Kevin, who is originally from Smithton and now resides in Culduthel, opened the cafe in April 2019 with a team of five.
The 32-year-old started out in the hospitality industry when he was 13 working as a pot washer before going on to be a frier at a chipper. He also served customers in a series of sandwich shops, restaurants, and cafes.
“I’ve seen my fair share of kitchen sinks,” Kevin laughed.
“I then fled the nest of Inverness and set my sights on the big smoke of London at the age of 19, with a pocket full of dreams and ambitions.
“I worked in the thick of the action in Soho at a popular upmarket establishment where I really honed my skills in the world of food and drink, before taking some time out to explore the world of tech.”
Kevin quickly discovered that tech was not his passion and set out to pursue his dream of opening a cafe.
He added: “It’s something I had dreamt of doing since I started out in hospitality. And that’s where Utopia was born.”
Utopia Cafe served brunch-style dishes including avocado and halloumi, brioche French toast, a modern Middle Eastern twist on eggs Benedict, and florentine and royale, as well as a selection of cakes and bakes.
Its capacity was 26 and the opening hours were from 10am to 4pm Thursday to Monday.
‘I’m not giving up yet’
With Kevin’s dream a reality, it was a struggle to come to the realisation that keeping the eatery open was proving impossible this summer.
This was because he was unable to find the right level of talented chefs.
“There’s a serious shortage of them in the Highlands,” Kevin said.
“It was devastating. I’ve worked so hard to keep things running and ticking along, but it just got to the point where the cafe was so busy and intense, it was hard to keep the staff from turning over.
“On top of that, recruitment became really stagnant. It was difficult to find the right level of talent we needed to keep things running to the standards we’d set for ourselves.”
The business owner shared updates on Utopia Cafe on social media and made a desperate plea for people to apply for positions.
One post read: “Utopia started out as one of my biggest dreams in life and I was so excited to see it explode onto the scene, but this has now become a bit of a recurring daily nightmare just trying to keep it afloat and up to the standards we set.
“So here I am, desperately looking for a committed, passionate and versatile chef to come on board immediately to help save the day.
“I’m not giving up yet, I still have faith, but it comes down to finding the right people.”
An overwhelming response
This post wracked up 258 reactions and more than 50 comments from followers and, ultimately, saved the business.
Kevin received close to 50 applications from this alone.
He said: “The public response was really incredible and overwhelming. We have the nicest customers who’ve been such wonderful support since day one.
“We were lucky that things started to turn around and we found an amazing chef team who relocated here from the south of Scotland.”
The team now consists of four “very experienced members”.
“It’s so far running like clockwork,” Kevin added.
“We have a really strong and innovative chef team who’ve got bags of experience under their belt, so the menu has developed and is the best it’s ever been, and the pace and overall customer experience have seen a major improvement as a result.”
Service has resumed and the eatery and its opening hours are the same as they were before its temporary closure.
Conversation