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Two Islands: Brewing Joy and Sweet Memories · DunkersPodcast

0:11
Welcome to Dunker's Podcast. Now today we've got 2 very
0:16
special people because this is going to prove that you don't
0:20
have to be a dunker, not a daily dunker at least to be on the
0:23
Dunker's podcast. We're talking about community
0:26
because that's Abersock and the Dunkers originated from
0:30
Abersock. So what?
0:32
Who better than two cornerstones of Abersock Community?
0:38
So today's title is 2 Islands Brewing Joy and Sweet Memories.
0:43
The episode smells less like sea salt and more like cinnamon
0:47
buns. We're joined by Jack and Laura,
0:50
the duo behind Two Islands and that's Absot's favorite coffee
0:54
and ice cream spot. Since opening they've gone from
0:58
Californian inspired ice cream parlour to a minimalistic coffee
1:02
haven serving Welsh roasted beans, cakes that stop
1:06
conversations and the legendary Saturday only cinnamon bun.
1:11
Married in 2025 and celebrated by the Dunkers, Jack and Laura
1:15
are not just cafe owners, they're part of the village
1:18
heartbeat. So what makes two islands so
1:21
unique? How do they keep Abbasot
1:24
caffeinated and sugared up? And the big question for us, do
1:29
Dunkers get bun priority? Jack, Laura, welcome to the
1:34
Dunkers podcast. Thank you for having us, yeah.
1:38
Yeah, very kind words there. Thank.
1:40
You No, no, you've got to live up to it now, Jack.
1:42
Yeah, exactly. So I'm, I'm going to try and
1:46
sort of turn the the the programme just to chat into
1:50
little bits. And the first bit's obviously
1:52
got to be the origin and the inspiration behind it.
1:54
I mean when, when did you open? First of all, when it.
1:59
Was in 2018. It was 20 March 20, OK.
2:02
OK, so we're coming up to 8, 8. Years old.
2:06
Yeah, We've completed eight seasons.
2:08
Brilliant. Flown by.
2:10
And what made you do it? Origin story well.
2:15
We. We.
2:16
Can. Do it quick, I can.
2:19
Do how long have we got we? If Laura and I nod off Jack,
2:22
then we better change subject quick.
2:24
We were travelling the West Coast of the States at the end
2:29
of our ski season. I had failed to reply to a visa
2:36
application and therefore wasn't going to return to Canada.
2:39
Laura was heading home after the travel anyway.
2:43
I was pretty bummed out on not getting my second visa and Laura
2:47
decided to cheer me up. So it took me along to an ice
2:51
cream parlour that had been recommended to us and I was
2:53
eating a lavender ice cream with a honey ice cream, which
2:58
ironically I tried again in New York the other day.
3:01
And we kind of looked at each other and thought we'll have a
3:04
go at doing this. And this was back in 20. 15. 15,
3:08
I think really 14 or 15, yeah. And then the idea, I guess, just
3:14
sat in the back of our heads and.
3:16
We just a few other things before that.
3:18
Yeah, and we did a bit of research and looked at ice cream
3:24
kit from Italy. Oh, really?
3:25
No idea how to make ice cream? No, an opportunity came up in
3:29
the building that we're in now. I worked in hospitality at the
3:33
time. I've never really done any
3:35
hospitality. I do no.
3:37
This is Pete first, was it? Yeah.
3:39
Yeah, you. Asked me to do it with you and I
3:42
quit my job I just started. I got my first real adult job at
3:47
the Financial Times at the magazine there.
3:49
How to spend it right? Were you a reporter?
3:52
I wanted to be a food journalist.
3:55
OK, So I was. I've always been interested in
3:57
food, but I never had envisioned being in a kitchen.
4:01
So I left that job to go become a barista to learn how to make
4:05
coffee. And Jack said, well, we'll need
4:08
to make some cakes over the winter, you know, if you like
4:10
making cakes. I said yeah, I like making
4:12
cakes. Made a banging carrot cake
4:13
already. Only one recipe in the
4:15
repertoire. Yeah, I.
4:16
Don't really. Really.
4:17
But we knew we needed something to kind of tie us over the
4:20
winter months because we didn't want to shut up for six months.
4:24
So yes, I've learnt how to bake a bit.
4:28
Ish. Ish.
4:30
And then we opened our doors and we had absolutely no idea what
4:32
we did. This is so wild, so blind.
4:35
We didn't. Have any kind of spreadsheets?
4:38
We didn't have a really much of A plan of action, right?
4:42
Laura's brother said to me, he's very, he's in mechanical
4:45
engineering, he's very kind of numbers driven.
