About The Hyndland Cafe
History, Heritage, Heart
The story of The Hyndland Cafe
Built between 1901 and 1910 by J. A. MacTaggarts & Co. who were responsible for developing the North-West corner of Hyndland as part of a development production of 300 Glasgow tenements, the original designs were submitted as far back as 1902 by Andrew Mickel architects under plan number 1/8953.
Originally a construction of 5 tenements of 2-4 bedrooms and kitchens with bathroom, the sunlit sloping awning on the corner of Clarence Drive belongs to the St. George Co-Operative Society – known today as the Drive Supermarket. The tram lines were installed down Clarence Drive in 1910 before Hyndland Secondary School was established in 1912 with the shops towards the top of Clarence Drive in 1926.
Through various incarnations, the presence of the café has been a pillar of the Hyndland community and under the stewardship of Stewart and Kim; it will continue to be so well into the future.
How it all came to be…
At the heart of the Hyndland Café are owners Stewart and Kim Bisley. Married since 1996, Stewart and Kim have a beautiful daughter Maia and an adorable bichon frise called Rosie.
As a submariner in the Royal Navy for 23 years, Stewart’s retirement gave the Bisleys a chance to enjoy a more relaxing pace of business closer to home and the Hyndland Café has provided a warming balance of family and work.
‘’The first two years were a huge learning curve for both of us and we relied heavily on our team to show us the ropes’’ says Kim. A major part in developing the atmosphere of family and strong community ties in the café have come from a strong team mentality across the staff who tirelessly strive daily to provide excellent customer service and fabulous food. ‘’We want our loyal customers to stay with us and to spread word to their friends’’ say Stewart and Kim as they invite you into The Hyndland Café.
Owner
Serving 23 years as a submariner in the Royal Navy, Stewart’s retirement brought opportunity to work in a new environment whilst gaining plenty of family time with Kim and Maia.
With an ever-present interest in food (mainly WATCHING T.V. cookery programs!) Stewart is thoroughly enjoying working across all different aspects of the business and getting to know our customers over a coffee!
Owner
Kim’s experience of working in the city for a long time have been instrumental in taking charge of the social media and website for the café.
Taking time out in 2009 to start a family, Kim now enjoys tea parties with Maia in practicing the family business and according to Stewart; eating more cake than serving it! The perks of being the owner…!
Baker
Nana Bisley is Stewart’s mum and provides some of the café’s delicious home baking!
Specialties including our popular Mars Bar cake and enchanting custard creams and empire biscuits, Nana Bisley takes great pleasure in creating tasty treats for our customers. If you’ve heard the rumours about Nana’s carrot cake – you haven’t lived until you’ve had a bite! Just don’t expect to get the recipe, it’s top secret…
Manager (Chef and Front of House)
Starting with the café in 2009, Amanda began with the Hyndland Café as chef and quickly developed experience working the front of house when covering a colleague’s maternity leave. Amanda has been instrumental in the quality of our food and has recently been promoted to manager.
The other key expert in our marvellous home baking, particularly specialty cakes, Amanda also enjoys making cakes for special occasions with a very unique creative flair!
Front of House
Sarah has been with the café since 2015 and immediately felt part of the team. Working part time whilst studying for an HND in Complementary Therapies (which she has now completed). Sarah particularly enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of the café in lovely surroundings.
Front of House
Melissa has been with us since 2016. She is currently studying for an HNC in Social Services.
Melissa works front of house in-between taste testing Amanda’s creations.
Front of House
Jane has been with us since 2017. She is currently studying English. She works front of house and is always quick with a smile.
Jane loves working with what she describes as ‘fabulous customers, team, fun and food.’
Chef
Scott has been with the Café since 2015 and love’s being able to express creativity through the daily specials. Scott also love’s (and isn’t shy about) the fact that at the recent team go karting night out he was the only NONE driver……and came FIRST!
Chef
James joined the team in 2017. He has been a Chef since 2009.
He has worked in all kinds of environments but …”this is by far his favourite” … He’s enjoying being creative with the specials and working with such a fun team.