Mrs McCourt's Munch opens in former Upper Crust shop in Whitehaven

Toni McCourt, 37, from Mirehouse, has opened Mrs McCourt’s Munch in the former Upper Crust sandwich shop on Duke Street.

The new eatery offers cooked breakfasts, a variety of cakes and cream cakes, sandwiches, pies, coffee puffs and hot and cold sandwiches.

Toni with one of the choux puffs, which have been a hit with customers (Image: Submitted)

All fillings are home made and meat is locally sourced. Toni says the coffee puffs have been their biggest seller and the ‘huge’ meat and potato slab pies have also been a big hit.

Toni’s children have been learning the ropes. Lexi,15, is enjoying serving customers upstairs, while Paige, 12, loves to be baking in the kitchen. Both have been learning the basics on allergy awareness and food safety.

Toni’s son, Riley, is too young to be let among the food for the shop yet but has been tidying and stocking items and is keen to help out.

Toni's children are helping out in the shop (Image: Submitted)

Toni decided to give up her job during the first lockdown in 2020 and started her own food business from home. She said the response was ‘crazy’.

She had to stop due to illness last year. She had stage five endometriosis and had also been diagnosed with benign idiopathic intracranial hypertension – a rare neurological condition that occurs when there is too much cerebrospinal fluid in the skull.

Toni said: “I was just in agony all the time and exhausted. I spent days at a time in bed, ill and depressed, fighting on, searching for something that would help.

The shop sells a range of goods, including slabs of meat and potato pie (Image: Submitted)

“I've seen lots of neurologists, had lots of scans, lumbar punctures, and medication and I’m now happy to say it's finally more stable so I can have more of a normal life, although my memory is shocking and I get tired easily.”

Toni has nerve block injections in her head for pain every 12 weeks and daily medication to drain fluid from her brain. She also underwent a hysterectomy after a long wait and noticed her energy levels begin to rise.

The shop sells a variety of cakes and cream cakes (Image: Submitted)

She said: “One night I wanted to try and start working from home again to see how I got on. My husband wasn't sure I was ready because I was still healing.

“The next morning I’d found out our friends had shut their shop so I got the keys the next day to look about.

"There’s no going back now! It’s been a crazy five weeks getting ready and the response of customers old and new has been amazing.”