Here's why you need to visit this idyllic Perthshire cafe

The couple took on the dreamy spot near Crieff around five months ago after relocating from Glasgow. They opened it within a month of arriving at Comrie Croft, where it is based.

In just three and a half months, the team has served more than 30,000 customers, a huge achievement for a small, secluded cafe in the rural Scottish countryside.

Pictured: A Gorse Cafe outdoor seating area (Image: Julia Bryce) Comrie Croft’s constant stream of customers has ensured Gorse Cafe has received a warm reception, with mountain bikers, families, walkers and wedding parties all utilising the catering facilities when passing through.

Scottish celebrity Lewis Capaldi even stopped by for a bite to eat after his Glastonbury set in June, sparking an influx of new customers seeking out the coorie cafe.

Keri, who worked at Comrie Croft in housekeeping for a few shifts 16 years ago, says the move feels like “a full circle moment”.

“My mum actually sent me the Facebook post and said Isaac and I should take a look,” said Keri. “We knew we wanted to live somewhere more rural, but the more we learned about Comrie Croft and the owner's vision aligning with ours, we just knew it would be perfect for us.”

Pictured: Isaac Wild working the coffee machine (Image: Julia Bryce)

Keri, who has worked at Wild Hearth Bakery (one of the cafe’s suppliers) in Comrie and Cottonrake in Glasgow, leads the kitchen while Isaac heads up front of house.

“My speciality is more in the coffee side of things,” smiles Isaac, who has just completed a PHD in chemistry and physics.

The croft itself is a hive of activity. It can house 400 people on its campsite at any one time and is home to 12 collaborative nature-based micro-enterprises such as a farm shop, Tomnaha’s Market Garden (also a supplier), Nowhere Sauna and a bike hire and repair shop.

The couple even tied the knot themselves at the croft’s wedding venue in June.

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Gorse Cafe’s offering is simple. It needs to be to keep up with demand. In summer alone, they sold more than 100 sandwiches each day, and with Keri preparing everything from the sauces right down to brining, seasoning and slicing the meat used in each sandwich, it takes hours to pull everything together in advance of customers arriving.

Pictured: A raspberry cheesecake brownie (Image: Julia Bryce)

She added, “We’ve had three, maybe four rotations of the sandwiches already. The beef one has consistently remained, although we’ve changed the veg or sauces to keep it feeling fresh.

“The raspberry cheesecake brownie, beef sandwich and any of the oat cookies seem to be our current best sellers.

“I’d love to have a prep kitchen so that we can make even more things like our pastries in-house. We currently source those from Wild Hearth, who are amazing. Our salads change every few weeks with what is available from Tomnaha’s Market Garden, which is just 50 metres down the road on-site. We just walk down and see what is available, and if there’s a surplus of something, we’ll take it and pickle or ferment it.”

“There’s no food miles there,” adds Isaac, who has returned to the communal table Keri and I are sitting at after another busy spell.

Employing 17 part-time and full-time staff throughout the summer has ensured Gorse Cafe’s success. Queues would wrap around the venue’s outdoor seating area and spill down the front of the building, where the indoor seating was equally as busy. As a result, the food needed to be altered early on for grab-and-go.

Pictured: Tomato and mozzarella focaccia (Image: Julia Bryce) Keri said: “We don’t offer hot food apart from soup in the summer because the demand is just too high. We change the flavours of things with the season, but haven’t done a big menu overhaul yet.”

Currently living on-site in a cabin they built, Keri and Isaac are looking forward to the autumn months, when they will introduce a new menu featuring hot food. The cafe will remain open seven days a week until the end of October and will be open three to four days from November until spring.

Pictured: A tray of goodies from Gorse Cafe (Image: Julia Bryce)

A blackboard-style menu will be curated featuring everything from hot sandwiches such as pulled pork with apple sauce and pesto chicken, to Bahn Mi for vegetarians. Keri is also toying with adding a Scandinavian-inspired plate with rye bread, a boiled egg and fermented and pickled goodies, too.

Pictured: Keri Wild baking in the kitchen (Image: Julia Bryce) Isaac added: “There’s a huge mountain biking community around here, and we are really passionate about supporting local. We use a lot of local produce and are very conscious of waste, so we use a lot of off-cuts to create wonderful food.

“It has been a lot of hard work, but we couldn’t have done it without the support of Comrie Croft or our team. We’re excited for the future and what’s to come – hopefully that includes some long table dinners as well, if we have the capacity.”

For more information on the Gorse Cafe at Comrie Croft, visit www.comriecroft.com.