C’est magnifique! C’est merveilleux! Gourmand!

A café with a French twist is the winner of our Best Café 2022 award and the first anniversary celebrations will be coming early for owners Julien and Olivia.

Gourmand! opened its doors on Sankey Street in September last year after husband and wife team Julien Ramos and Olivia Le had been selling traditional French baked goods online during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

What began as an alternative to sending friends and family a card while pandemic restrictions were in place, preventing people from spending time together, quickly gathered speed and the couple decided to open a café and bakery in the town centre.

Warrington Guardian: Tasty treats at Gourmand!Tasty treats at Gourmand!

Since its launch at the end of April, the Best of 2022 competition has named winners in 16 different categories.

Top honours for hair, nails, beauty, fitness, children and independent shop have been given out as well as those for fish and chips, pies, pubs, beer garden, breakfast, afternoon tea, roast dinner, pizza and burger already decided.

Voting is currently taking place in the latest round of the competition with the award for Best Gym 2022 up for grabs, and voting closes at midnight on Monday, August 22.

Next up we were searching for the town’s best cafe and Gourmand! came out on top.

Warrington Guardian: A look inside Gourmand!A look inside Gourmand!

The authentic French recipes at Gourmand! set the independent coffee shop apart from others in Warrington with everything baked in-house fresh each day.

Julien and Olivia, who come from Montpellier and Nimes, have lived in Warrington since 2014 with Julien working for Aldi and Olivia in pharmaceuticals.

Julien has worked in restaurants in the UK in the past and Olivia spent some time in her parents’ restaurant back home in France, so they had some experience working in the industry.

Warrington Guardian: Owners Julien Ramos and Olivia LeOwners Julien Ramos and Olivia Le

Olivia said: “We started online at first and built up a lovely customer base selling French cakes and other traditional goods.

“Receiving our products in the post reminded people of holidays in France.

“Once we opened our shop on Sankey Street, it was nice to meet customers face to face.”

It’s these lovely customers who have voted Gourmand! Best Café 2022 with many saying it’s “amazing” and a “real treat” with the French food “not to be missed”.

Warrington Guardian: Homemade bread baked fresh every dayHomemade bread baked fresh every day

Olivia said: “We are so grateful to all our customers who nominated us to make the shortlist and then voted for us to win this award.

“There are so many lovely cafes and coffee shops in Warrington that are well established and we’re still relatively new.

“Our customers enjoy visiting an independent coffee shop and café and we appreciate all of their support.”

Gourmand” is open five days a week – Wednesday to Sunday and on Sundays they offer a dish of the week, which is a traditional French meal.

This week’s is moules frites – mussels and fries.

For more details go to facebook.com/Gourmand.warrington

Warrington Guardian: Pastry delights at Gourmand!Pastry delights at Gourmand!