Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Blairgowrie teen uses earnings from age of 12 to open town’s first evening café

Mateusz Piotr Jazdzewski, 19, says he is financing Jungle Café all by himself.

Mateusz Piotr Jazdzewski inside his new café.
Mateusz Piotr Jazdzewski inside his new café. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

A Blairgowrie teen says he has launched the town’s first evening café using money he has earned since the age of 12.

The Jungle Café opens for business in Leslie Street on Thursday, April 20.

With daily opening hours of 10am to 8pm it becomes the first café in Blairgowrie to trade beyond 5pm.

Its owner is Mateusz Piotr Jazdzewski, 19, who is closing and converting European supermarket MJMarket Euro Foods, which he opened in July 2022.

Mateusz outside his new café in Leslie Street, Blairgowrie
Mateusz outside his new café in Leslie Street, Blairgowrie. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

Mateusz, who moved to Blairgowrie from Poland when he was seven years old, says both enterprises were funded using money he has earned in his teenage years.

“We are quite poor but I decided to try and change that and influence others into doing their own thing,” he said.

This feature outlines Mateusz’s entrepreneurial background and reveals what customers can expect in his new café.

School did not fulfil the entrepreneur

Mateusz spent his early years in the city of Gdansk on the north coast of Poland.

In 2009 his father Mariusz, a painter and decorator, moved to Blairgowrie and lived with his mother-in-law who already resided in the town.

A year later Manusz saved up sufficient money to bring wife Milena and their children Mateusz, Natalia (now 16) and Philip (now 13) to Perthshire.

Mateusz says he quickly learnt English and helped his parents with translation and paying bills.

He was initially a primary school pupil at St Stephen’s before moving to Rattray aged 10.

Mateusz in his younger days.
Mateusz in his younger days. Image: Mateusz Piotr Jazdzewski.

At Blairgowrie High he enjoyed woodwork but, overall, felt that school wasn’t for him.

“I was never a school person,” Mateusz said.

“I never really got into trouble but I always had the mindset that I wanted to start my own business.”

From paper rounds to running own store

The first step on that path was taking on a number of paper rounds in Blairgowrie when he was 12.

This gave Mateusz the working bug and he took to Facebook to advertise his grass-cutting services. He additionally cleaned cars and driveways.

“I had also had a phone repair business that I did at home,” he said.

“I repaired phones, laptops and tablets.”

At 15 he left school to work at Blairgowrie Holiday Park in Rattray and then had a stint at a car garage in the town.

Next stop was homeware discount store Nickel ‘n’ Dime, where he stayed for three years.

MJMarket Euro Foods was closed due to a decline in trade.
MJMarket Euro Foods was closed due to a decline in trade. Image: Mateusz Piotr Jazdzewski.

By last summer, Mateusz had put away enough money to open his own European supermarket in Blairgowrie.

After a promising start he noticed a decline in trade.

“It was mainly aimed at Polish people,” he said.

“Not all of them will support other Polish people.

“Some went shopping somewhere else and would even go to Dundee or Perth to get just one thing when they could have got the same thing from mine.

“Footfall dropped, and with school holidays and people going away it would have dropped even more.

“So I am now taking drastic action.”

Eatery has a jungle theme

This has involved swiftly converting the store to form Jungle Café, where the decor will be based on its name.

The eatery has a jungle theme.
The eatery has a jungle theme. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

“Since it’s something different it will be jungle themed,” Mateusz said.

“The wooden tables are of a burnt style and everything will feel like you are in a jungle, with green colours, dark colours, wood, plenty of plants.

“It makes you feel like you are around plants constantly.

“It looks brilliant.”

The café will be a family affair with Mateusz serving, mother Milena cooking and Philip helping when school work allows.

Home-made food and drink

Jungle Café will offer home-made food such as fish and chips, soups, and steaks.

There will be cakes, waffles, crepes, milkshakes and pancakes with many different fillings.

Coffee types vary from plain to the likes of latte, latte macchiato and flat white.

The cafe's menu
The cafe’s menu. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

Customers can either take away or eat in. Mateusz hopes to add four tables to the existing five that each have space for four people.

“There is nothing like this in Blairgowrie at the moment,” he said.

‘Lone wolf’ to help youngsters

While business success is the top priority, Mateusz also wants to give young people employment opportunities via Skills Development Scotland.

Young people will have employment chances in Jungle Café, says Mateusz. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

“At the shop I had a couple of people who came in and got a manager certificate,” he said.

“And it will be the same with the café.

“I will be looking to employ young people and give them the opportunity to get a skills certificate out of it.

“Once you have that you can just about get a job anywhere.

“I have always tried to help others, even though I never accepted help myself.

“I was always a lone wolf and by myself.”

Café ‘will run at the top notch’

Mateusz has made great strides for such a young man.

But he knows the new café has to pay its bills to maintain the momentum.

Mateusz in his new cafe.
Jungle Café has been funded by Mateusz. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

“I am running quite low on money,” he said.

“It was all saved up from work so I have nothing in loans.

“Getting to this point has taken longer than I wanted it to take.

“But if it all happens quite rapidly you can miss some important points and that is one thing I am not going to do.

“I am going to make sure the café is running at the top notch.”

Conversation