Boss of Midge Bite Café in Achnasheen delighted with 'out of the blue' visit from TV personality Jonathan Ross as tiny business launched at tough time goes from strength to strength after coronavirus challenges

THE boss of a small Wester Ross cafe which has weathered the coronavirus storm and come out the other end positively thriving, has spoken of her staff's delight over a surprise TV personality visitor.

Staff at The Midge Bite Café in Achnasheen were delighted when TV personality and broadcaster Jonathan Ross dropped in last weekend.

Owner Hazel Boswell said: "Jonathan Ross's visit was completely out of the blue and unexpected.

"Popping in for lunch he chose one of our ever popular deli-style pastrami sandwiches, a home-baked bakewell blondie and an unassuming cup of tea. "He was very pleasant and chatty, asking how business was and commenting that all our home-baking and lunch menu looked delicious.

"I am very glad he visited my wee cafe and that he was so kind and generous of spirit, posing for a picture with my young, hard-working team and also leaving them a generous tip. These little things mean a lot.

"We opened our doors in 2020 with the first lockdown coming just a week after our scheduled opening. It has been a challenging time to start a new hospitality venture, however I am happy to say we have gone from strength to strength over the last two years in Achnasheen.

"In April of this year we took up the opportunity of opening a Midge Bite D.I.Y cafe, within the beautiful Attadale Gardens - Strathcarron. Our summer season has been fantastic across both locations and now as Scottish school holidays come to an end we see no sign of a drop in customer numbers. As we are open all year in Achnasheen and have plenty of local trade from our lovely regulars we are looking forward to a great rest of 2022."

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