4:48
And he said to me, God, you must have a good business plan.
4:51
He said if you looked at footfall and percentages and
4:53
conversion rates, that's right. I've worked in every cafe and
4:57
surf shop up the High Street as a kid.
4:59
I said I'm sure as long as we keep the quality, good people
5:02
will come through the door. And.
5:03
And we went into it. Yeah, with a bit of blind flame.
5:06
Faith, really, right? Did you feel that your leverage
5:09
was going to be the ice cream or was it going to be the coffee
5:12
and cakes? Because did they come exactly at
5:14
the same time or? Yeah, all three.
5:16
OK. 3. Wow, OK.
5:20
The ice cream was meant to be the pool, wasn't it?
5:23
The cake was very much the last thing, yeah.
5:26
That was not important. That was just kind of if people,
5:29
you know, when it was cold. Yeah.
5:31
And when we did open, it was absolutely freezing.
5:32
It was that. Beast from the East.
5:35
Oh, really? So snowing?
5:37
Yeah, yeah. We opened.
5:39
But coffee was of quite interest to me particularly.
5:44
But it was still pretty early days in terms of the specialty
5:47
coffee boom, right? Or at least it had taken off in
5:50
London where we lived before, but wasn't really infiltrated
5:54
into market towns or outside the cities, particularly coastal
5:57
areas. So I guess it was.
6:00
Do you think that's because the market towns and the coastal
6:03
areas were just sort of not educated to even ask for it?
6:07
Do you think are city customers more discerning or do they just?
6:13
I think just because there's more competition.
6:16
In. Cities that kind of like feeds
6:19
the the pursuit for quality and then.
6:23
And individuality, I guess. And individuality, yeah, and it
6:26
does slowly start to kind of trickle out and make its way to
6:29
to places. But there's always anomalies.
6:32
The South Coast places in Devon, they've been on speciality
6:35
coffee, seen for a really long time so.
6:37
Right, right. So in a Cafe Rich village, which
6:41
we are, what makes your coffee stand out?
6:46
And you can. You don't need to be modest
6:48
about this. We really know all about it.
6:51
There's a lot of people won't know the the grading that comes
6:58
first of all with the supply of coffee.
7:01
So green coffee, where it comes from, we will only choose
7:04
coffees that score above a certain point.
7:06
Well, not us personally, but our roast at Cole's Ham, who we've
7:10
worked with since day one. They then roast exceptionally
7:14
well. The, the coffee is then sent to
7:17
us and from the point of grinding to when it ends up in a
7:23
cup and delivered to your table, there's a lot of variables and
7:27
measured, measured variables that come into it a lot of
7:33
places. Even if they know how to do it,
7:36
it takes a lot of effort, right? People will cut corners and we
7:40
just cannot have that. We do not.
7:42
Cut it. No, so you don't do.
7:44
Do you have lots of different types of coffee, or do you have
7:46
one effectively one sort of cornerstone coffee?
7:50
We we have our own single origin which we worked with coltan to
7:54
develop, which we've had as our I guess.
7:57
Your blend. As our blend, our single origin,
8:01
but we also have a coffee programme now which our head
8:04
barista Ellen has recently developed.
8:06
So this explores roasters from different regions or growers in
8:10
different regions or different processes of coffee.
8:13
And all of these guest coffees are available either to purchase
8:17
as a guest bean, just an extra £0.50.
8:20
And the flavour profiles can be like really quite varied, or you
8:26
can have them on batch brew on the weekends or as cold brews.
8:28
So there's always possibility to try those different coffees and
8:33
purchase the bags as retail bags off our shelves.
8:35
OK, OK. And are they always the obvious
8:38
question in a way to a coffee drinker but not really a coffee
8:42
buyer? Are they always the same
8:44
strength or is there different strengths?
8:47
Because you, you go into some supermarkets and they'll,
8:49
they'll, they'll package, they'll offer you packages one
8:52
through 5, don't they? I think it's very strict, like I
8:55
think it's a bit misleading, the whole strength.
8:57
Thing words. Come in and say, oh, I like my
9:00
coffee stronger. What's the what's the strongest
9:03
one really? It's not really about strength,
9:07
it's about the flavour and some of them are are lighter roast
9:11
and they're going to, they're still going to be caffeinate,
9:13
they're still going to be really caffeinated, but they're just
9:15
going to be more delicate on the palate.
9:17
Right. And some of.
9:18
Them are roasted a bit darker, but you're not necessarily going
9:21
to get more of a buzz. Or a OK, it's just going to be
9:25
it's more. Flavour The roast roast profile
9:28
doesn't have any indication of. Strength.
