A brand new plant-based cafe has opened located deep in the stunning College Woods, Penryn.

You might have to do some searching but The Pirate & The Geisha is really special and worth discovering.

Owned by Shilly Nakedmoon, the cafe offers an array of delicious raw vegan treats, specialty coffee, and tea, all of which you can have with her homemade milk.

A unique name, The Pirate & The Geisha are characters that are part of Shilly. Living in Japan she got to see their attention to detail and the way they treat drinking like a ceremonial experience. The pirate comes from her travelling days and being by the sea.

"I love that combination of The Pirate & The Geisha being together, it seems very unusual and I thought it would create something that people would remember," she said.

Shilly has a history of working in cafes, and thought a long time about setting up her own vegan coffee shop, before setting up as a street trader.

Shilly told Nub News:

"I thought it was crazy for a long time and I was contemplating it because it sounded crazy. I just felt like I had to get on and do it.

"I wanted it to be like a place in nature that people could come and feel like tranquil, relax, and meditative space, like a woodland sanctuary."

The business has been open for just over 5 weeks, Shilly said she has had the "loveliest" welcome from locals.

However, being so tucked away off the track does present its challenges but gradually Shilly is beginning to see more people discover it as they go walking in the woods.

Shilly continued:

"I like to make cakes that are not just free from bad stuff but actually are made of good stuff. A lot of my cakes are raw means you aren't cooking it, so it has raw vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds. I don't use any refined sugars, I only use dates, coconut sugar, also pretty much everything I make is gluten-free.

"I am only interested in making things that are imaginative and creative using plants because that means you will get much more nutritional value. I want to inspire people, I don't want everyone to be vegan, I just want people to see that vegan cake or coffee with another milk could be really nice and interesting."

Shilly describes the coffee shop as, "tranquil, quirky, imaginative and tastebud tantalising."

The Pirate & The Geisha is open Thursday-Sunday 10am-4pm.

How to get there!

Driving:

There is no direct access from the A39, so if you are driving you will need to come via the road 'College Hill'.

Walking:

• From Penryn High Street, walk past the library on St Thomas Street, then turn down the narrow 'College Ope' and follow the path alongside the stream into the woods. It meanders along under the viaduct and then through the woods, eventually you will pop out on the other side of the woods somewhere near the shack.

• From behind Asda, walk along Trelowen Drive until you see a mini car park on the right. Walk through the car park and you will find an entrance onto College Reservoir. You need to walk under the bridge on your left and then walk alongside the stream for about 1/2 mile until you pop out near the shack.

• You can also walk to it all the way from Argal Lake along the reservoir.

Click here to see more from The Pirate & The Geisha.

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