News / Victoria’s Vintage Tearoom doing a roaring trade
AN UNST family is breathing new life into the former Northern Lights Bistro in Haroldswick – with a decidedly vintage feel.
Victoria’s Vintage Tea Rooms, run by Victoria Mouat and her twin sister Kathryn Lomax, enjoyed its official opening on Saturday 6 June.
So far it has been a roaring success: for the past ten days the premises have been swamped by locals and tourists eager to sample its antique stylings, cream teas and fresh local produce.
Victoria, a mother of four who moved to Unst from Plymouth in Devon after meeting her husband Richard, ran pop-up teas last summer and had been trying to get her hands on suitable premises for a while.
She had previously enquired about the Northern Lights, which shut its doors back in October 2012, but had been unsuccessful. When the price was reduced, she jumped at the chance and the purchase was completed on 25 May.
In a matter of weeks it was transformed into a tearoom with “our vintage stamp”, complete with a classic tearoom sign designed by Cheryl Jamieson.
Having received the seal of approval from the local Vikings, who took part in the opening, Victoria’s Vintage Tearooms began trading last Monday and custom has been “non stop for the last week and a half”.
Victoria told Shetland News: “Today [Wednesday] we had three tour buses. It’s amazing how many people come in.”
Including two sofas, the tearoom has capacity for 47 people but since opening Victoria said it had been “full every day – we’re turning people away”.
“Most people we have to send away do usually come back when we’re a little quieter. We really didn’t think that we were going to be that busy!”
In addition to the two sisters, the tearoom has created employment for another three people – and Victoria is on the lookout for more staff.
“The community has been amazing, they’ve been behind me 100 per cent,” Victoria said. “On the open day we had over 100 people turn up – a few of them were tourists, but mainly locals showing their support.
“I get stopped in the shop all the time with people telling me it’s lovely to see the old building back up and running. It’s good to get the locals behind you because winter is tough – it’s the local support that you need to keep you going.”
With a big tourism drive, there is a sense that Unst is now emerging from a period in the doldrums after the RAF base was shut down around a decade back.
Victoria used to come to Unst on holidays to visit her mum, who lives there. She moved north 12 years ago and agrees the island’s fortunes are on the up.
“Since the RAF camp shut, Unst did decline quite a lot and it did suffer, but I think now we’re bringing ourselves out and Unst is doing really well. Tourism is huge – there are so many tourists every day coming in.”
The tearoom idea was sparked following Kathryn’s vintage-themed wedding in Plymouth three years ago.
Victoria said all things vintage permeated through everything the café offers, from old-fashioned music like Glenn Miller playing in the background and real tablecloths to old pictures hanging on the walls and vintage crockery, much of it donated. She even tries to wear vintage dresses in the tearoom “when I have the energy to be able to do it”.
Coming from Devon, she went to many a tearoom in her childhood and is now drawing on that. “We do a proper cream tea with clotted cream, fresh scones and homemade jam.”
Her children have been excitedly helping out with renovating the place. Victoria wants it to be a “proper family business” and her eldest daughter Maisie, 12, will be “put to work next summer when she’s old enough!”
Son Archie has also been contributing – earlier this week she asked him to open a page in one of her cookbooks to determine what cakes would be baked for Tuesday. Owing to that bit of scientific methodology, the customers who no doubt enjoyed Mississippi mud pie and chocolate brownies have the youngster to thank.
- Victoria’s Vintage Tearoom is open between 11am and 4pm from Tuesday to Saturday.
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