9:31
Of strength of caffeine. OK, OK.
9:34
Just. If you want me to go into
9:36
quickly into the two types, 2 main strains of coffee, you have
9:42
arabica, which you've probably heard it's an advertising point,
9:45
but also it generally means a higher quality bean.
9:47
And then you have Robusta. Robusta is lower quality, it
9:50
grows at lower altitude. It's generally treated with kind
9:54
of some pesticides, but that will that is much more highly
9:59
caffeinated Robusta and that will be in most freeze dried,
10:05
you know. Kind of spooning.
10:07
Right. But right, so in a lot of lower,
10:11
lower price point. Retail outlets.
10:14
Retail outlets, Sure. James.
10:16
Fairpoint. Fairpoint, OK.
10:18
So that's generally where you'll see the difference in caffeine.
10:22
Yes. Strength.
10:23
Yeah, yeah. But it's it's the flavour we
10:25
must, we mustn't lose the fact it's the flavour rather than the
10:28
strength that we're actually sort of judging by.
10:31
OK, so we've got a nice coffee of the bright flavour in front
10:35
of us. Cakes.
10:37
Let's talk cakes, Laura. Because you.
10:40
You have a kaleidoscope of cakes, don't you?
10:44
I mean, they are works of art. They really are.
10:48
With a long work in progress, I sometimes I think that's some of
10:50
those early cakes we sent out. And I think people were very
10:53
polite back in the first year or two.
10:56
But yeah, I look back at some old pictures and I think
10:58
mortified that we ever made them.
11:01
But we started out so unprepared, like we said, that
11:06
we didn't really think much of it.
11:07
We didn't really big ourselves up as being the best cakes or
11:10
the best anything because we were just having to go at the
11:13
start, weren't we? So yeah.
11:14
That's brilliant. And yeah, they've come a long
11:16
way. I think they.
11:17
Have, haven't they? Yeah, Yeah.
11:18
Do you actually have a number? Do do you know how many
11:21
different types of cake you make?
11:22
I honestly feel like I don't have a very big library of
11:25
cakes. Don't you?
11:26
Sometimes I say, don't I that I'm like, oh, I've just got
11:29
enough. I just don't have happening.
11:30
I just don't know what to make. I've got no inspiration.
11:33
Like I've stuck with the same 10 things, right?
11:35
But actually there is I've, I've got to the point now where I've
11:38
got a really good repertoire base recipes.
11:42
And from those if, if there's something I want to try out,
11:45
instead of just finding a new recipe from a cookbook or
11:48
something, I'll just take something I already have and
11:52
adapt it clever because I know that that works.
11:55
And to get one cake, you know, consistently working takes ages
12:01
and so much recipe testing. So I think I have a good
12:04
repertoire of maybe sort of 10 to 15 base recipes.
12:08
Yeah. And from those.
12:09
You could be creative and a tweets.
12:11
Yeah, Yeah. And it sounds as though it's
12:13
just how the move takes you, really.
12:15
Yeah. Oh, day by day.
12:17
Oh, gosh, Like, I just make it up, don't I?
12:19
Yeah. You're also influenced by the
12:21
seasons. Oh yeah, What's available?
12:23
For, of course, green. Grocers, of course.
12:25
Yeah. Often what we can forage
12:27
locally, which unfortunately isn't a huge amount of stuff,
12:29
but yeah, we've got a few. We can, we do, but people will
12:33
come in and say, oh, when to know when are the ginger cookies
12:36
on next? I say, well, I guess I can make
12:38
them for tomorrow. Oh, right.
12:39
Yeah, yeah, you just. Plan it each day based on.
12:42
This. I mean, to be so reactive like
12:45
that, it's very impressive. What's?
12:46
Nice about being being small, being there nearly every single
12:52
day. It's different when you've got
12:55
just employees running it. You have to have so much
12:59
structure of what everyone's going to make.
13:01
Of course there's less creativity I.
13:03
Think so, Yeah, Yeah. That's what's nice about just.
13:06
The fact that you can just, yeah, on a whim, think, oh.
13:09
Try that making something. Yeah, yeah.
13:11
So is this where the the Saturday cinnamon bun came from?
13:15
Yeah. Is it really on the?
13:17
Internet one day and I was like we should make some.
13:19
I don't think we'd even had a great cinema bun somewhere and
13:23
thought this is what we've got to do.
13:24
I think, I think we just maybe there was we don't really follow
13:29
many trends without baked goods, coffees or ice cream.
