New Crossroads café offers coffee, cocktails and tapas

Crossroads, in Market Hall in Crown Square Poundbury, was recently opened by owners Sahil Dalvi and Matt McCourtie.

Mr Dalvi, who operates a number of businesses in Poundbury including the Buttermarket Convenience Store and Post Office, said: “I own a couple of other businesses in Poundbury, and even before Covid I have been saying that a cocktail and tapas spot would be great.

Sahil Dalvi and Matt McCourtie outside the Crossroads in Poundbury (Image: Alfie Lumb) “There is nothing around here like this that offer later opening hours where you can meet for a quick chat with friends or an after hours business meeting.

“We wanted something that was not too formal but was needed in the area- and that’s where the idea came from.

The name Crossroads is both a nod to the café’s location in the heart of Crown Square between two roads, as well as a cross over between coffee in the mornings and afternoons and cocktails on Friday and Saturday evenings to 9pm. 

Mr Dalvi went on to describe his business partner, who is from Dorchester. He said: “Matt is a great addition. He worked at Finca in Dorchester for around seven years, went to university, came back and is extremely knowledgeable in making the best cup of coffee.”

When asked why Poundbury is a good destination for businesses, Mr Dalvi said, “One reason is the community. People like to support local and good products. All businesses in Poundbury are independent and you can see that every owner likes to take care of their product.

“The other reason is that Poundbury is easily accessible, there is great parking, and there is so much growing in this area, giving people the chance to get a bite or a drink and have a browse around the local businesses.”

Crossroads Café in Poundbury's Market Hall, Crown Square (Image: Alfie Lumb) Mr Dalvi said the pair have had positive responses on food and drinks on their menu so far. He said: “We’ve only just opened so everything is a learning curve whilst we get the coffee fine-tuned.

“Our croissants sell well in the morning. Right now our sourdough toasties are doing well. When the weather gets colder, we are hoping our sausage rolls and pasties do well.

“During our first weekend, the espresso martini sold well, as did the 'sex on the beach', but we don’t just serve cocktails. It’s more of a bar and tapas as we offer ale, cider, lager, wine and prosecco.

“So far our tapas is very basic. We have a cheese board, nibbles, a bread basket, olives and peppers, but we are planning to add more items soon such as prawns and garlic, meatballs, chorizo platters but we don’t want to overload ourselves just yet.

“Everyone so far has said it’s great and word of mouth seems to be spreading well.”