Establishing a nut-free cafe as a way of expanding her business, hairdresser and businesswoman Rebecca Carr is currently in the process of expanding The Hummingbird Cafe.
Rebecca, who also owns Kintore-based Rebecca Carr Hair Salon and The Residence, said she was inspired by her loyal customers to open the cafe,
She said: “I listened to my clients – they always said how great it would be to have hair, beauty and an upmarket café under one roof.
“I’m thankful for being in the business I am where feedback is key.
“This has helped me develop my business while being guided by my customers.
“I was so excited to team up with Lindsay Wilson – director at Eat on the Green – for The Hummingbird Café because I knew her fine detail to food and service would complement my business well.”
Talented pastry chef Aaron Barclay, who previously worked at Eat on the Green, joined the business when the cafe opened in August 2020.
He said: “Working there gave me the insight to the operational side of the business and gave me the confidence and motivation to make this next step of my career.”
The stylish cafe sells a wide range of hot and cold drinks and stocks beverages from some north-east producers.
Aaron said: “We offer espresso, cappuccino, latte, mocha, Americano, flat white, macchiato and baby chinos.
“Our freshly ground coffee is Caber Coffee as well as Dear Green Decaff coffee. We offer a wide selection of teas including herbal teas. And we have a great choice of sweet syrups as well as hot chocolates too.
“Our popular cold drinks include Fentimans, Deeside Natural Mineral Water, Cawston Press, light floral drinks, elderflower lemonade and more.
“We also have a great variety of milk and milk substitutes too.
“We always offer specials, but while we have been closed, we have been fine-tuning our hot chocolates to make them extra chocolatey.”
While Aaron’s go-to is a double shot, whole milk caramel latte, the most ordered drink in the cafe would have to be one of the cafe’s popular lattes.
He said: “We have a lot of runners in Kintore so skinny lattes would be most popular with a double shot of coffee.”
In addition to its drinks offering, the cafe also offers a range of delicious cakes and meals.
Aaron said: “We have a signature cake which is our best-seller – The Hummingbird Cake.
“We also offer a great selection of takeaway and sit-in meals.”
Some of the main dishes include hot smoked salmon with rice noodles and adzuki bean salad and sweet chilli dressing, poached chicken with brown rice, roasted pepper and radish salad and apricot and mustard dressing and a bean chili ad white rice hot pot
The Hummingbird Cafe teamed up with Eat on the Green to offer special “Love Bird” boxes for Valentine’s Day.
Rebecca said: “We honestly couldn’t believe how popular this was.
“Everyone is supporting local which is so important – especially with our business being so new.
“After the great success of our Love Bird Edition Bird Boxes, we decided to offer a special afternoon teas for Mother’s Day.”
Rebecca is proud the cafe already has a loyal following.
She said: “Kintore is a very supportive village and with clients from my hair salon and Eat on the Green, we already have such a great support following that gives us genuine feedback, which I love.
“It really gives me great confidence that what we are doing is going in the right direction.”
The Hummingbird Cafe currently employs six staff members.
Rebecca said: “We have a great team – we all bring something different to Team Bird, but we all have the same ethos.
“We are all friends, which makes it fun to be at work.”
The cafe originally opened as a takeaway due to coronavirus restrictions in place in August.
Rebecca said: “We started our business with the restrictions hospitality had to put in place due to coronavirus.
“When we first opened, we offered takeaway which included all our refreshments, salad boxes, wraps, soups, hot pots and our selection of cakes as well as crisps and confectionery.”
Rebecca has decided to use this time to further develop and expand the premises before the business can fully reopen when restrictions allow.
She said: “We have designed an outdoor play area for children called Baby Birds as well as additional outdoor seating for parents to relax with a coffee and from where they can watch their kids play.
“We have added a bike rack as we have many many cyclists who pass by and stop in for a coffee and cake.
“The most exciting thing we have been working on is creating a wee shop inside where customers can pick up some of the best local produce.”
Please note the cafe is temporarily closed and aims to open in late April, with the exception of offering Mother’s Day afternoon tea for takeaway.
Visit www.facebook.com/hummingbirdcafekintore for more information
See how Rebecca got on in our round of quick-fire questions below:
What’s your customer icebreaker?
Taking temperatures at the door.
It’s the end of your shift – what do you pour yourself?
Champagne.
If you were a drink, what would you be?
I’d be a passionfruit martini.
What would the theme song to your average shift be?
9 To 5 by Dolly Parton.
What’s in your drinks cabinet at home?
Mainly Esker Gin.
Best food and drink pairing?
I can pair any food with any drink.
If you were stuck on a desert island, what three drinks are there with you?
It would be a bottle of champagne, a cup of tea and Cloudy Bay.
You have to make a drink to represent Aberdeen. What would that be?
Something that represents oil and farming. I would make a cocktail with local rapeseed oil in it and lavender that would have health benefits of omega 3 6 &9 fatty acids. I would add some local honey that would give a wee bit of protection for hay fever as well as some lemon, local Esker Gin and some bitters. It would be shaken into a cocktail glass with a nice foam on the top.
Your favourite superhero/celebrity is sitting in the cafe. Who is it and what do you serve them?
Ryan Reynolds – I would serve him our favourite braised beef and black pudding stovies and The Hummingbird cake with a Dear Green double shot cappuccino.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.