New cafe, Aran, to welcome customers this week

Laura and Martin Pickersgill will welcome customers to Aran in the town’s Wooer Street from 8am.

The couple, who already run the popular Aran cafe at The Cross in Linlithgow, are branching out to open their second outlet in the former premises of The Wooer.

Laura previously explained the decision to expand and open an outlet in Falkirk came as they felt the timing was right.

She said they were really enjoying what they were doing and were “looking to branch out a bit further and spread our food far and wide”.

The cafe is over two floors and includes a small play area for children.

A post on the cafe’s Facebook page on Sunday, said: “We are so excited to announce that aran Falkirk is opening its doors for the first time on Tuesday 20th September at 8am!

We look forward to welcoming you!”

Laura, Martin and the team will be doing more of what they already do in their Linlithgow premises – producing homemade food as far as possible, using local products and suppliers and putting their own stamp on the food.

The expansion of Aran to Falkirk comes less than 18 months after Laura and Martin opened their first cafe in Linlithgow in March 2021.

The move came after they were both made redundant and they decided to fulfil their dream of running their own cafe.

The couple hope that in future they will be able to expand further and branch into outside catering.

They already do a little, providing Redding and Westquarter Cricket Club with their cricket teas, and they do cakes on request, but they would like to do even more.

Aran’s new Falkirk premises were formerly home to The Wooer, a plant-based cafe bistro run by Gabriele and Michela Panozzo, which closed its doors last November.