WATCH: Indulge in coffee, cakes and bakes galore at Inverness city centre star XOKO!
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The festive season is always a time for little treats and indulgences and in Inverness city centre you will be spoiled for choice at bakehouse and coffee bar XOKO.
Owners Tristan Aitchison and Fernando Basaldua both lost their jobs due to the impact of Covid and instead of waiting for their luck to turn they dusted themselves down and took the courageous decision to pursue their dream of opening a wee coffee shop.
After a great deal of hard work and overcoming many challenges the determined pair proudly opened their doors at the bottom of Bridge Street in July 2021. XOKO has quickly become a city centre favourite for those looking for fresh coffee and exquisite bakes with their winning formula being achieved through both high quality products and a very relaxed, friendly and inviting environment. Despite their success the pair remain very hands-on working alongside their team in the open-plan kitchen on site. XOKO also regularly showcases local artists via exhibitions within the café as they are passionate about bringing art to the community.
XOKO is the dream and concept of Fernando and Tristan. Fernando, who is from Mexico, has a passion for baking and pastry. He has worked across Latin America and Spain. Fernando was head baker for renowned Spanish pastry chef Oriol Balageur in Barcelona and in 2017 was part of the team that won best panettone in Spain. Tristan is a documentary filmmaker from the Black Isle. His multi award-winning feature film Sidney & Friends screened in over 30 countries, winning best documentary at Newfest: New York’s LGBTQ International Film Festival.
We caught up with Tristan and Fernando to find out more...
Q. Tell us about you
A. XOKO is a bakehouse and coffee bar in Inverness. We are bringing you the best artisan sourdoughs, pastries, and cakes. Also join us for breakfast, brunch and lunch.
All our expertly crafted bakes are made from scratch in our open-plan bakery, so you can see the quality and passion that goes into every one of our loaves, croissants, gateaux and tarts.
The name XOKO, pronounced shaw-ko, comes from the ancient Nahuatl language in Mexico and means ‘the village where the bitter fruit grows’. It is thought this is the origin of the word chocolate.
XOKO is all about chocolate. The finest divine Belgian chocolate is used in all our products including our peanut and caramel bar, or Sneckers as we like to call it ‒ rich chocolate cake layered with caramel and peanuts encased in dark chocolate.
Our croissants and pastries are made with Appellation d'Origine Protégée French butter...bringing a little bit of Paris to Inverness.
The bakehouse is open-plan. It’s important to us that you can see the ingredients, love, and passion that go into our products...so take a seat at the coffee bar and wait in anticipation for those cinnamon rolls to come out of the oven. Oh...Fernando says they have to cool first!
Q. What is XOKO doing for the festive season?
A. XOKO is always a haven on those dark cold mornings and afternoons. There will be the same friendly atmosphere as usual, but with a bit of festive sparkle. We have already organised a festive addition to our uniforms...ho ho ho. Our popular mince pies will be back along with some other festive goodies such as gingerbread white hot chocolate and spiced pumpkin latte. We will be taking part in the annual Christmas Jumper Day and raising money for our chosen charity, Connecting Young Carers.
Q. Who are your city centre stars?
A. Rumours. Why not let someone else pamper you at Christmas?
Oil & Vinegar. So many great culinary gift ideas and always great quality.
Leakey's Bookshop. There is a real romance about this place. They could set a Hollywood Christmas movie here. Something along the lines of Serendipity or a Sneckie It's a Wonderful Life!
Q. What makes an Inverness City Centre Gift Cardthe perfect present to give this Christmas?
A. The Inverness Gift Card is not just a great idea but it’s an incredibly important mechanism to ensure people come into the city centre to shop and spend leisure time. There is so much variation, from large chains to small independents. At this difficult time, especially with a recession looming, it keeps money in the city centre rather than it going to multi-nationals online.
Inverness BID director Lorraine Bremner McBride added: “XOKO ran by Tristan and Fernando are our city centre stars for this week as they have shown such determination in opening their now much-loved café during the midst of the pandemic. Both exemplify the qualities needed to run a successful enterprise by never allowing setbacks to hold them back, having an abundance of passion, skill and having a quality offering. Their ongoing support to local artists is commendable and we hope their story will inspire others to also join the city centre business community.”
