Family open café of their dreams in busy Cork town

COBH might be a world-famous cruise destination, home to the last port the Titanic visited, and where Ellis Island’s very first immigrant, 17-year-old Annie Moore, began her journey - but it is also the destination Vasilijus Krupodra chose 12 years ago when he travelled 21,00km from Lithuania to start a whole new way of life.

“I haven’t done anything huge like other people do,” says Vasilijus, who works part-time in Aldi.

“But I am proud of myself and believe that I am a good example to my family.”

Vasilijus, who is married to Aiste, has every right to be proud of himself. He has done something huge and achieved his dream into the bargain.

Business in Coffeeon, at 5, Midleton Street, Kilgarvan, Cobh, has been booming since the Krupodra family opened its doors at the end of July.

Vasilijus, Aiste and their eldest son, Danielis, are the trio behind Coffeeon, which is proving very popular with locals and tourists alike.

“I came to Cobh to find a job,” says Vasilijus.

I liked the town and I stayed here, later my wife joined me.

Born in the Ukraine, Vasilijus grew up in Lithuania and moved to Ireland to start a life of his own when he was 18.

Vasilijus, with a good work ethic, got a job and was content. Then a friend put an idea into his head, an idea that appealed to Vasilijus and his family.

“I had been working in Aldi in Cobh for years, and one day a friend of mine said, ‘You should open a café here. You’d be great at it, and it would be lovely for all the locals and tourists’.”

Vasilijus’ friend was persuasive.

“He said, ‘You could do it. Keep it simple. A coffee shop is the way to go in Cobh’.”

Vasilijus, knowing his adopted home town was one of the most sought-after places to visit on the map, considered his friend’s idea and put a lot of thought into it.

“I had some restaurant experience before,” he says. “I kept the idea and I like my coffee!”

There were a lot of plusses.

“I love dealing with customers and helping them out,” says Vasilijus.

My family were eager to do it and we began creating the whole project together. We were all on board from the beginning.

Coffeeon was a team effort - and a family affair.

“Myself, my wife, Aiste, and our son Danielis work here, but everyone is involved,” says Vasilijus.

“Even my eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, kept asking, ‘When is Coffeeon going to open?’”

There were a few hurdles to get over before Coffeeon was good to go.

“We went through years of planning, renovations, and pandemic setbacks that almost made us give up,” says Vasilijus.

“Now we’ve opened the café of our dreams.”

Coffeeon was a real labour of love. Hard grafting went into making the dream come true.

“We first started thinking seriously about the project in 2019,” says Vasilijus.

“Everyone volunteered to help with painting and renovating a building when we were able to find a suitable premises.”

Vasilijus’ mother was as enthusiastic as her son, willing him on to open his coffee shop selling a wide-range of coffees and some of Aiste’s delicious home-baked treats.

East Cork’s new addition is bang smack in the centre of Cobh, and it was built from scratch when the family acquired a venue that needed a lot of doing up.

“My mother even got involved,” Vasilijus says. “She ordered us our very own ‘Coffeeon’ sign as a present. It is over the shop front today.”

Going into business for the first time is never easy.

“I was about to give up,” says Vasilijus. “There seemed to be nowhere around suitable to open a café.”

But the determined father-of-four kept looking; kept hoping.

“We did all the planning before Covid,” he adds.

Timing was everything.

“We spotted an empty place in Midleton Street that had been open as a coffee shop before,” says Vasilijus.

I thought, it’s now or never. It was a three-day decision.

The enthusiastic team got working on the empty building.

“We’d been planning for years,” Vasilijus says.

“During Covid, we said, definitely not now.”

The pandemic threw everything out of kilter.

“After Covid, we said, maybe yes, maybe not.”

The empty shop that needed a lot of TLC seemed to fit the bill. And the Krupodora family were not afraid of hard work.

“In the end, we did everything from scratch in three weeks!” says Vasilijus, laughing.

I was tired and I didn’t take a day off for two months.

Coffeeon is the result of many long days and nights work. Most of the refurbishments also had to be done while some of the hard-working team were balancing full-time jobs on the side.

“My son and I are still juggling part-time jobs even now,” says Vasilijus.

It took gumption to realise the dream.

“It was definitely difficult to try and get everything set up to open the cafe,” Vasilijus admits. “But we managed to do it.”

He had a good incentive.

“We got in a coffee machine at home, so we could train,” says Vasilijus.

“I looked at the machine one day thinking, she wants to work, we have to let her work. I knew then we had to keep going.”

Vasilijus is double-jobbing.

“I’m still working in Aldi and Danielis also works in a takeaway in the evenings. He helps us out during the daytime when he has the chance.”

“You have to divide yourself,” says Vasilijus.

“I say, when I am in Aldi, then I am in Aldi. I don’t let the pressures get on top of me. Aldi helped me a lot in that way, learning how to cope with a fast-paced environment. You want to be comfortable so you’re not making mistakes and doing your work right, both for you and for the customers.”

The efforts of the family and the efforts of their helpers didn’t go unnoticed in Cobh.

“Since we opened, we’ve been very, very busy,” says Vasilijus.

“It surprised us because we didn’t do any advertising. We only had a soft launch.”

The Krupodoras were pleasantly surprised when they opened for business.

“Customers have been flooding in the doors,” says Vasilijus.

Locals gave us good luck cards and best wishes which was really nice.

It’s really nice that Vasilijus has realised his dream.

“In my view, the café is a great job,” says Vasilijus.

“We did it all together. Perhaps my kids might do the same in the future. It is possible to do it.”

Coffeeon, Midleton Street, Cobh is open from 8am-3pm weekdays (except Tuesdays), and 9am to 3pm at weekends.