a day ago
'It's lovely to be able to bring something vibrant to where you live': New café opens its doors in Cork town
A new café has opened its doors on Ballincollig's main street, offering locals and visitors to the town good vibes and even better coffee in a welcoming, bright space.
Mark and Fiona O'Brien, salon directors of Mark Vincent Hair and Beauty on the main street, have opened the café in the same unit as their existing business after 14 years in the hair industry in Ballincollig.
The original idea was to open a coffee shop, but the idea expanded, and the café now boasts a kitchen with highly qualified chefs who prepare everything on-site using the very best of local produce.
A day trade café open six days a week, there are already ideas swirling to create something special at the café to cater for the town's night-time economy.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner about the café's success since opening its doors just over three weeks ago, Fiona O'Brien said: 'I've always felt that we had a beautiful space with beautiful window frontage looking onto the main street of Ballincollig.
Interior of Blondie
'I had been to other towns and places where I'd seen coffee shops that had that brightness and I always felt that our unit deserved to be something more special so I suppose, for me, a coffee shop has a fantastic vibration and is alive, and I wanted to bring something special to Ballincollig.
'I have a great love for where I live, and our kids were born and raised here and have gone to school here, so that's really important. I just think it's the greatest town, and it's just having something vibrant and special that creates a community space for people to come into, where they get amazing food and coffee. It's proven to be that, so it's great.' Mark O'Brien echoed that sentiment, acknowledging the community that they have built through their 14 years in hairdressing in Ballincollig.
Fiona O'Brien
'We have had an established business next to the café for the last 14 years. We've been self-employed now for 20 years, and there is a community that was aware that we were opening Blondie, and they are just delighted to be part of that and to have somewhere nice to eat with some really good food,' he said.
Speaking about the chosen name for the café, Fiona O'Brien said: 'The name originates from myself, actually. It's hair-related and food-related. I was a brunette for years, copper, went through every other hair colour, and in recent years have become blonde.
"Relating it to food, then, you have your blondie brownies and you have your blonde roast coffee, and there's an energy too about Blondie that's bright and that's what I wanted to draw into the unit, was a brightness and lightness.'
Interior of Blondie
She acknowledged the opportunity to change up the menus and to run something in the evenings as the café has a wine licence, and envisions hosting various community events in the future.
'It's just starting to bud and we're beginning to see what's possible with it. It's a real creative space. I think it will draw in different people who will probably bring other ideas to me as well, and I'm open to everything,' she said.
'I'm delighted with my business and my staff, and I'm delighted to have brought something to Ballincollig. It's a great town, and it's lovely to be able to bring something vibrant to where you live.'
The café is currently open Tuesday to Saturday from 8.30am to 5pm, Sunday from 9am to 5pm and closed on Mondays.