13:34
That's something that we really try and steer away from.
13:36
But I think we saw a few people bakeries that we quite admired
13:41
and saw them doing cinnamon buns.
13:43
And you said, I'm going to have a go.
13:44
And then Laura just went on this crusade to make the perfect
13:50
button. Yeah, and they were really
13:51
rubbish at the start, but. Yeah, you, you were the chief
13:54
test away. Yeah, I took that one on the
13:56
chin. Nice one, Jack.
13:59
But I knew I only ever wanted to do them on weekends because they
14:02
they are quite labour intensive. I was going to say, are they a
14:05
bit of a faff? Yeah, harder.
14:07
We've got things that are more so now, really.
14:10
Faff. Because they've become a bit in
14:12
nature, but I think keeping them on the weekends makes them a bit
14:15
more exclusive. Absolutely.
14:17
I think you get a bit bored or something if you can't have it
14:19
every single day. Yeah, no, you know that.
14:22
Totally agree. Yeah.
14:24
And they? Don't carry through from one day
14:25
to the next most most cakes that we have we might carry if
14:29
they're left yes if there's any leftover we might carry them to
14:32
the next day sure a fair few of them but there's certain items
14:34
particularly cinnamon buttons that even by the afternoon
14:37
you're. Like there's no sell by day on
14:39
that. They just die.
14:40
Yeah. And it's.
14:41
Really. It's like a croissant, yes.
14:43
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't buy no croissant 2
14:46
days later, can I? It's just not good.
14:48
OK, so what's it like? I'm going to switch a bit here.
14:51
What's it like being the fabric of of the village?
14:54
I mean, you, you drive into the village and what do you see?
14:57
You'll see two islands straight away.
14:59
And how, how you know? I mean from 2018, how do you
15:03
feel that you've settled in? Have you settled in?
15:06
Yeah. I mean, somebody, a few people
15:10
have said to us this summer that we've, and it's probably the
15:15
biggest compliment that I think anybody's made to us about our
15:18
business and the integrity to people's visits for the weekend
15:21
or how we stand against or alongside other businesses that
15:26
people say that we're kind of on their bingo card for the
15:28
weekend. Like they have to come in, get a
15:31
coffee and a cinnamon bun from us, and if they don't, their
15:33
weekend isn't complete. In the same way that when we
15:35
used to come down, going to Mananas was kind of on my bingo
15:39
card or whatever, or like a fryer.
15:42
But at Zinc in the morning, it's yeah, it's, yeah.
15:47
It was a big, big compliment. Yeah, it must be because people
15:50
now relate to you as part of ABASOC.
15:52
You are. You and ABASOC are one on the
15:55
same, aren't they? Yeah, so do you.
15:57
I mean when we come in on occasions when we come in en
16:01
masse, we are a bit rowdy. Do you have a rowdy customer
16:04
register or something? No, no, there might.
16:08
There's a rowdy dog register. Yeah, there's a few with black
16:12
marks against their name, but no, no, no customers now.
16:15
Oh, right. OK, Well, that's we, we haven't
16:18
tried hard enough then Clearly, clearly that.
16:22
So have you been involved in business before?
16:25
I mean, that's that's the other thing that just strikes me about
16:29
the last few minutes we've been chatting.
16:31
You know, you're in, you're in California in a coffee shop and
16:34
all of a sudden you're in business as a cornerstone of a
16:36
community. No.
16:37
We just, we've after finished university, we wanted to go do a
16:42
ski season. So that's why I went to Canada
16:43
for a year, came back and worked a bit and then just decided to
16:50
open a business. And as some background, we both
16:52
have a degree, the law has got a journalism.
16:54
Degree, right? And I have an art degree.
16:56
OK. So I, I suppose I would like,
16:59
downplay what an art degree where it can really get you, but
17:03
a massive outlet for me. And creativity isn't just ice
17:06
cream and coffee, it's the design of the shop.
17:08
So yes. Yeah.
17:09
That's where that has come from. And Laura, Laura is also
17:12
incredibly artistic. Yeah, but we both come from
17:15
families. Your your dad owned a business
17:17
and my and my mum and dad owned a business as well.
17:19
So we come from like an entrepreneurial background of
17:22
sense so. At least how you know, we've got
17:25
like the basics of how do you quite literally open a business.
17:28
Exactly you. Can't register it, yeah, like
17:30
that. But the rest of it we've really
17:32
just. And the great reassurance is
17:34
because you can't think of everything at every juncture.
17:38
So but you've got people, that family that you can just go
17:40
along and say I'm having a bit of a tough time on this.
