Pitlochry’s newest cafe is taking shape. And the name above the door will be a nod to the lady whose big heart and baking skills inspired it all.
Jessie’s Cafe will serve home-bakes and the best in local produce.
Daisy Walker, who is opening the business with her partner Liam Turnbull, says the couple want customers to taste the kind of joy she found at her late granny Jessie’s kitchen table.
“My granny was a very special lady,” Daisy told The Courier.
“She was a farmer’s wife, and there was always something nice to eat on the table when you went to see her.”
She added: “If you could smell pancakes you knew it was going to be a good day.
“She’s the inspiration behind it all.”
Jessie’s Cafe completes Pitlochry homecoming
Daisy, 27, and Liam, 29, picked up the keys to the cafe at the weekend and have been hard at work decorating this week.
They are hoping to to open Jessie’s Cafe, in the former Escape Route premises on Atholl Road, Pitlochry, very soon.
The plan is to serve breakfasts, lunches and baking at a mix of indoor and outdoor tables.
The couple are also aiming to open a pizza takeaway in a repurposed shipping container.
Daisy is Pitlochry born and bred.
She met Liam, who’s from Newcastle, when they were studying photography in Cheltenham. And he didn’t take too much persuading to follow her home to Perthshire.
Daisy has worked in various hospitality businesses since returning to Scotland. And opening her own cafe has been a long held dream.
‘When I think of gran, I think of a happy place’
Her grandmother, Jessie Scott, died in 2016. She and her farmer husband George Scott spent their latter years in Pitlochry.
But some of Daisy’s warmest memories from childhood are of visiting them at their farm near Dundee.
“We lived in Pitlochry when I was growing up, but we spent a lot of weekends and pretty much all our holidays with them,” she said.
“Her kitchen was always open. Everyone was welcome. The kettle was always on and everyone was invited to come in, have a seat and a cup of tea.
“When I think of my granny, I think of a happy place, where everyone could come in and enjoy themselves.
“That’s what we want to recreate with Jessie’s Cafe.”
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