Here, in our latest Business of the Week feature, Flavia tells us about her coffee shop, which caters to those with the autoimmune condition.
If you would like your business to feature as Business or Trader of the Week, email tabitha.wilson@newsquest.co.uk
What’s your full name?
My name is Flavia Popa
What’s the name of the business?
Our Coffee Shop
What’s the address?
Lancelyn Precinct, 7 Spital Road, Spital, CH63 9JP
Are you the owner/manager?
I’m the owner, although around here it very much feels like a family effort.
Our Coffee Shop is in Spital (Image: Supplied)
When did you open the business?
We opened nearly eight years ago, and it has been a labour of love ever since.
Has it always been in the same location?
Yes, we have always been in the same location, and over the years we’ve loved becoming part of the local community and watching familiar faces turn into friends.
Are you local to the area? Did you grow up here?
I’m originally from Romania but have lived here for just over 16 years now, and Wirral truly feels like home.
I’ve raised my daughters here and built both my family life and my business here, so the community means a lot to me.
Tell me a bit about your business
Our Coffee Shop is an independent coffee shop built around homemade food, locally sourced and quality ingredients, specialty coffee, and making people feel genuinely welcome.
We serve breakfast, brunch, and lunch six days a week, with everything made with care and attention.
The Famous Triple Sandwich (Image: Supplied)
We’re known for our breakfasts – not just a traditional Full English, but also pancakes, French toast, eggs Benedict with our own twists to name a few, homemade lunch dishes, and plenty of comforting food that people come back for again and again.
We also bake our own cakes in-house and make homemade afternoon teas, which were previously voted the best on the Wirral.
There are also little Romanian touches throughout our menu and baking – flavours and ideas inspired by home and family traditions.
What do you do? What services do you provide?
We serve homemade breakfasts, brunches, and lunches, specialty coffee made by skilled baristas, many other drinks like milkshakes, frappes, the viral flavoured matcha drinks, homemade cakes, and no less than five different afternoon teas, all in a warm and welcoming environment.
Mouthwateringly tasty French toast (Image: Supplied)
One thing we’re especially passionate about is our gluten-free offering.
99% of our menu can be made gluten-free, which is something incredibly important to me personally as I was diagnosed coeliac nearly two years ago.
I know firsthand how difficult and sometimes worrying eating out can be when you have coeliac disease – reading menus anxiously, asking questions, and wondering if you’re truly safe.
Because of that, we’ve worked incredibly hard to make gluten-free food exciting, varied, and delicious – not something people feel is an afterthought or compromise.
Why did you decide to open your own business?
Sometimes life pushes you in a direction you never expected.
Nearly eight years ago, life threw me lemons.
I was becoming a single mum to two young daughters, and I knew I needed something that would give me the flexibility to be there for them whilst also supporting us financially.
Instead of becoming sour and lemony, I decided to make a lemon cake.
Pancakes with mixed roasted nuts and creme fraiche (GF) (Image: Supplied)
I wanted to continue creating sweetness – both literally and figuratively – and create a place filled with warmth, good food, and happy moments.
That’s really how the coffee shop was born, and even the name says it, which also my girls chose, as one day they started singing:” Mummy, it’s our coffee shop!!” so it clicked, they were right.
It’s ours, and we want everyone to think it’s theirs too.
My girls were one of the biggest reasons behind opening the business.
I wanted to build something for us, while still being able to be present as a mum.
What’s your business background?
My background is actually in management, both through my university degree and previous management positions I worked in over the years.
Our Coffee Shop serves afternoon tea (Image: Supplied)
But alongside that, food, baking, and cooking were always a huge part of my life.
I’m Romanian, and my love for baking started very young with my mum, who is still the best cook and cake maker I know.
I was always the child waiting for the spoon to lick when cakes were being made in the kitchen.
Those memories stayed with me, and I think that love naturally found its way into the café and our homemade baking.
Why this type of business?
Food has always been about bringing people together for me.
Some of life’s best conversations, celebrations, and comforting moments happen around a table.
I wanted to create somewhere warm and welcoming where people could pause from busy lives and enjoy homemade food that genuinely tastes homemade.
Since becoming coeliac myself, this mission has become even more personal.
A traditional Bakewell (Image: Supplied)
I wanted people with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance to feel excited about eating out rather than worried.
We want people to walk in and forget they’re eating gluten-free – just enjoy fantastic food like everyone else.
What makes your business different from others in the same area/field? What sets your business apart from your competitors?
I think what makes us different is that everything comes from the heart.
We care deeply about quality, freshly made-to-order homemade food, and creating a welcoming atmosphere.
99% of our menu can be made gluten-free, which is quite unusual, and because I’m coeliac myself, we truly understand how important knowledge, trust and care are.
Gluten-free for us isn’t just a trend – it’s personal.
We have a separate area only for gluten-free, from utensils to always new packs of ingredients being opened for GF, own toaster, pans, oven, everything.
We also make so much in-house, from cakes to afternoon teas, and we love adding little Romanian twists to dishes where we can.
We’re not trying to be just another coffee shop – we want people to feel looked after, welcomed, and leave feeling they had something genuinely special.
And of course, there’s Andy – the big smile at the front that many of our customers already know well!
Besides helping manage the café, he’s definitely the numbers-and-organisation person, while I’m more the creative, baking, and ideas side.
The funny thing is, through the coffee shop I found love again too, which is another unexpected, beautiful thing that grew from this little business – alongside our shared love of good coffee.
Why do loyal customers return to your business?
I think people come back because they know they’ll receive a warm welcome and genuinely homemade food.
Over the years, many customers have become like extended family to us.
A huge part of why people come back is also our amazing team, and I honestly couldn’t do it without them.
We may be a small business, but we feel more like family than staff, and each person brings something unique and special to the café.
Vanilla with mango inserts, blackberries, homemade lemon marshmallow fluff, and finished with torched meringue (Image: Supplied)
There’s Helen – the queen of our millionaire shortbread and our in-house singer!
You’ll probably hear her before you see her, as she sings her way through the day and definitely keeps the atmosphere lively (I’m sure plenty of our regulars will know exactly who I mean!).
She somehow also seems to know everything about everything around the shop.
Then there’s Kerry, our chef, who honestly at times you’d think has tentacles instead of arms because of how incredibly fast she is, all while keeping such a high standard and quality in every dish she sends out.
And Hollie, our newest team member, who brings such warmth and kindness to front of house and has such a lovely way with our customers.
Together, we’ve created somewhere that feels welcoming, relaxed and personal – and I think customers feel that genuine care when they visit.
That means so much to us.
For our gluten-free customers especially, there’s comfort in knowing they can walk in and enjoy almost the whole menu without feeling limited or worried.
We hear so often: “It’s so nice to go somewhere and actually have choices.”
That means everything to us.
What’s next? What do the next few months hold for you and your business?
We want to keep growing, improving and continuing to create something special for the community.
We’re always experimenting with new homemade cakes, seasonal specials, and gluten-free ideas, while staying true to what people already love about us.
Moreover, something that people have been asking us to do for a very long time is to do deliveries, so we can announce now that very soon we will be live on Just Eat, so our delicious food can reach everyone now.
We are very excited for this!
But always our goal has been simple – to keep creating quality homemade food, sweet moments, and a place where everyone feels welcome.