She may have just finished her Leaving Cert, but one 18-year-old Cork girl is already taking her first big step into business setting up her own café. Sarah Salvin is the owner, head chef and baker extraordinaire at her new Sarah At the Crossroads café in Buttevant. She has taken over the kitchen space at the former Crossroads pub at Bregoge and has transformed it into a lovely new lunch and brunch spot for North Cork .
Ahead of opening for the first time this week, Sarah told us how she grew a grá for food as a teenager and first started a small business from kitchen at home, baking custom birthday cakes to order. READ MORE: Nosh 19 has 'fingers crossed' for success as it opens on Cork's premier dining street READ MORE: 'Hidden gem' Cork restaurant ranked among Ireland's 'Best of the Best' "There was no transition year work experience in school because of Covid," the 18-year-old baker said, "And I was interested in cakes so I wanted to see if there was an interest in birthday cakes, and there was so that kept me going." After developing a passion for baking, Sarah honed her skills working as a pastry chef in the kitchen of Springfort Hall Hotel in Mallow.
"It gave me experience inside the kitchen which was great," she said, "And I always wanted to have my own place, so when this opportunity to open up my own cafe came up I just took it." It's been a busy few weeks of assembling her team, furniture shopping and painting the cafe to prepare for opening. And the most stre.