Latte-da in Crickhowell is consistently one of the top cafés in the Brecon Beacons, according to TripAdvisor, and they say local ingredients are critical to their success.

Greg and Lyn Bevan-Jones have been running Latte-da Coffee and Kitchen in Beaufort Street, Crickhowell, for four years and have built a roaring trade with visitors and regulars eating side by side.

“Our main ethos is that we want people to come in and enjoy consistently good quality food every time: it’s the key to our popularity and reputation,” says Greg. “The way we ensure consistency is to use quality local ingredients and food produced nearby.  We buy our bacon from Cashell’s around the corner and our eggs from Richard Lewis just across the valley. Our salmon is smoked salmon from the Black Mountains Smokery 400 yards down the road.  Quality is more important than price.  We could buy our ingredients much cheaper, but we couldn’t guarantee good consistent quality.  This is why people keep coming.  It’s all about building and maintaining a good reputation.”

Latte-da serves a selection of brunch-style dishes, mostly featuring local bacon and eggs, However, they also use imported foods such as avocado. “Avocado is popular with our customers,” says Lyn. “People are more conscious of what they eat, ensuring a healthy diet.”

Greg and Lyn’s fruit and veg are delivered from the Hereford Depot of Total Produce: they source products locally in Hereford and Worcestershire and the Welsh Marches, as well as from across the world.

Latte-da are also proud to serve award winning sourdough bread from artisan baker Alex Gooch, based in Hay on Wye, ice cream from Llanfaes Dairy in Brecon and speciality coffee from Extract Roasters in Bristol.

“If we can’t find good quality produce locally in Crickhowell, we try to source from within our region,” said Lyn. Greg adds: “It’s down to finding local suppliers though, not always an easy task. We had a representative visit us from a family run business in North Wales.  They had a beautiful selection of fresh produce; however, we didn’t place an order – we wanted to buy from suppliers closer to home.  If other people near Crickhowell can supply consistent, quality food, we would love to hear from them.”

Article and main photograph by Tim Jones, As You See It Media

Latte-da Coffee & Kitchen