'People want to be here': Laynes Café celebrates 15 years in Leeds city centre

For 15 years, the independent cafe on New Station Street has been part of the daily rhythm of Leeds. Its owner, Dave Olejnik, still talks about the place with the energy of someone opening in week one, even as he jokes about what 15 years in hospitality has done to him.

“When I look in the mirror, I see a person who’s been aged by 15 years of trying to keep a business in business,” he told the YEP. “The challenges are consistent, constant and relentless.”

Back in 2011, when Laynes first opened its doors, the independent coffee scene in Leeds looked very different. But Dave had already seen where things might be heading.

His previous jobs took him to coffee bars in Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Europe and Australia, and he returned home wanting to create the same kind of space in his own city.

“If you want the space, make the space,” he said. “I knew there was a location where I’d dreamt of having that kind of shop, and New Station Street was it.”

He used to walk up the street imagining a café there. When the hairdressers that once occupied the unit downsized and put a “to let” sign in the window, Dave called the number and never looked back.

The early days were far from glamorous, he recalls. He took out personal loans, scraped together the fit-out costs and, in month three, sold a fridge to pay his one staff member. Today, Laynes employs around 27 people, but the pressure has not eased, he admits - it has simply multiplied.

Then came the pandemic. The cafe’s 10th anniversary almost passed by unnoticed in 2021, with many restrictions still in effect in England.

“It would have been nice to make a bit more of a fuss,” Dave admitted. “But here we are.”

That is part of why 15 years feels different - and more significant. Instead of limiting celebrations to a single day, Dave and his team are planning a year-long programme of collaborations and events.

From the start, Laynes was designed as a quick-stop espresso bar, catching commuters as they left Leeds railway station - “time-poor, money-rich” regulars grabbing a flat white on the move.

The big shift came around year six, when the unit next door became available. Dave knocked through the wall, installed a kitchen and started serving breakfast and lunch.

“It became a place people could go and be in, rather than just move through,” he said.

A long-serving colleague pushed Laynes to take food seriously, and the kitchen has since been shaped by a small number of committed head chefs. The current head chef, James, runs a menu that sits alongside the coffee rather than underneath it.

The idea of space - not just what is served, but where and how people sit - is what keeps Dave creatively interested. In 2022, Laynes added a bakery and wholesale arm specialising in pastries and laminated doughs, supplying both the cafe and other venues.

Across the city, he has noticed Leeds’ independent food and drink scene grow more confident since Laynes opened.

“Fifteen years ago there was a bit more naive energy,” he explained. “Now people have a really concise idea of what they want to bring to the city, and that’s good.”

As for what success looks like after a decade and a half, Dave is blunt.

“At the moment, survival is success,” he said. “It’s about maintaining a space that people want to go to, with staff who are happy to come in and do the graft. If we can pay the bills, keep everyone paid and still be a place people want to be, that’s success.”