A beautiful, family-run cafe in north Bristol has expanded to a second site after flourishing as a community hotspot over the last seven years. Vintage Birdcage Cakery in Yate has a six-month waiting list for its afternoon teas, with customers even comparing them to the luxury offering in Dubai’s illustrious Burj Khalifa.
Bristol-born Nicole Jones, 46, born in Ipswich first started the business 17 years ago after she turned to baking to keep herself busy while her two daughters were at school, selling homemade cakes to cafes and delis from home. She idolised Mary Berry’s style of baking as well as her passion for family life, something Nicole emulates in her business.
Nicole said: “The ultimate dream was to have my own coffee shop because being a wholesale cake business you don’t get to see people enjoy them and you’re the third party. A unit came up in Yate and we started off very small.”
Read more: Bristol's 40 best restaurants and places to eat
The Yate cafe first opened in 2016 and started off as a takeaway unit for people passing through Kingsgate Park, which then quickly expanded to offer dine-in seating after high demand. It has since grown to offer 130 covers with multiple rooms each adorned with a classic, vintage tearoom style.
Its tiered sandwich cakes and cheesecakes are worthy of the star baker prize on the Great British Bake Off, decorated beautifully with vibrant colours and exciting flavours, such as toffee apple, luxurious chocolate and Kinder Bueno. The business is family-run with Nicole’s husband overseeing the renovation in 2016 and her two daughters now working in the cafe, one as a baker and the other as a barista.
The cafe is a popular brunch spot as well as serving up an array of freshly made cakes. Its afternoon tea is in high demand, however, and currently has a six-month waiting list at its Yate cafe, priced at £24.95 per person with child portions available for a smaller fee. Afternoon tea will be available in Charfield in the spring.
“We’ve been compared to the Burj Khalifa and people have been there in Dubai and said that ours is much better. Everything, the sweet and the savoury, is made on-site and the passion from the bakers wanting to create a taste sensation and offer something different.”
The Vintage Birdcage Cakery is known for its made-to-order cheesecakes at Christmas and offers a buffet service for events. Nicole concocted all of the recipes herself and gives the bakers the freedom to add their own twists to the cakes.
“We’ve had our ups and downs over Covid,” Nicole added. “We did a lot for the community doing a free soup round for 450 people a day, so that put us firmly on the map as people locally who could help.”
Nicole was then approached by the owner of the Bridge building in Charfield and decided to take the plunge despite it being a challenging time for hospitality. “We’ve just been so well supported and it’s been amazing. We’re just doing what we love to do and offering a service to people who care about the cakes.”
“I just feel blessed that people love the Birdcage. We offer a friendly, lovely service and the feedback we’ve got from the people in Charfield has been amazing.”
Nicole added that while the Charfield cafe tends to be a classier environment, the original Yate site is much more relaxed with different rooms that offer designated areas for families and adults only. “We welcome everybody,” she added - the team even have dog-friendly cupcakes and ice creams to ensure no one is left out.
Its success, Nicole said, was purely down to the dedication of both teams. “I would be nothing without my staff and the passion they all have goes above and beyond the call of duty. I feel very blessed that people have stuck by me.”
The Yate cafe is open seven days a week and the new Vintage Birdcage on the Bridge in Charfield is currently running Tuesdays to Saturdays from 9am until 4.30pm. Visit the Vintage Birdcage Cakery and Cafe’s website for more information - note that bookings are only available for afternoon tea.
Find the Vintage Birdcage Cafe at: Grooms House, Yate; and Poskett Way, Charfield.
Up next:
