Café Fou brings a Mad Hatter’s tea party to Ilminster
Report by Kelly Leonard for News Advertiser newspapers
A new café with a Mad Hatter’s tea party theme has opened in Ilminster at The Somerset Phoenix Studios, taking over the space once occupied by a bakery.
The venue has been relaunched as Café Fou by chef and entrepreneur Simon Conroy (pictured), who held a soft launch on 20th August as part of his company Red Moon Events. He said the first day “went well” and that he is adjusting to running the business while looking forward to its future.
When speaking to local reporters, Simon admitted, “It’s scary, of course it’s scary. There are a lot of unknowns; there’s a lot riding on it. The town centre needs this particular coffee shop. The whole idea of a soft launch is to find out where the snags are and iron them out. It’s treading a fine line, so who knows what’s going to happen, but we hope to draw people in.”
Explaining the name, he said, “The word Fou means mad, which is the whole theme of the café. It’s a tea party here.”
The choice of name also has a personal meaning, as it reminds Simon of working with his brothers in a London restaurant called Fou.
Hospitality is in the family: Simon has been a chef since the 1990s, both his brothers also work as chefs, his grandfather was a chef in the army and his daughter is a pastry chef. “It’s kind of in the blood,” he said.
Reflecting on how he came to South Somerset, Simon explained, “During Covid, everyone ran from London.” After relocating, he worked at Dillington briefly and helped to set up two cafés in Ilminster before the chance came to launch Café Fou.
“I wanted to take what I learnt somewhere big and put it somewhere small and do it with my own money,” he said. “You can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, so I jumped on the opportunity. Being adjacent to a fashion house in what is going to become a destination in this area. It’s too good an opportunity to miss, so I bit the bullet.”
By blending culinary experience with a distinctive theme, Café Fou is positioning itself as a unique addition to Ilminster’s town centre and a new draw for both locals and visitors.
( Images: Simon Conroy / Facebook 📸 )