The well-loved Wildflour Café reopens in the Botanical Gardens |22 December 2021

Known for its resounding success, especially with the Farmer’s Markets and themed workshops hosted on its terrace, Wildflour Café has re-opened, submerged in the greenery of the Botanical Gardens in Victoria.

The re-opening comes after a nearly year-long closure where the café was formerly located, not far from the gardens, at Espace Building.

The owner of Wildflour Cafe, Elza Frichot-Dahoo, says that while the gardens will always remain at the forefront of the attractions, her team is intent on ensuring that the café serves to add value to this landmark, and hopes that they can share their passion for the gardens with their clients.

While the terrace and its views have completely transformed, the concept of Wildflour Café remains the same: a strong focus on wholesome cooking, the use of fresh, local ingredients, and a cozy, outdoor vibe.

A short stroll through the Botanical Gardens will lead you to discover the café; its new terrace is now submerged in nature. After visitors have had a little walk and spotted the tortoises, they can enjoy the very green, tranquil and peaceful surroundings of the café.

If someone is trying to escape the hustle, rush and heat of Victoria, with the café located only a few minutes from the centre of town, they can escape for a little bit, for a coffee or lunch. As Elza points out, you would never tell that you are so close to Victoria!  

The café has been designed in a way that allows the gardens to remain the focus of this sanctuary; it is very green, with lots of natural tones and materials. Everything has been given a new ‘jungle’ look and feel, and we’ve been told that there’s even a bat-viewing station!

The menu features the usual light café meals including a selection of wholesome breakfast options, snacks, salad bowls, pasta, paninis, and a selection of cakes of the day. A new addition is the larger, hot menu and clients can now order everything à la carte.

Elza anticipates that the café will now be catering to a broader client database. At its former location, the café catered primarily to locals and this is what gave Wildflour its fantastic vibe.

“Every lunchtime, the café would welcome its regulars and they became part of the Wildflour family. We got to know each of them individually.”

Now, being located in the midst of what Elza describes as a fantastic tourism landmark, the Wildflour team will also cater to tourists, and so a lot of local delicacies have been incorporated into the menu while they continue to serve great cake!

“We’re very fond and passionate about the Botanical Gardens; it means a lot to us,” says Elza. “We know these gardens like the back of our hands. When our maternal grand-parents initially settled in Seychelles, they lived opposite the Botanical Gardens, and so my mother grew up in the gardens and shares the most wonderful stories of afternoons spent playing hide-and-seek.”

“I myself have grown up, with my sisters and friends, in the gardens. I recall the Carambola tree being so small and it is hardly recognisable now, more than 30 years later! Now my own children are playing at the Botanical Gardens and we spend a lot of time there; it holds a very special place in our hearts and we just cannot think of a better place to come to work every day.” 

Wildflour Café first opened at Espace Building in 2019. It closed its doors on December 24, 2020 and did not reopen as it struggled with the extended lockdown that began in Seychelles on January 4, 2021 – people had stopped eating out, schools closed down for a long time, while overheads at the café were high.

In the meantime, the Wildflour team adapted by finding other ways of doing business to keep afloat. While maintaining a very strong presence on social media to keep in touch with clients, the team has been catering for small weddings, especially vegan weddings.

They also worked on boxes of treats for people to enjoy at home: charcuterie, cheese, homemade dips and other goodies. What was very successful, says Elza, and which clients ordered on a regular basis, was the Wildflour Gourmet Breakfast-in-Bed Boxes with cakes, pastries, jams, scones and other treats.  

When Wildflour Café was in its conception phase about three years ago, the Botanical Gardens is where the team wanted to be but till now, Elza says that this was not possible.

“When the café closed at Espace Building, we were determined more than ever that when we did re-open, we would do so in the place that we had originally wanted to be in. We’re blessed in a certain way; we persevered and following the tender put outin June this year for a café at the Botanical Gardens, everything fell into place. We are very grateful to the new management who understood and supported the vision which we had for the café in the gardens.

“We have received support from so many people – friends, family, clients, and also a lot of people within the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism and the Seychelles Investment Board. They have all been instrumental in getting us to where we wanted to be. We are infinitely grateful and we are very humbled by their support.”

For those interested, Wildflour Café is open Mondays to Fridays, 8am to 4pm, and Saturdays, 9am to 3pm (Sundays will be closed).

For more information, contact Wildflour Café:

-           Telephone: +248 2 522 964

-           Email: wildflourcafesez@gmail.com

-           Follow: Facebook page: Wildflour Cafe and Instagram account: wildflourcafesez

F.P.

Photo credits: Wildflour Café