A new-look cafe opened its doors to customers in Keswick on Good Friday – and there is a familiar face at the helm.
Fiona Law, who used to run The Royal Oak in Braithwaite with her husband Gordon, has created Serendipity on Lake Road.
They were among a number of tenants in the Keswick area who were served a notice to quit their licensed premises by Marstons back in 2021 which provoked an angry backlash from pub customers.
Fiona has not worked since leaving the popular village pub but jumped at the opportunity to run a cafe and made an offer for the Little Chamonix cafe in December when it came on the market.
The former ski-chalet style cafe has undergone an extensive refurbishment and is now open for business serving breakfast and light lunches, along with home-made cakes and coffee, five days a week, from 10am to 4pm. It seats 22 inside and around 12 outside.
Fiona has employed Michelle McLaren and Karen White and some young girls to work part-time at the weekend.
“I am very excited about the new venture. It is going to be a lot easier than running a pub,” said Fiona. “It went really, really well over the weekend, although we did have one major hiccup.
“The card machine and internet was not working and it was cash only, which was a nightmare because nobody seems to carry cash any more.”
