When Bertie’s Of Brighton opened its doors in the former Yummies in Bond Street last month, it saw the return of the Baker family name to the city’s most-loved shopping streets.

“My great grandfather’s name was Bertie,” says 22-year-old owner Katie Baker. “He and his father ran a bakery in The Lanes, so we thought we would hold onto the family name.”

The 1920s theme for the new cafe comes from that period and the character of Burlington Bertie, the aristocratic idler from the famous music hall song.

And it can be seen in the beautiful hand-strung chandeliers lighting the minimal art deco-themed seating space.

The well-spaced chairs and tables, which have plenty of room for pushchairs, are lined by images of Brighton from yesteryear, two stylish 1920s mirrors and 20 top hats hooked onto the walls.

The look may be vintage but Baker, a veteran of the cafe and restaurant trade since she first started out as a waitress in chain restaurants and cafes at the age of 16, has ensured the service is 21st century.

“I’m so fussy when I go out for lunch,” she says. “I want to go somewhere where it is made fresh and I can have what I want in it. So we have created a sandwich bar where the staff can make a sandwich in the time it would take to choose a prepacked one off the shelf – the customer isn’t being punished for having it how they want it.”

The cafe offers a pre-ordering service to businesses. All sandwiches are made within 20 minutes of their pick-up time to ensure customers don’t spend their lunch-hour in a queue and so there’s no time for the bread to get soggy or curl up at the edges.

And it doesn’t cost anything extra to eat in – either perched on a window seat or further back in the shop.

Allied to Baker’s customer service focus is a desire to serve fresh and local ingredients.

“Being born and bred in Brighton it was important to me to get things as local to Sussex as possible,” says Baker.

“Obviously you’re not going to get oranges from Hayward’s Heath but there are hams, cheeses, breads and pickles all available from Sussex.

“And even if we are getting oranges from outside the county we aren’t going to a supermarket, we get them from our own local greengrocers who supply us with what they can from Sussex.”

Similarly, the coffee comes in freshly-ground small batches from Horsham Coffee Roaster, with new deliveries every three days.

And anyone who prefers a cup of tea has a choice of 14 loose leaf varieties, ranging from English Breakfast Full Leaf to Chinese Zest Of Orange or Red Berries.

Bertie’s also has a range of hot paninis, breakfast pastries, cakes and a sundae menu using ice cream from Caroline’s Dairy in Chichester.

“Our paninis are classics with a twist,” says Baker. “So we have brie and bacon, but with chilli fig jam for example. We also do sweet paninis – peanut butter, raisins, apple and raspberry jam, or banana and cream cheese with cinnamon and honey.

“A lot of people do ice cream but I remembered as a kid eating ice cream sundaes with all the toppings and sauces until I felt sick!”

Bertie’s sees Baker return to the restaurant and cafe trade, having taken a break to design packaging for Sony.

“I really missed working in a cafe,” she says. “I started off in chain cafes and restaurants, which was a good learning curve, and it really drove home the importance of customer service.

“When I moved to work in independent businesses I worked at The Jolly Sportsman in East Chiltington, which had fresh, local food on the menu every day.

“There’s nothing better than being your own boss – there’s a video of me when I was five saying: ‘When I’m older I want to work for me!’.

“When this opportunity presented itself I was able to get the support of my entire family to do it.”

She hopes to invite book groups and coffee clubs to use the space in the evenings, free of charge. And the long-term plan is to open a bakery of her own in the centre of Brighton.

“The aim is to get a solid reputation as somewhere you can go and get your lunch quickly and easily,” she says. “This city is a fantastic place. I’m proud of my home town and I wanted to add something to it.”

  • Bertie's Of Brighton, Bond Street, Brighton, 01273 731300
  • Open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 7pm, Sunday 11am to 6pm. Email bertiesbrighton@gmail.com