17:43
I can't quite rationalise what should I do?
17:45
And so you've got a sounding board there with your families,
17:48
I mean, in some ways. They were such different
17:49
industries. Yeah, yeah.
17:51
They weren't in hospitality or anything.
17:53
At all. I know and you know, you've all
17:56
got to do your accounting, you've all got to do certain
17:58
things, but the kind of hospitality side, we've really
18:01
just had to learn. Yeah, I actually really.
18:04
I was fortunate enough that when I was younger we ate out fairly
18:08
often. Yeah, Mum and Dad and I and I
18:10
have a distinct memory of my dad on many, many occasions saying
18:14
to me because I think he maybe thought I would end up taking
18:17
over the family business, which is wholesale and water sports in
18:20
the water sports trade. And he said to me, if I ever try
18:24
and open a restaurant, shoot me. Did he?
18:28
I reminded him of that recently after he was kind of
18:31
congratulating us on our success and he said, well, you've,
18:34
you've done it. Right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:37
You flipped that coin. Yeah, absolutely.
18:39
So then just talking about the design, that's a really key
18:42
point because you've got a very minimalistic of design to the to
18:46
the shop and to the insides and, and even to what you, you
18:49
produce. There's no, there's no fussiness
18:52
about it. There's obviously everything in
18:54
terms of taste, but there's no fussiness about it.
18:57
Who? Who's driving that one?
18:59
Both of you. Yeah, I think we peaks and
19:03
troughs, don't we with where we want to take the design of it.
19:08
Every year we kind of tried to just shop up a bit and we
19:12
started out with you know a lot more basic sort of materials and
19:16
kind of cheaper things like chairs and things.
19:18
And as, as we've gone on, we've obviously replaced certain
19:21
things and every year we try. And last year we did a big
19:25
renovation, didn't look maybe huge, but we obviously knocked
19:29
out the whole ice cream parlour and this counter and we put the
19:32
wine fridge in and just a lot of DIY, didn't we?
19:36
And then we're kind of, you know, every year we think what,
19:39
what do we need to do differently this year?
19:42
I think we're maybe going to go down a bit of a route and then
19:47
we've just come back from 8 days in New York and actually that
19:51
was really helpful, wasn't it, to judge.
19:52
In Spain, yeah. Inspirational.
19:55
Yeah. Yeah, not so much the food, but
19:57
more just the use of materials out there.
20:00
Yeah, it was really inspiring to see so many premises still had
20:04
their original shop fits they still had.
20:06
Really. Solid wood, metal.
20:10
Old signage, Yeah, and. Stuff built to last, Yeah.
20:14
And it's just in ages so well, we.
20:16
Care about a lot is we just don't like cheap materials.
20:20
We just don't like things are just.
20:22
Because they just, they do break, especially put them in
20:24
the shop, they don't only last a couple of weeks and they break.
20:27
And it's nice when you see things carry through history and
20:30
it's easy to kind of trace back a story on.
20:33
Absolutely. You know the the.
20:35
The location or the, you know, are just social aspects or
20:39
what's been what's influenced the design and when things are
20:43
made well and they and they stand the test of time, that's
20:47
quite one of our core values, right?
20:49
It's it, yes. Is, is that sort of longevity?
20:52
So you're looking at maintaining and and enhancing that longevity
20:57
effectively, aren't you? I.
20:58
Don't think that's going to inspire whatever decorative
21:03
changes. You make Yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:06
So what's the hardest thing? Sorry, we've got a visitor.
21:10
What's the hardest part of running a seaside cafe that
21:13
people don't realise? I think the obvious thing would
21:18
be the peaks and troughs of trade.
21:20
I think that probably it's not even just seaside, you know,
21:26
that could happen in small towns, but.
21:31
Yeah, I think it's the. Having to grow.
21:34
Scaling, scaling, scaling up and scaling back again.
21:37
OK. Yeah, scaling up and down all
21:39
the time. Yeah.
21:40
Because you can, you get to this point where, well, you start the
21:43
season January, February and you might have carried some staff
21:48
through from the season previous and slowly through the season,
21:52
you piece together this this team, right?
21:55
And you get to August and you're absolutely rocking and the whole
22:00
team just knows what they're doing and ordering anybody
22:03
around. It's the best feeling just
22:05
seeing your team enjoying themselves.
22:07
And it's as busy as it could possibly be.
22:09
But the place is running like clockwork.
