INDEPENDENT OF THE MONTH
INDIE OF THE MONTH Dulced o WELL KNOWN ON HILLS ROAD FOR PASTRIES AND DESSERTS THAT LOOK (ALMOST) TOO GOOD TO EAT, DULCEDO IS EMBARKING ON A NEW ADVENTURE FOR 2020
WORDS BY SIOBHAN GODWOOD
Andrew has learnt a lot in the past couple of years on Hills Road, and running a business for the first time hasn’t always been an easy ride. “We definitely had a few teething difficulties to begin with,” he says. “In this part of Cambridge, there are no tourists, and it took us a while to work that out that we needed to adapt what we offer to the demand that is there. There are lots of offices round about, and 90% of our customers are local rather than passing trade. So we started offering brunch, and sandwiches and other lunch items for the people who are working in the local
was new to me and Joanna, so it was a good way to dip our feet in and get some experience. But we were always looking out for a site so we could run a patisserie and dessert kitchen. That was always the goal.” In 2017, Dulcedo’s current home on Hills Road became available, but Andrew and Joanna always knew it wouldn’t be a permanent home for the business. “It’s going to be converted into flats,” Andrew explains, “and we were aware of that from the outset. For us, it was a good way to start the business and find our feet without having to commit to a ten-year lease.”
ndrew Hunter and his partner Joanna took their first steps towards their dream of running a restaurant in 2015, with a stall
on Cambridge Market. “We had the stall at particular times of year, like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, and sold seasonal items that people could give as gifts,” says Andrew. “Because it wasn’t a bricks- and-mortar premises, it had to be things that didn’t need to be refrigerated, like chocolates and macarons. My background is as a chef, working in restaurants for the past 20 years, but the retail side of things
IMAGES Some of Dulcedo’s creative confections IMAGES © NICOLA FOLEY
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