‘It’s very important to have good coffee’: Inside Magda’s Hideout Café in Cork city 

Bringing people together in her café and gallery is more important than raking in big profits, says Magda Zimouska, owner of The Hideout Café on Wellington Place.

Magda, who is Polish, has been running the café for a year now, having bought it from another Polish businesswoman.

It’s an inviting space with a panoramic view of the city from the large back window.

Magda came to Cork 17 years ago with her husband Kristof and two sons, then aged one year and three years. She had been working in a bank in Poland and wanted promotion.

But at 23, she decided that she was young enough to take time out to learn English. So she came to Cork and after two years, she knew she wanted to stay here.

Magda and Kristof, who works in Little Island, bought a house in Cobh where they live.

Café culture in Cork is something that Magda enjoys.

“I love going out for coffee. Polish people don’t meet that much for coffee,” says Magda, who finds Cork people very friendly. She likes the occasional Irish coffee ordered in a bar and says Cobh has some appealing coffee shops.

Her first job in the city was in the housekeeping department of CUH. “After 12 years in the hospital, I decided I wanted to do something different. My hobby was making cakes. I was doing them for weddings and birthdays for years. I have a studio in my garden to make the cakes. I was crazy busy. I do icing. I can do everything from sugar, making figures for the cakes. But after two years, I decided this wasn’t really for me. I love working around people. I got a job as the manager of Supervalu bakery in Cobh.”

Magda later moved on to Insomnia café in Carrigaline, where she worked as a supervisor. She wanted to see how to run a café. Then, her friend Agnes Stawosz contacted her to say she was selling The Hideout Café and asked if Magda would like to buy it.

“It was a huge step for me and a very hard time because I didn’t have the money to buy it. But I got a loan from my Local Enterprise Office. They gave me coaching on how to run a business. They were a really big support.”

Magda’s customers include the students from nearby Scoil Mhuire and the Christian Brothers College as well as staff from 96fm.

“I have lots of different customers. A lot of tourists come in to see the view of the city.”

There is always art on the walls with a new exhibition every six weeks. When The Echo called to the café, there was an exhibition by Wendy Moore. The next artist to show her work at the space will be Justine Elizabeth Swingewood.

Magda feels that people are less intimidated looking at an exhibition in a café than in a more formal gallery.

A sociable person, she holds various events at her café, inviting the public to avail of what’s on offer. There is an event that takes place in cities around the world, called Fellow Humans. At the Cork edition of it in the café, there are opportunities to make new friends, with events taking place so that people can connect with others in their city in a relaxed enjoyable way.

Fellow Humans started in the basement of a café in Glasgow. Now, there are coffee meet-ups across 13 cities in the UK, Ireland, Europe, and the US. A vinyl painting session is one of the events being run at The Hideout Café under the Fellow Humans umbrella.

There are puppet-making classes; Arabian culture evenings, painting while enjoying a glass of wine, and fashion up-cycling with designer Kate Plum.

“Kate brings a sewing machine with her and people who don’t have one at home can use it here. Before covid, Kate was selling fashion to many shops, now a bit less.”

The Arabian nights are run by Moroccan Amal Hope and include making and sampling Arabic food, hand painting and belly dancing. There are also holistic health sessions. And the owner of the bra shop in Ballincollig shows women how to measure themselves and maintain good posture.

Occasional poetry readings take place at The Hideout Café. Most of the events take place during daytime and at weekends.

Magda has one sister who works at CUH. Her retired parents often visit their daughters, flying over from Poland. The family is originally from a village in the centre of Poland.

Given the high cost of living here – not to mention pricey coffees – does Magda find working in hospitality difficult?

“I bake everything myself which reduces my costs.” Her confectionery includes rocky road slices, cookies, madeira cake, apple cake, and cheesecakes. “It changes all the time. I also make gluten-free cake and vegetable cake such as spinach cake which is very healthy.”

Magda charges €3.50 for a large Americano and €3.30 for a small one. “Coffee is expensive. It’s very important to have good coffee.”

Magda is helped in the cafe by her sons. She also employs a young man, Arnaud Chamant, originally from Reunion Island, a French outpost. He finds Magda inspiring and is interested in maybe opening his own café in his home place.