Emily Elford-Minott has gone from shaping Cornish pasties in the Pie Bob’s bakery at six years old, to taking over the Arbroath family business.
Emily, 26, is stepping up to the plate to allow her parents, Neil and Muriel Elford a “well-deserved step back”.
One of the new boss’s first acts will be launching a new “cosy and comfortable” cafe, serving loaded fries, burgers and more.
This week, they brought in friends and family to sample the food at the new Pie Bob’s cafe before they open to the public this coming Monday.
“It’s been really exciting, and quite emotional,” says Emily.
“On Monday, we had some tables in and I actually had to walk away for a minute because I got quite emotional about it.”
“We’ve had the business for about 23 years now, and I’ve always been in about it.
“Being around it for so long, I’ve seen the business go through all these highs and lows.
“So to have it get to the point it is now and have people so excited, it’s really an overwhelming thing.”
Pie lovers do not fret, you are not losing the takeaway bakery.
The new cafe is in the same building as Pie Bob’s bakery, with nine tables and some benches where guests can enjoy the brand new menu.
Emily’s Pie Bob’s journey started at 4 years old
Emily’s family has been running Pie Bob’s for the last 23 years.
“I was always in here,” she says. “I’d finish school and I’d be straight into the bakery.
“Probably bumbling about, annoying people,” Emily laughs.
“I’d have been about four or five.”
“The first thing I remember doing, is we used to do Cornish pasties, handmade ones.
“And because I had such little hands, I used to crimp the pasties.
“There’s a really specific way you have to do it, and the smaller your hands, the better.
“So I used to do that a lot. And I must have been about six or seven when I did that.
“I used to wear the big blue hair nets and everything.”
‘I have had to work for it’
Emily is excited about taking the reins for this new chapter for Pie Bob’s.
“I’ve been around it for so long, it’s like second nature to me,” she adds.
“Anything that I’ve tried outside the business, I’ve always ended up coming back here.
“I do get a lot of people with the argument ‘you’ve just had it handed it to you’ or ‘you’ve not really had to work for it.
“But I have had to work for it.
“My dad is one of these people that if he didn’t think I was working for it, he would point blank say to me ‘this is not for you, go do something else’.”
Emily says her husband, Gabriel, has been a great help along the way.
“He has come from a military background and he has been very much thrown into it.
“I bounce absolutely everything off of him.”
The team at the Pie Bob’s is what Emily enjoys most about the business.
“This is going to sound cheesy,” she says.
“We’re a family business, and a lot of the people that work here have been working for us for quite a long time.
“And we really are like a little family.
“It’s a nice group of people we’ve got here.
“It’s a comforting place to be.
“Don’t get me wrong, the place drives me mad sometimes, but it’s something that I love.”
What’s on the menu at the new Pie Bob’s cafe?
The menu at the Pie Bob‘s cafe includes some set dishes, like burgers, loaded fries, cooked breakfast, and macaroni and cheese, as well as daily specials.
Emily’s personal favourite is one of the loaded fries dishes.
“We’ve got three different types of loaded fries,” she says.
“One of them is skin-on fries, salt and pepper Chinese chicken, a cheese sauce, and topped with spring onion. It’s so good!”
Pie Bob’s new cafe will open to the public on Monday July 1.
Conversation