While the owners at one of Port Chalmers’ cafes may have changed, their cheese scones are here to stay.
Cafe Santosha has had a change of management.
Outgoing co-owner Robyne Saunders said that, after nine years, she and her partner and fellow co-owner Allan Larnach had needed “someone younger with a bit more energy” to run the business.
It officially changed hands last Monday, and it had been “a very emotional week”, Ms Saunders said.
The cafe, in the building’s outdoor brick courtyard, had a “French vibe” and had proved very popular with cruise ship passengers.
Their cheese scones had also garnered quite the reputation.
“When we were handing over the business, everyone was saying, ‘we hope you’ve given her the cheese scone recipe’.
“They’re big, they’re crunchy, they’re cheesy — they’re just everything that you want in a good cheese scone.”
Ms Saunders said she had worked at the premises for six years before buying it and renaming it the Galley Cafe and later Santosha — meaning contentment — when the business downsized after the Covid-19 lockdowns.
She planned to concentrate on her other business 2gypsies, housed in the same building as the cafe. Mr Larnach would be working in fire and rescue training in Abu Dhabi for a while.
Ms Saunders said the cafe could get very busy during the cruise ship season, and believed it lived up to its namesake of contentment.
“Most of them will come in and complain that they haven’t had a decent coffee since they left home.
“They’re always so happy to get some home baking I think, home comfort.
“That’s what it’s about out there, it’s very homely . . . and that’s what people miss when you’re away from home.”
Ms Saunders said they would not have handed the cafe over to just anyone, and it was important that someone who had a love for the community took over.
New owner Sophia Clarke-Edwards had worked at the cafe since the start of the year, and had “already been adopted by the community”, she said.
While she would still be sticking around in the community, Ms Saunders said she would miss the hustle and bustle of running a busy cafe.
What she had loved most had been seeing people enjoying themselves.
“And if they’re doing it in your environment that you’ve created, then it’s even more special.”
