Sweet tooths can get their fix at new Cromarty offering
A cornucopia of sweet delight has just opened in the charming Black Isle village of Cromarty.
The new business that is already attracting a growing number of sweet toothed fans, has been set up not by some young entrepreneur, but by a local woman who will be 70 next year.
Zooulla Spirou (68) is the proprietor of SONAS Cromarty, a truly delightful shop at 20 Church Street which majors in selling specialist chocolates, sweets and ice cream.
Oh, and please don’t overlook its exciting new item - Affogato - an Italian inspired dessert of espresso over ice cream! A cool boost, I’ve tried it!
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SONAS is certainly promising to live up to its name which is the Gaelic for “happiness and contentment.”
“When customers come in their faces light up with smiles,” said Zooulla. “They love the traditional sweetie jars and the smell of ice cream and chocolate.”
SONAS was launched on the weekend of June 8 and 9 to coincide with Cromarty Open Gardens which attracts many wishing to peek into the 20 horticultural gems that were available.
Zooulla is also a talented artist and the weekend also saw the climax of the villages Art & Flowers Week in the East Church.
She said: “I had the idea for the shop some four or five years ago and I was keeping an eye open for suitable premises and then the space downstairs became available.
“We are trying to keep everything as local, Highland or Scottish as possible.
“We are also making every effort to use as little plastic as possible and are using glass jars, papers bags, and soon, compostable sweetie bags too.”
She said customers often like to pick their own mix, but there are pre-packed bags too and the old fashioned 1p sweets are popular.
Among suppliers to the new shop are Orkney Ice Cream with very tasty waffle cones which Zooulla’s daughter Christinia Mackay says are so good they can be eaten without ice cream!
The sea off Cromarty are home to a sizeable population of rare bottlenose dolphins and The Chocolate Place of Inverness makes chocolate dolphins which are bound to be popular with visitors and the many fans of the cetaceans.
Other specialist suppliers are Chocolates of Glenshiel (gift boxes) CoCo (chocolate bars) and Chocolate Tree (Scottish organic chocolate bars bars and hot chocolate).
Zooulla said it was quite hard work getting the new venture up and running, and she thanked the family team for their tremendous help - partner Ian Taylor, daughter Christina, son-in-law Ewen Mackay and daughter-in-law Eilidh McCann who created the brand including the use of an inverted ice-cream cone as the letter A in SONAS.
Zooella owns the whole building and in the early days she used to run it as a gallery and latterly a cafe, and then for the past 7-8 years its been rented by other people running their own cafes.
Visitors cant fail to be impressed by the lovely old counter and woodwork in the premises.
Christina said: “This is the original bar that was fitted in the early 1900's. When mum and Ian moved in there was still a label on it saying it was manufactured in Invergordon and delivered across the Cromarty Firth by by boat!”
The sizeable ground floor premises is being divided in two with Sonas Cromarty taking up one section and The Studio at SONAS, the other.
This studio space being made available to the community to rent.
Zooulla said: “People such as crafts makers or painters can arrange to come perhaps to stage sales or exhibitions. At present it has an antiques, collectables and retro business using it.”
People can enquire via 'SONAS Cromarty' FB page or via sonascromarty@gmail.com
Weekly, monthly or longer term rental arrangements are available.
Christina is proud of what her mother has done to open a sweetie and ice cream shop in the historic village.
She said: ”I hope people reading about us are encouraged to realise you are never too old to try something new,.
“The should think again! We can limit ourselves based on what society deems appropriate based on things like age, gender, race or sexuality, so I hope this little story may reignite some dying flames.”
Zooulla is certainly one to defy advancing years, and one of her pleasures is being out on the water with her pals rowing their St Ayles skiff.
For those who want to follow Zooulla’s story - give her FB a like. I’m told she celebrates every new “follow”!