22:11
And then September comes and a lot of the kids go back to
22:15
school or you to university or people decide that they want to
22:18
go and do something for winter. And then you kind of go look at
22:21
each other and go, oh, it was so good for like just that moment
22:25
then. And then, and then even if you
22:27
do have a few people who decide to stay with you through the
22:30
winter, you then are scaling your production or your service
22:34
back. And then you have to find hours
22:36
for people. And it's it's a tricky thing to.
22:39
Yeah. Balance.
22:40
Yeah, yeah. And and it's, it's the thing
22:42
that people just, they just look at a store or they look at a
22:46
business and they just think, well, it just, you've just got
22:49
to keep doing the same. You haven't clearly from what
22:51
you've just said it, it really is a roller coaster.
22:54
It's terms of of a number of different factors and.
22:57
I don't think we can pretend that it's not tiring as well.
23:00
Like obviously both work there full time and in the summer
23:03
we'll do whatever we have to do to make sure the stock is made
23:07
and the shop is run. But I think it being so busy and
23:13
then it does come down and it goes up and down and up and down
23:17
it is. Yeah.
23:19
If there's any seasonal hospitality leaders out there
23:22
listening to this broadcast, I would love to sit down and pick
23:26
their brains about how to just how to do it.
23:30
Yeah, efficiencies and yeah. Do you think anybody does it
23:34
right, Jack? Do you think it's more seat of
23:37
the pants I. Don't know, there must be some
23:40
people out there and I've spoken to some hospitality leaders and
23:43
they've said you've just got you've got to find somebody
23:46
whether it's in a ski resort or in a coastal location and
23:48
somebody is doing it really well.
23:50
And you just have to just ask direct and just say I need some
23:54
help. How do we do this?
23:55
Because. Yeah, we're not doing too.
23:57
Bad. No, we're doing all right.
23:58
Yeah. Well, you're always looking at
24:00
how to how to mix products and service better and also make,
24:03
Yeah, a better place to work for everybody.
24:05
So you'll know that you're doing it absolutely all right when
24:08
somebody comes to ask you for advice.
24:10
Yeah. Yeah, I.
24:11
Suppose so you see us just sat down on a on a Friday in August.
24:15
Saturdays we're we're living. We've made.
24:17
Well, Tuesdays is a bit of an Oasis for you, isn't it?
24:21
Because Tuesday, your day off day.
24:22
Yeah, yeah, it is you'll. Never open seven days.
24:26
No, I don't blame it. I don't blame it.
24:29
It's even that exclusivity thing again.
24:31
It just means that there's one day that you just can't get into
24:36
That's that's lovely. And so if you I'm going to stay
24:40
with the cake just for a moment. If you had created a dunker
24:43
inspired cake, what flavour would it be?
24:49
Well, I already like to put sea salt on everything.
24:52
If you do, it's hard to say. What do you crave once you come
24:58
out and see? Do you want something filling,
25:02
like a bun, or do you want something really quite sweet,
25:05
like a cookie? What do you?
25:07
Yeah, I think obviously it's going to be.
25:10
Yeah, they are. But I think generally, because
25:13
the the cinnamon bun is such a spectacular success, I think a
25:18
bun is is good. Chocolate's always good.
25:22
But so many people are either on Zimpik or they're watching this
25:25
or watching that. They're still.
25:27
A bit. Early or it's still a bit early.
25:29
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what, what is it?
25:32
Although chocolate, I suppose is a bit of a default because
25:35
whenever anybody has a birthday amongst the dunkers, we always
25:39
go down. Whoever the birthday is, we
25:41
always go down and we take down a box of chocolates or or
25:45
whatever, Quality Street or whatever.
25:47
So I suppose that's a real cornerstone.
25:51
Yeah, I'd say one bun that I like making that isn't very
25:55
popular. I'm not really sure why, but
25:57
it's the we I call it the Pano chocolate bun.
26:01
OK, because it's classic cinnamon bun.
26:04
And then instead of cinnamon butter, it's butter, sugar and
26:09
cocoa spread across it. OK, it's got spread with a layer
26:12
of Creme patisserie like custard.
26:14
And then we sprinkle it with dark chocolate, roll it up and
26:18
bake it as usual. So I think that is a nice blend
26:22
of fishy burn and chocolate. That's.
26:24
Got to be. There's got to be a chance of
26:26
that becoming a dunker's bone. It needs to be more popular
26:29
because that's delicious. It's inspired by.
26:31
I don't know if you if you have. Yes, yes, yes, yeah.
26:36
So in. France and supermarkets.
26:37
There's a cake thing called a pitch bar, yeah, and it's just a
26:43
really kind of cheap brioche, like Bon Memon type bake.
26:50
And then it's like in a plastic wrapper and it's filled with
26:54
chocolate and it's just. Brioche.
