A couple have admitted that they couldn’t turn down the chance to take over a much-loved Dumbarton cafe when they were offered it.
Victoria Edwards and wife Amy jumped at the opportunity to take over Scruples in Wallace Street when previous owner Helen Mackenzie said she would be retiring after 30 years.
After rebranding as Roo’s Kitchen, Victoria and Amy have been rushed off their feet with demand – but say that they are living a long-held dream.
Victoria told the Lennox: “We are so excited for what the future will hold. It has been exceptionally busy since opening the doors to Roo’s Kitchen coffee shop and bistro. A lot of Helen’s previous customers have come to support us and a lot of Roo’s Kitchen customers have come along too.
“There were various newspaper articles written about me when I was younger and one in particular comes to mind where I said I would like to own my own restaurant in the future.
“Here I am, 10 years later. I got there!
“Amy also always pictured having her own wee coffee shop and bookshop and now both our dreams have come true.
“I met Amy seven years ago and she also works in the industry, managing front of house so you could say it’s the perfect partnership. Between us, we have nearly 30 years experience in the catering industry.”
Despite opening her first bistro in Dumbarton, Victoria’s roots are far further afield – with her cooking skills taking her across the country.
She continued: “When I was 18, I won Young Highland Chef of the Year. The competition was run by the Albert Roux Consultancy.
“The judges were well-known chefs in the industry including some who had won Masterchef, and the head judge was none other than Albert Roux himself who was quoted in the local newspaper as saying: “This Highland lass has a great future”. It was a rollercoaster of events thereafter. I worked for a short time at Le Gavroche with Monica Galetti and Michel Roux Jnr. I also worked in Cromlix, Andy Murray’s restaurant, amongst many others. I became head chef in various restaurants soon after and have worked all over Scotland in a host of fine dining restaurants.
“Amy started at a young age in the industry working her way up the ranks to then being able to run weddings and manage restaurants.
“She was brought up in Ayrshire where she lived until we both moved over to the local area together. She started at a young age as a kitchen porter like myself and has worked her way up too.”
Despite the cafe and bistro being a new venture, Victoria has been delighted to see many Scruples regulars return to the venue.
She continued: “Helen was a customer of ours at Roo’s Kitchen and we delivered catering boxes to her.
“We seemed to build a relationship and one day she offered us the chance to hire her coffee shop for private events and regular pop-ups. A year later, she approached us to say she was retiring and wondered if we would take it over. How could we possibly say no?
“A big shout out goes to Helen’s loyal customers as well as our own for supporting us so far.
“It’s so lovely to meet everyone and we thank them all for their support and encouragement. It’s such an honour to be able to provide good food for the local area and the amount of return customers we are getting already after only a few weeks, just shows how well we must be doing.
“I need to thank Julie, Sharon and Scott who have stayed from Scruples to work in the new business too. Their work-ethic is second to none and without them, we may well have struggled to cope with how busy it has been.”
And for those wondering why two people called Victoria and Amy run a restaurant called Roo’s Kitchen, Victoria provided the answer.
“Although I’m Victoria, my nickname in the industry was always Roo from the kangaroo in Winnie the Pooh. So it was an easy name for the business when I became self employed” she added.
