Bastion K2tchen opened for takeaway service last January in Castlerea and quickly made a name for itself when it came to catering for alternative dietary requirements and locally sourced produce. Since the lifting of Covid restrictions, the eatery on St. Patrick’s Street has gone from strength to strength…
Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Katie Drury. I’m 26-years-old and come from Ballindrimley, where I grew up on a farm in a family of eleven siblings and our very supportive parents, Ann and David. I run Bastion K2tchen in Castlerea with my sisters Josie (30) and Karen (23).
When did you open Bastion K2tchen?
We opened on January 7th last year. It is a franchise of our sister business in Athlone, which is run by Ann Sheehy and is open the last eight and a half years. Bastion K2tchen is run by Josie, myself, and Karen and we also have a great team in Sarah, Aisling, Ellie, Shauna and Allanah.
We felt like Castlerea needed something different. It was the height of Covid so it was a bit of a crazy time to open but at the same time it was amazing because of the support we received from people in Castlerea and around Roscommon. We only opened for takeaway initially but we received great support.
How has the lifting of Covid restrictions impacted the business?
It’s been super-busy since and we’ve been doing events outside too away from the café. But since the restrictions were lifted we have definitely seen an improvement with more people dropping in. People were still a bit apprehensive (when restrictions began to ease) and would stick to the takeaway service but now we definitely see more people sitting inside. It’s been a very positive thing.
Even during the restrictions and following the guidelines, people actually really appreciated that we were taking their details and checking for Covid certificates. A lot of people would tell us they felt a bit safer and that was important because we do have a lot of different people coming in and so it was about making sure they were all safe.
Tell us about the menu…
Our whole ethos is home-cooked food and as locally sourced as possible. Growing up on a farm, we were used to mam’s homecooking and we also grow a lot of the produce ourselves such as the potatoes and beets and all that kind of stuff.
We’re known for our spelt bread, our hummus, pesto, relishes, and all our fresh baked goods as well. We also do salads and wraps/sandwiches but we do a lot of different specials too. We cater for people who are vegan and gluten-free and I think that’s where we stand out a little bit in Castlerea. We suit customers who have different dietary requirements and we’ve become known for that in the past year.
When it comes to coffee, we stock McCabe’s from Wicklow but we also do a number of alternatives. People can be apprehensive about beetroot coffee or Matcha tea but once they try it out they really enjoy it!
