Samantha Howcroft is a well-known face in Ilkley.

With her husband David, she runs the busy Wells Café in Wells Road, serving hearty helpings of food to a stream of contented customers who come back time after time again.

“They are mostly regulars, about 80 per cent,” she says. “Our customers are more like friends – we see the same faces throughout the week, there is a lovely atmosphere.”

The cosy café and bistro, opposite the Ilkley Gazette, looks quaint and welcoming, with a coach lamp above the door.

Seating 25, the feel is intimate and informal, and the fare, as Samantha says, is “good food – not messed around with.”

The menu is predominantly traditional English fare, with main courses including corned beef and caramelised onion potato cake; grilled Cumberland sausage, mash and caramelised onion gravy; and fillet of smoked haddock with asparagus, hollandaise glaze and poached eggs. Snacks include jacket potatoes, toasties and omelettes and desserts feature chocolate chip brownie.

The café is a local hub for shoppers, and for friends meeting up for a snack. “We also get a lot of tourists so we meet a lot of people,” adds Samantha. Paintings by local artists are often hung on the walls, as well as photographs by David. All are available for customers to buy.

Guiseley-born Samantha, 33, trained on catering at Thomas

Danby College in Leeds after getting a taste of the business on work experience.

“When I was 15, I worked for a while in the kitchen at Hollins Hall Hotel in Baildon, when it was privately owned, and thoroughly enjoyed it. My careers adviser suggested it might be the right job for me, but I had doubts. I thought I was more suited to front-of-house rather than the kitchen.”

But she gave it a go, and has not looked back. She worked in a restaurant and a couple of hotels, and also got a taste of authentic French cuisine on a work experience stint in France, before taking on The Wells with David.

The couple met when they both worked at the Peasehill House Hotel in Rawdon. “We worked together for about five years before David decided we would have a go on our own,” she says.

“I was quite nervous at first because it was our livelihood – we were leaping from being employed to being self-employed, but it has been great, it is the best decision we ever made.”

They have now been at the helm of the eaterie for seven years. “It is very hard work, but really rewarding. The café is always bustling.”

When they do find time to take holidays, Samantha and David enjoy checking out

big-name restaurants. “We have been to one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in London, and to Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Berkshire.” They have also sampled famous fare from further a field, visiting El Bulli in Spain, which was once voted the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine.

But however much they love visiting other restaurants, the couple would not dream of trying any copy-cat meals.

“We love visiting other restaurants, but we don’t use those influences in our own food. It does pass down to what we do, but we would not start making dishes like Gordan Ramsay – it would scare people away. What we look at are things like service, little touches that make a big difference.”

At home in Apperley Bridge, David does the bulk of the cooking. “Mostly basic stuff, beans on toast, stew, scrambled eggs – nothing that requires too much effort.”

The couple enjoy walking. “We live near the canal, so we go there, or we have a walk around Ilkley.”

They enjoy working together – they have one other member of staff – and want to carry on at The Wells as long as possible. “We know so many people now. On birthdays we get so many cards.”

And last year their achievements were recognised when The Wells was one of three premises shortlisted for the Wharfedale Newspapers Pub/Restaurant of the Year award.

“That was brilliant, “says Samantha