Rebecca and James Irving-Lamb always wanted to run a coffee shop, but hadn’t planned on opening one until much later into their careers.
Falling in love with Abernethy after moving home from New Zealand, the husband and wife team read a Facebook post from Michelle Maddox, founder of the well-loved and much-missed Clootie McToot, which specialised in clootie dumplings.
Michelle was advertising the café her business filled before she sold it on, and Rebecca and James jumped at the chance to buy it.
James is a mechanical engineer and Rebecca a management consultant. But now they run a growing food and coffee business with eight staff in one of Tayside’s most picturesque villages.
With a Canadian head chef and a team of locals who eagerly applied for jobs, Rebecca and James said they were keen to put Abernethy and The Nook on the map.
Abernethy Nook replaces Clootie McToot café
Rebecca said: “James and I have been in the village for about three years now. We had been living in New Zealand and fell in love with Abernethy and the community here.
“Michelle, the founder of Clootie McToot, had posted on Facebook she was looking to sell the building.
“And we had always loved the idea of one day running a coffee shop, but thought this would be much later on in life.
“We took a chance and got the keys in May 2024. In that time, we both got married and had our third child. So it has been a busy 12 months.
“The local community has been wonderful.
“We have been made to feel incredibly welcome and everyone has been so supportive.
“And we have done hardly any advertising or marketing at all, and have been very busy. So it has all been through word-of-mouth, which is a nice feeling.”
Local produce
Rebecca explained that for her and The Nook, using local was a priority.
And they have had their own, unique coffee roasted specially for their shop.
“We source as much of our produce as locally as we can, and our food is made in Scotland.
“The shop is furbished with lots of heirlooms from either our own family or people in the village, which is very cool.
“Our staff all live locally, we were really excited to have applications from people in the village who wanted to be a part of the team.
“Eddy, our head chef, has come over from Canada, and brings a lot of experience.
“And we even have a gift shop, selling a lot of Scottish-made products too.”
The Nook opened in November and has enjoyed a roaring trade in that short time, Rebecca said. It is open 9am – 4pm Tuesday to Sunday and closed Mondays.
Conversation