Squirrelled away in one of Glasgow's most creative wee nooks, the Hidden Lane, which lies just off Argyle Street in Finnieston, you'll find one of the city's most colourful and iconic tearooms.
The Hidden Lane Tearoom, which sits among the independent studios, workshops, restaurants and shops that dot this little lane and have transformed into a hive of activity, has just been taken over by entrepreneurial sisters Lindsay Hammond, 35 and Nicola Paul, 40.
The pair are hoping to continue on the previous owners' good work, which they've since built upon, leading to them recently winning plaudits from the review site TripAdvisor.
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"It's so nice to be back in a physical space after lockdown," explained Lindsay, who commutes from Stirling each day to come to work "Welcoming people in and getting to chat with them.
"We are well known as a traditional tearoom, and we offer wholesome, hearty food - you always get big portions and a good feed."
The sisters, who hail from a digital marketing background, have always dreamed of owning their own tearoom, so when Hidden Lane came up in October, it was a no-brainer for them.
"We have always talked about it, just through our love of baking, teas and cakes," Lindsay said. "In fact, way back we even used to have a blog visiting and reviewing tearooms, so we actually used to visit the tearoom quite a bit.
"When we saw that the previous owner, Kirsty, was selling, we were both really interested. We loved that it was independent and that it had close ties with other local businesses, which was a key ethos of our digital marketing company, Yellowbird – getting out there and shouting about these wonderful small businesses."
They now work with local businesses such as Glasgow's own Thomson's Coffee Roasters and Hillington-bassed loose-leaf tea specialists, Jenier World of Teas, with their bakes and scones daily made in-house by their experienced team - led by assistant manager Emma.
Lyndsay explained: "Nicola does a wee bit of baking here and there, but we have a really great assistant manager in Emma, who has been here for three years and is really hands-on. She does a lot of the big cakes, the tray bakes, the cupcakes and the miniatures for the afternoon tea, and the team are great too, they make the scones fresh every day."
The duo love where they are based, revealing that the Hidden Lane community is just "lovely, helpful and such a great mix".
"People often wander down and discover us, which is wonderful. It's such a vibrant wee place tucked away where you wouldn't expect. We want to encourage people to keep coming back again and again.
Not only are they a thriving tearoom, but the talented sisters explained that they are hoping to make more use of their events space which people can rent out for celebrations or even workshops, with recent events including life drawing and tea leaf reading already having taken place.
And with Valentines coming up they are taking bookings for the afternoon itself while being a female-run business means they are also keen to create a 'Galentine's' offering for women who want to just enjoy the day with friends.
The Tearoom is open from 10am daily and now taking bookings for Galentine’s weekend.
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