The new team behind The Lift Café – pictured above from left to right are Tony Knell, Dean Rowland and Kat White from the Little Coffee Shed – are now firmly installed in their new home. While the main building is being restored, the café is operating from a temporary container at the entrance to The Lower Leas Coastal Park.
We spoke to Kat about her hopes for the café, her connection to Folkestone and how she feels about the Lift itself.
As a Folkestone-born girl, how does it feel to be back in your town?
It’s great to be back, I’ve never really gone far away but I have wanted to bring our coffee to Folkestone for a long time. We looked at the Lift site when it first became available a few years back but it just wasn’t the right time so it feels like it was meant to be this time.
What is your personal connection with the Leas Lift? What do you think it brings to Folkestone?
My dad has lived in Folkestone most of his life and I have fond memories of visits to the beach and riding the lift with him when I was little. I hadn’t told any of the family that we had applied for the lease so when we had the keys, I bought them all down. My children were all so excited as they remember Grandad taking them up and down the Lift not that long ago.
For me personally, as well as the family connections with Folkestone, I love the history of the old building and the mechanisms of how it all works. It has been really good to see all the old cogs and pulls and I cannot wait to see the whole building and Lift restored and working!
Can you tell us a little about your professional journey up to this point?
My partner Tony and I started our coffee venture back in 2018 when he upgraded his work vehicle, which left us with an old Vito van on the drive.
One evening we got onto the conversation of how we would both like to open a coffee shop and so the idea of the mobile coffee shop was born. We travelled round doing events for a few years and then Covid put an end to them.
Luckily, we were offered a position in Victoria Park in Ashford for the van through Covid which meant that we could survive. We also opened our first shop during the pandemic – a slightly crazy idea but luckily it worked out and so here we are at The Lift Café.
Why should people visit the Café?
We are looking forward to serving good food and coffee with good company. We are a family business – Tony and I can often be found serving and our children take an active role in the business between school and university.
We will be serving locally sourced fresh food, coffees and ice cream – as well as treats for our four-legged friends.
It is really important to us to use local suppliers wherever possible to keep money in the local economy and support other traders. The hospitality industry in on its knees at the moment with no end in sight, so I think it is really important that the little guys support each other.
We are really excited to be back in Folkestone and can’t wait to see the Lift reborn!
You can follow The Lift Café on Instagram.
