Praslin welcomes trendy new coffee shop – the ‘No1 Baie Ste Anne’ |27 October 2017

Seychellois couple, Peter and Shirley, recently opened the ‘Number 1 Baie Ste Anne’ coffee shop at the Old School Building at Baie Ste Anne, Praslin. It is a trendy, upmarket coffee shop with something for everyone, including an all-day English breakfast as well as soft serve ice cream and slush which is very popular with the kids.

The owners describe the décor as British urban chic. “We have used light wood, glass, chrome, red brick and plant feature walls, and predominantly black colours on the interior to give a slight industrial feel to the place,” say the couple.

Speaking about their food and beverage menu, Peter and Shirley say that they want to keep it relatively simple as a traditional coffee shop with a few local delicacies. They explain that “the key ingredient of any coffee shop is the coffee and so we like to think that we have chosen a well reputed and quality brand, Nespresso”. The outlet also offers a range of other coffees, iced coffee, plant-based milks as a non-dairy equivalent, as well as the option to add a variety of syrups to your coffee.

A selection of other beverages are also available including smoothies, milkshakes and iced citronelle.

“On a daily basis we have a fresh juice of the day and papaya seems to be a firm favourite. Shirley has also introduced a detox water consisting of lemon, cucumber, ginger and mint. The local ladies are loving it!” says Peter.

For food accompaniments, the coffee shop typically serves sandwiches, paninis, burgers and pies. For the health-conscious market, there are also salads, such as quinoa and bulgur wheat along with the more traditional salads like tuna niçoise, chicken and the local favourite, smoked fish and mango. For those with a sweet tooth, No1 Baie Ste Anne offers a range of local speciality cakes such as ‘lapatsek’, ‘mafelisi’ and coconut tarts but they also have shortbreads, brownies and flapjacks.

When asked what inspired them to open a café, Peter recounts that “a big part of the inspiration behind this is that my mother, Jenny Pomeroy, owns a well-known bakery ‘Jenny’s Bakery’ which she has run for over 30 years. The bakery is located in the same premises of the coffee shop and before that, she had a small and simple cake shop in the same complex where she would sell her products. The cake shop was already well reputed and frequented but it was far from being a coffee shop. My wife and I decided we would take this a step further and do it on a much grander scale now that my mother is retiring or so I hope!”

The couple add that they have always wanted to introduce a café culture on Praslin since such outlets are practically non-existent.

“At present we spend half our time in the UK where our children are schooled and my wife thoroughly enjoys her coffee mornings in our city’s coffee shops and it has always been a dream of hers to open one and bring some of that atmosphere to our islands. We wanted to do an upscale coffee shop that was a true representation of what a European style coffee shop was like,” explains Peter.

When asked about the reason behind the café’s name, Peter says that this stems from a firm belief that he has to be number 1 in all that he does.

“It does not always happen but I will certainly always give it my best. My mother always taught me that we do something well and go all out or not at all! I figured if we can carry this name and instil it in all we do, we simply could not be number 2! From customer service, to production, to the lady that chooses the lettuce leaves for the sandwiches, they must always be thinking, is this really top quality, is this number 1, am I doing my best? It is a lot to live up to but should keep us on top of all that we do”.

Interested followers can find No1 Baie Ste Anne on Facebook and this will eventually be linked to Instagram where they promote most of their products. Peter and Shirley mention that they “can also be found on Tripadvisor. So far we have received amazingly positive feedback from all our customers. Everyone says it was high time someone did something like this for Baie Ste Anne. We plan to do a few of these coffee shops around the islands, so look out for a Number1 near you!”