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He works the room like a furry but very relaxed maitre d’ and has done since he was a pup.

The Wee Bear Café and Lodge at Lochside are run by by Bear’s owners, Gareth and Anne Finn.

It’s a real family establishment vin every sense of the word.

Gareth and Anne’s children Rui, 24, and Orla, 22, worked there before heading off for university.

Gareth says: “The girls that work with us are our extended family.  Even our regular customers are like extended family.

So it’s no wonder that the family pets, Bear and his sidekick Winnie, nine, are integral to the operation.

“Bear is definitely the proprietor,” says Gareth.

“People come here to see him.”

The Lhasa Apso was just a pup when Gareth and Anne opened Wee Bear Café and Lodge at Lochside in 2014.

Both nurses, the couple had moved to Lintrathen before their children were born.

They had just returned from a couple of years in Canada and discovered the building, which was previously a high-end restaurant, was for sale.

Gareth explains: “The place had been sold to a company that wanted to turn it into a drug and alcohol rehab centre.

“When they didn’t get the plans passed, the place was left to rot really.  There was a lot of water damage.

“We, rather naively, thought we were up for a challenge.”

Neither had experience of running a business, nor of the food industry.

Anne says: “When we first opened, we didn’t plan on having a café at all.

“We just had the letting rooms upstairs, the bed and breakfast.

“We genuinely just thought we would sell a few coffees and scones.”

Gareth says: “We never advertised because we didn’t know what we were capable of.  We were kind of scared to.

“Everything has been organic.  We weren’t trained in being chefs, we weren’t trained in baking, we weren’t trained in any of that sort of stuff.  We just threw ourselves at it.”

Gareth is now cook and Anne the baker.  Everything they serve is homemade.

Their method clearly works.  The café is packed inside and out when we arrive on a sunny Friday afternoon.

In 2020, it was named best independent café in The Courier Food and Drink Awards.

During lockdown, Gareth and Anne added a large outdoor seating area, which adds to the charm of the destination overlooking the loch.

They have also crated the Wee Bear Bar, where they host music events and taco nights.

Rui and Orla were aged 12 and 10 when the Finns bought the premises.

Since then, they have been as much part of the success of the Wee Bear team as their parents have.

Anne says: “They came along for the ride whether they wanted to or not.

“Rui has worked in the kitchen since he’s been really young and Orla has waitressed since form she was 12.”

He is back in the kitchen for the summer holidays, having studied for his master’s in Berlin and Dublin and is shortly heading for Edinburgh.

Orla, who attends Edinburgh University, has just returned from a year in Sweden.

But Anne has “banned” her from returning home this year.

“She’s never had a summer off, she’s worked every one,” she says.

When she comes back she (won’t) stay in the house (which is part of the building) when she knows we’re busy.

“It’s not all unicorns and rainbows having a family business.

“It’s hard work for everybody and your kids don’t choose it, they just have to live it.”

But customers see and appreciate the family aspect of a business like this one.

Even when Rui and Orla are absent, the Wee Bear Café retains that family vibe – overseen, of course, by Bear.

We meet Megan, Niamh Henderson and Sophie Connor, who have worked there since they were at school.

“The girls who work here are as much our children as our own children are,” says Anne.

“All the kids that work with us are extended family,” adds Gareth.

“They know what it is like to work in a small business,  There’s not a job that we ask the girls to do that we haven’t done ourselves.

Sophie is currently helping Anne write a cook book, photographing her magnificent bakes.

“Even our regular customers are like extended family.” says Gareth.

And many of them are there to see mine host.

“People come here to see Bear,” Gareth adds.

“To the extent that Anne was out walking in Broughty Ferry with the dogs and someone came up and said ‘Is that Bear?’

“He works the room.  He goes around and speaks to people then heads off for a nap.  We’ve got older people that come in he just sits at their feet.”

Bear is also the face of the business, helping to promote Wee Bear Café on its social media channels.

“It’s either him or us,” says Gareth, “and better him!  People are interested in Bear.”

And Bear’s presence makes sure customers can bring along their own dogs, too.

Gareth and Anne keep a large stock of treats to ensure their canine visitors feel welcome.

“When I started, I was amazed there were so many places had rules that dogs weren’t allowed inside,” says Gareth.

“It’s still that way in a lot of places.

“We love dogs, so we wanted them to come in.

“I tend to remember the dogs before I remember the people!”