Blog
The brainchild of two industry veterans with a passion for high quality food and beverages, Scott & Emily McFarlane talk us through what to expect from their new, dog friendly Café 77.
Blog by Mill Magazine as part of Paisley Food and Drink Festival 2021.
People are clamouring for a good coffee now more than ever. Was it important for you to get the right products in place ahead of opening?
We completely agree, cafe culture has exploded in the last few years and people really search for a good decent coffee, I know I do. This was so important to our ethos as a cafe to get this right for opening. Our supplier, Rocco Espresso, is based in Glasgow and are experts in their field. Gino and his team have been excellent from the start in terms of helping us pick our coffee! They offer a unique blend of carefully selected roasts using 100% Arabica beans and are certified fair trade. The coffee we chose is slow roasted and blended to produce an authentic espresso, while also not losing taste when using milk in something like a flat white. We will also offer a selection of decaf coffee, teas, and hot chocolate too.
Have you taken the lessons you’ve learned over the course of your careers in hospitality and applied them to the business?
Yes, definitely. We are both lucky to have worked in some fantastic hospitality venues, with my wife working in the likes of Blythswood Hotel and Kelvingrove Cafe, while I cut my teeth in the music events industry. You do learn some things over the years, even if you don’t realise it at the time. One thing we wanted to bring to our hometown is a level of luxury – making a trip to our café a treat, while still being very reasonable in price and accessible for most. From experience, if you work hard on nailing the concept and the brand, the produce, and level of service, as well as just being open and honest with your customers, then success should come your way. We are lucky to count some of our previous employers’ as among our great friends and take great pride in carrying on the levels of service and hospitality they instilled in us.
Your menu has promised an array of vegan and gluten free options. How was the process of curating your food offerings. Is it still being fine-tuned?
We have a great chef on board in David Monaghan, who has worked in previous brunch cafes such as Wilson Street Pantry. Together with our ideas and his expertise, we are very excited for the menu launch. As well as gluten-free and vegan options, we will, of course, be catering to meat-eaters, children and our canine friends.
Being a dog-friendly cafe is predestined to grant you a dedicated audience. Are you looking forward to making a lot of new four-legged friends once the cafe is open?
We are super excited to be dog friendly. With us owning our two GSP’s (German Shorthaired Pointers), we love nothing more than catching a bite to eat and a coffee after a walk with them. With us being situated so close to Barshaw Park, we do expect to make lots of new four-legged friends. And from recent walks in the park, there are lots!
Seeing as Renfrewshire as a whole is in the midst of a massive boom period, are you excited for your cafe to be situated in such an up-and-coming area of Paisley?
We are indeed, and it is so exciting that Renfrewshire is in this boom period. We feel we have found our spot at the right time, particularly with everyone keen to socialise post-lockdown . We can see a lot of investment is going into Paisley – from other cafes to the Arts Centre and through to the new museum, we are excited about our hometown.
Glasgow is renowned for its café culture and has been a source of inspiration for you and it’s clear that Renfrewshire has the audience to rival what they have on offer. Are you hoping to make this into a destination for people to come to from further afield?
We would absolutely love to become a destination venue and find ourselves on more people’s radars. Paisley has so many lovely suburbs close to the heart as well as the ever-growing Barrhead and all the way up to Kilbarchan, Houston, Bridge of Weir and beyond. We hope the word of Café 77 spreads all over!
Take a closer look at Café 77 with the links below.