The Innocent Kitchen... Thank you for everything.

How frustrating is it when you’ve been thinking about something for long but you just can’t put the right words together? 

It is now August and I have been wanting to write this blog post since the end of April.

Have I been busy? Yes.

Have I had more time than I have in years? A definite yes.

However, talking about the sale of the cafe is actually really hard. How do I summarise my feelings about the end of an era? I am not the same person that I was in 2014 when my family & I decided to open a coffee shop. 

I’m writing this but I still have no idea what to say... so I guess I’ll see where my ramblings take me.

When we opened The Innocent Kitchen there were no other coffee shops in the immediate area and definitely nothing like our business. If you have read the ‘About Us’ section on the website you would know that previously we had a kids catering company. You can read that page here. Motivated by creating a welcoming space for local families, our initial concept even included a dollhouse home to plastic dinosaur toys. From the day we opened until the day we handed over the keys to the new owner, we offered free babycinos and never charged extra for soy or lactose free milk. It was just against our ethos.

5 years in business can feel like a lifetime and it really was. There were plenty of ups and downs and in the first two years it definitely felt like I was running on pure adrenaline. In that time I also met Simon who is now my husband and we bought our first house. Marshmallow Club started to gain momentum of its own and we took it online. And the birthday cakes. So many birthday cakes! 

My family and I always joke that Simon was never part of the plan. Neither was moving to The Blue Mountains and commuting 3 hours a day but life changes. Something that was always going to happen was the success of Marshmallow Club, and ultimately I had to follow this dream. I can’t remember the exact moment I decided that it was time, but we all agreed to sell the cafe so that I could focus on just one business. Imagine what I could do with Marshmallow Club if I wasn’t working in a cafe 6 days a week as well! 

The process of the sale is a whole other story of its own. In the end the new owner completely changed the cafe and it has a new name.

The legacy of The Innocent Kitchen will always live on through the memories of the babies that had their first babycino there. Through all of the kids who celebrated birthdays with my cakes, and my customers who became my closest friends. No one expects that when you open a business you will have the support that I did from my regulars. Geez... is someone cutting up onions in here? The community that was formed in my humble little coffee shop still lives on and I am so proud that I helped to create these friendships.

On that note, I’ll leave you with some of my favourite memories from the cafe. The Instagram account is still online if you ever want to have a look at 5 years worth of memories. Click here to visit.

xxDani