A COZY and colourful new cafe and bakery has opened in the heart of Leigh after replacing a much-loved tea room.

Gemma’s of Leigh opened this summer and prides itself on its home-made ice creams and cakes all made by owner Gemma Pittaway.

Gemma, originally from Dagenham, used to own a small coffee shop near Westcliff called Fondant memories, but closed the shop in May to start her new venture in Leigh in the former site of TruLeigh Scrumptious.

The tea room closed last September.

The 43-year-old said it was a very quick transition and a massive change from her former business to opening up in a prime location in the Broadway.

She added: “I just felt like I was ready for a challenge. This offer just came up and I’ve always loved the shop and it seemed like everything aligned at the right time and it was meant to be.

“I closed the doors to my old coffee shop on May 18 and I then collected the keys from TruLeigh Scrumptious the next day. There was no in-between, we went straight into it. We were closed for about six to eight weeks decorating, and then opened our doors on July 5.”

Gemma added that customers still came in asking about the previous shop but were pleasantly surprised by the reopening.

She explained: “Everyone’s been really lovely, and we’ve had a lot of customers already.”

Gemma also teased some upcoming events that she is planning on hosting in the cafe in the future.

She said: “We’re usually open seven days a week, but for this month, I’m closing on Sundays to do some things around the restaurant, but once everything is done the restaurant will be back to opening for seven days a week. We will do roast dinners on Sundays, evening ticketed events, we have some wreath-making events in December and some medium evenings.

“We will start advertising for children’s birthday parties, cupcake and cookie decorating, maybe some Halloween themed events, hopefully we’ll get some mum groups coming in there’s lots of things I’ve been thinking about doing. Hopefully we’ll get lots of different groups and clubs coming in.”

Gemma’s of Leigh is located at 95-97 Broadway West.

Trying one of the bakes at Gemma's of Leigh

After speaking with the owner and having a look around, Echo reporter Lauren Wiles couldn’t resist giving one of her homemade bakes a try.

Gemma said her bestselling bake was her lemon and blueberry cake, I couldn’t find the cake on the counter, but one of her baked goods caught my eye.

I am a massive coffee cake fan and couldn’t think of anything better. Gemma said that the bake was a gluten and dairy-free cake which she only started making since she moved on the Broadway.

She also offered for me to have a scoop of ice cream along with it. I was stuck on choices as there was a range of flavours such as caramel, raspberry, chocolate, and brown bread, but I chose a scoop of homemade banana ice cream to go on the side.

The cake was absolutely delicious. The coffee flavoured icing on top was light and smooth paired with the tasty banana ice cream made it an all-round delight to eat.

Looking around and seeing lots of customers, even on a quiet afternoon, shows how popular this new restaurant is with the residents. 

Despite opening recently, Gemma’s of Leigh has already made it’s mark on the map.