Sunderland's new Cafe Floriana opens this weekend - here's what's on the menu

Cafe Floriana opens its doors this Saturday, April 20, offering coffees, cakes, brunches, afternoon teas and more.

Mother and daughter team Kate and Emilia Ross have transformed the former Proven People site in Burdon Road after building up a loyal following at their Front Parlour coffee shop in Stockton Road.

They took over The Front Parlour in January 2022 and soon had to take over the former shop unit in the second room of the beauty salon building to meet demand.

Now, moving into larger premises, and a rebrand, has enabled them to boost their offering, with a whole kitchen dedicated to gluten-free food and accessible toilets.

Kate and Emilia were inspired to start their own cafe after their own experiences with food allergies and intolerances.

They felt passionate about not compromising cost and quality as a consequence of dietary requirements.

Emilia said: “I have a nut allergy and eating out with allergies and intolerances can be such a pain. We felt really strongly about not charging extra for things like dairy-free alternatives, which can often be the case. We’re very vigilant about allergies and give people plenty of options.”

She added: “We always try and use the best local suppliers and local bakeries. We’re big believers in fresh, local produce. People eat with their eyes, too, so the look is also very important to us.”

Speaking about how they ended up in business together, Kate, who has a background in hospitality and marketing, said: “I’ve always enjoyed being self-employed and Emilia and I were looking for something to do as a family that we enjoyed.

“Even after the first six weeks at The Front Parlour it soon became obvious we needed more space and we took over a second room. We always try and think outside of the box and do something different, and our supper clubs and afternoon teas really took off.

“They became more and more popular and people wanted hen parties and baby showers, but the maximum we could accommodate in one room before was 16. It got to a point where we had to turn big parties away so we realised we needed somewhere larger. Paula (the owner of the The Front Parlour building) gave us a fantastic start.”

The pair found the Burdon Road site fairly quickly and fell in love with the building and the location, which will soon be near the Holmeside surface level car park currently under construction.

The Victorian building, opposite the Museum & Winter Gardens, which had been empty for around three years, has a long history in the city and was once home to the then town’s railway manager’s office.

It still has many of the original features including parquet flooring and panelling.

The news they were moving was warmly received by customers.

“The feedback has been phenomonal,” said Emilia. “There’s lots of footfall past here and lots of people have been looking through the window as we’ve been working on the cafe asking when we’re opening.”

*Cafe Floriana, Burdon Road, is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm and Sundays from 10am to 3pm and is dog-friendly. At the minute, alcohol is BYOB with a £2 corkage per person.

On the menu

Brunch is served daily from 10am to 3pm. (A gluten-free menu and vegan menu also available)

It includes options such as crispy serrano bagel (£6.75), very berry loaded bagel (£6.95) and cherry tomato pesto bagel (£5.75).

There’s also a range of loaded sourdough such as hot halloumi (£7.25), harissa baked beans (£7.25) and smashed avo (£7.25).

Breakfast bowls include cacao-berry yoghurt bowl (£6) and blueberry parfait (£6.50).

Lunch is served 12pm to 3pm.

A range of deli sandwiches are available, including Italian chicken (£7.25), reuben (£7.50), Caprese (£6.50), hot tuna (£7.50) and more.

Cakes and bakes are served all day.