26:57
Chocolate filled in the middle. OK.
26:59
And this is fine by that. This is Yeah.
27:02
And you've just. Yeah, you've just.
27:04
And they're really not. Grounded it up there's.
27:05
A cinnamon buns but I think I should just bring them back
27:08
because they just need another chance.
27:09
Yeah, we need, we need to make spread the.
27:11
Word. Well, OK, I tell you what, you
27:13
you spread the flavour and we'll spread the word.
27:16
OK. Yeah, we'll do.
27:17
We'll do this as a double act, OK.
27:19
Yeah, without a doubt. So have you got any quick very
27:23
quickly? Have you got any other plans for
27:25
expansion or are you happy with Avatar being your home?
27:29
We're. Not very good at just not
27:31
changing it up, are we? No, we don't really, we said.
27:34
That's it now that's it for and we did so much work last year,
27:37
we said that's it, yeah, we don't need to do it anymore and
27:40
the shop gets a little bit busier or something doesn't
27:43
quite work as well then. So I think we'll always keep
27:46
changing it up a bit. Yeah, we're always looking to
27:49
just make it a better place to work and a better experience for
27:53
customers. We don't really have any plans
27:57
for to become a multi site business.
28:00
A lot of people have asked us to open up kind of Cheshire way
28:05
hail, but neither of us want to spend our lives driving up and
28:09
down the a 55 checking in on on staff And actually we we really
28:14
enjoy this project of, you know, adapting it and changing it and
28:18
making it better and and and living here.
28:21
And the more time we live here, the more time we really enjoy
28:25
living here. We initially really missed
28:27
living far away from friends and family in in, you know, London
28:32
or down South, whatever, but. Yeah, Yeah, I think we still.
28:36
Miss them but it's just appreciate the views and the sea
28:40
and. And just the whole ambiance of,
28:43
of what I was talking about offers it's I think it's such
28:47
such a wise having having built previously businesses myself and
28:52
one particularly one that we expanded.
28:55
It's so much trouble so much, you know, you, you can see sort
29:00
of a difference in the pounds at the end of the the month, but
29:04
you just think is it worth it, worth it?
29:06
You just. Always wanted to be a family
29:08
business. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:09
I just. Love that.
29:10
And I think yeah. And I don't think you will come
29:12
in to see us obviously, but I think if people can see the
29:15
owners working and when you get served, you go somewhere and you
29:19
get served by an owner, it does feel nice.
29:22
It just feels absolutely does. It's got.
29:25
A personality? Yeah, yes, absolutely.
29:28
Yeah, Yeah. I think that's kind of that's.
29:31
Important to us. So OK, well in our part on our
29:34
part that, that was a great answer.
29:36
No, I'm really glad anyway, because I think, I think
29:38
something might be lost. I do think something, if you, if
29:41
you know, I do, there's a, there's a, there's a, a, a
29:44
business that should I, I probably aren't better to name,
29:48
but they're based in Porthelli and they are in the hospitality
29:52
and they've expanded to 3 units, I think 1's in Port Malek and
29:56
one's in Bangor. And you do take, it was just
30:00
brilliant when it was just patelli.
30:02
And you do just wonder whether the cracks do show a bit when
30:06
it's very busy. You know, that's the thing
30:09
anyway, on the Dunker's podcast, we use, we ask, we have a, we
30:13
don't end with questions, but there's always one or two things
30:15
that we sort of hide and we slide out and sort of say, well,
30:18
what do you think? So Jack, I'll ask you on this
30:22
one. Do you think your younger self
30:24
would be proud and look up to what you've you now do and
30:27
you've now become? I would say so, yes, yeah, I
30:34
think there was a, there was a kind of a stark shock when I
30:37
finished my degree. I didn't do particularly well
30:40
and I think it did give me a bit of a kick up the arse to realise
30:44
that you've in the real world, you've really got to put some
30:47
graft in. So yeah, I would definitely say
30:50
so. But also from my current self,
30:56
looking back, I would say to myself, spend some more time
31:02
learning. And I literally, quite literally
31:04
had this conversation with Dan today about this.
31:07
Wish I'd spent some more time learning leadership in
31:12
hospitality and the business kind of acumen, although
31:18
sometimes best to just well, jump in head 1st and learn the
31:22
way that we did. Because that's you, that's your
31:24
personality, that's, you know, people take, they've got to take
31:27
you as you are and, and you give them what you are rather than
31:31
what the, the persona that they expect or that is written down.
31:35
This is what you're supposed to do.
