A CUMBRIAN couple are hoping their new cafe will provide a ‘cultural hub’ for Hawkshead.

Emma Watson, 32 and Luke Brown, 28, are the duo behind ‘Kittchen’.

Previously an outdoors shop, the Main Street building has been revamped. The upstairs area is modelled on a 1920s jazz bar and downstairs offers a ‘modern cubist cafe’.

The cafe is also home to four cats called Bill, Gilbert, Bruno and Daisy and features an array of cat literature, toys and climbing apparatus

“Our tag line is ‘Café, Culture, Cats’,” said Emma. “This pretty much sums up exactly what we do. The café downstairs, the culture upstairs and the cats everywhere. It’s a bit of a vanity project, with all the things that we love, tea, coffee, entertainment, beer and cats.”

And the couple are striving for Kittchen to be 100 per cent Cumbrian.

“We’re really utilising the fantastic products Cumbria has to offer, we want our customers to enjoy local produce in an unusual environment,” said Luke.

Kittchen’s tea is from New Leaf Tea Tasters in Near Sawrey and the coffee from Carlisle, breakfast is supplied by Lakeland Mues and Higginson’s pork pies, platters of local cheeses and pickles from Hawkshead Relish are all on offer at the cafe.

Luke is the events curator at Kittchen and the café has an impressive line-up of Cumbrian musicians, poets and storytellers for the coming months. Each week there will be a quiz and film night suitable for all the family.

Luke said: “We thought it was important to do this here in Hawkshead, Kendal has the Brewery Arts Centre, but there isn’t a cultural hub actually in the central Lakes.”