A COUPLE with a shared passion for Mediterranean food have added to their business portfolio by taking on an Arnside cafe.

Steve Manders set up Wagtail Catering almost a decade ago, at first just catering for events with hog roasts.

However, he was able to expand on the success of the business and started offering full wedding catering.

Now, wife Kate, who has been a partner in the business for two years and married to Steve for 18 months, will be taking charge of the Ramblers Cafe.

“I had a tapestry design business supplying for John Lewis and Hobbycraft and places like that,” she said. “I sold that business once Steve moved here and it’s been a bit of a whirlwind really.”

The cafe’s previous owners were from Cyprus and offered lots of Greek food. The couple plan to expand on that offering.

“A lot of the food we love to eat ourselves is Mediterranean food,” Kate, 49, said. “Our ethos is good food, done well, made from scratch as much as is possible.

“I love the whole sharing side of that food, which is just brilliant at weddings.

“It’s healthy, it’s whole food type stuff and it just tastes really nice and there is just so much variety.”

On the menu there is sharing platters, soups, salad selections, homemade cakes and sweets.

And Kate is also offering breakfast choices, including granola, bircher muesli and ‘build your own’ breakfast option.

The couple, who live in Whittington, have built up good connections with local food producers and are sourcing bread from Kendal’s Lovingly Artisan, milk from Stephenson’s Dairy and meat from FW Burrow in Silverdale.

However, Kate said there would still be important good quality olive oil and olives from abroad, just as the previous owners had done.

And there is traditional British grub on offer at the cafe, with the couple’s homemade pies already going down a storm with customers.

“Steve loves pies,” said Kate. “And they are good pies because we do everything from scratch. The pastry is proper pastry and we make our own stocks and we are really generous with the fillings.”

The cafe is open Wednesday-Monday from 9-4.30pm and until 5pm on a Saturday.

“We want it to be welcoming,” Kate said. “We are dog and child friendly. We want it to be a central hub for Arnside where people meet and know they can come and have a great cup of coffee.”