31:36
It's I think that's what makes businesses very personal.
31:41
And Laura, what's your definition of look?
31:49
What's your definition of luck? Or don't people say that luck is
31:54
what you make of it? So sometimes I do think that we
32:00
are really lucky to have what we have.
32:05
We get to have a home and we get such close access to the beach
32:10
and we get to have our dream job.
32:11
Well, it's my dream job, but I think we work for it.
32:16
Yeah. I think I know I've put.
32:19
In the absolutely. So yes, luck is 100% what you
32:22
make it. Luck doesn't come without cost,
32:24
does it? Yeah, Yeah.
32:28
Good. OK, So if you were regular
32:31
dunkers, I've got to say this because the regular dunkers will
32:34
listen to this. If you were regular dunkers,
32:36
where would you like to dunk and who would you dunk with?
32:43
I'm famously not very frequently on the beach, am I?
32:48
Nor in the water. Oh, right.
32:50
OK. No, I'm just, I'm terrible with
32:52
cold water. Are you I?
32:54
My circulation is God awful. So, pastry hands.
32:56
Pastry hands. Great pastry hands.
32:58
Yes, we've got a cold. Yeah, yeah.
33:01
Yeah, yeah. So I'll let you answer this
33:03
because you love to see and you're a surfer and you know
33:05
all. The little spots, yeah.
33:07
Yeah, I really love it over it. The far end of Porth, Nigel.
33:15
OK, it's the surface. Call it Fisherman's.
33:18
Right. Ruined.
33:19
Crew ends. Yeah, underneath Plas and crew,
33:21
there's a there's a little footpath that runs down, down
33:25
the Cliff face and you end up at this fisherman's cottage.
33:29
And there's two of them. And I think maybe one of them
33:32
was done up a few years ago, but it's just very quaint down
33:37
there. And you, you almost feel like
33:41
it's just so picture perfect. And when you get a blowing
33:44
westerly and you can have the biggest sea and you know, it can
33:48
be gusting 6070 miles an hour westerly.
33:52
It's so serene down there because of the headlands.
33:55
And yeah, it's almost like you're walking into a wave pool
34:01
because there's this, there's this round down that the
34:03
fisherman is, is laid from large rocks and stones.
34:08
Yeah. And it's it just kind of gives
34:10
this shelter that is where everywhere else is blown out.
34:14
And I think I would dump there on a on a on a stormy day.
34:19
Really. Yeah, because you've got the
34:21
drama of the water and the storms and and it's got the
34:25
serenity as you. Say, and something that I quite
34:27
like when I do surf sometimes, you occasionally see a dog
34:30
Walker and they say, God, you're crazy for going in, you know,
34:33
middle of January and say smell. It's about like -3 outside, you
34:36
say, well, the water and you'll notice the water temperatures
34:39
plus five. Yeah, +6.
34:41
And it's warmer in the water than it is out.
34:43
Yeah. And I quite like that feeling.
34:44
If the water being the kind of the same space.
34:48
Yeah. Who would I do it with?
34:49
I'll do it, Laura. Yeah, I'll.
34:52
Drag her in. I'll drag her in, yeah.
34:54
Cold hands or not, you'll get rain odds all over your body.
34:58
Yeah. Well, thank you both very much
35:00
indeed. Honestly, I've had a really,
35:02
really nice time And, and, and honest and, and I'm not sure
35:06
whether I should actually put that last bit on because you're
35:08
going to get everybody down to the far end of Porth, Nigel,
35:12
aren't you? It's.
35:13
It's a bit of a schlep down back up again.
35:15
It's not for the fainter hearted, but if you fancy a nice
35:18
walk down, if you've done the gardens a placing root, it's
35:21
worth walking down to see it because it is on a on a high
35:24
tide. It's pretty special.
35:26
So just one other thing that I wanted to say, and I know that
35:29
I, I try and show our thanks when you do come in as a, as a
35:32
group. But yeah, as, as a, as a, as a
35:36
business trying to run as, as as long as we can through the
35:40
winter. You'll continue custom and
35:42
support and cheerleading because so many people say they've come
35:46
in because of one of the dunkers have said you've got to go get a
35:49
bun or a coffee. It is massively appreciated and
35:54
don't ever feel that if you ever come in as a group and in
35:56
creating Ruckus that it's an issue because it never is.
35:59
So yeah, thank you to you all. Well, now, now I know you don't
36:02
have Ruckus police, then that's fine.
36:04
We'll, we'll just have a go at that.
36:06
Well, thank you. We'll hold that thought and may
36:08
the dunker's spirit go with you. Thanks.