three years before they found the recipe for love...in a deli.

Bermudian Cathy and her British husband, Nick, met in the Fourways sandwich shop in Hamilton's Windsor Place.

"It was an accident,'' said the 30-year-old businesswoman. "I walked in there one day to get a sandwich and he was there staring at me.

"I thought I knew him because I'm in insurance and I meet people all the time. I said `Do I know you?' and he thought I was flirting with him.

"I guess our relationship started in a deli. He kept sending messages and I wouldn't respond, and I finally got so curious I called him one afternoon.

"About eight months after we met we went out on a date, and we've been together ever since.'' Nick describes the meeting as "love at first sight''.

"I was sitting having a coffee and she came in. I got up and stood behind her in the queue, and she spoke to me. That was it.'' Cathy, an insurance underwriter, married Nick in February last year, and they live in an old Bermuda home on Wellington Slip Road, St. George's, which they are renovating.

Nick, 35, from Newcastle, is a keen sailor who is this week racing his Tornado catamaran in International Race Week during a rare few days off work.

He came to the Island more than seven years ago as an information systems manager for the Bank of Butterfield, and now spends much of his time setting up another of the couples' businesses, Bermuda Moped Tours, which this summer plans to take visitors on guided cycle trips along the railway trail.

They also run a part-time business, the Warehouse furniture shop on Elliott Street which opened about two years ago.

"Our relationship helped in t he deli venture because we work very closely with each other,'' he said. "We bounce ideas off each other and she keeps me under control. We're good foils for each other.

"It's always nice to be able to work together.'' The idea for Duffy's Deli came, like many other business ideas, as a solution to a personal need.

Cathy works in Hamilton near the deli's premises on the corner of Wesley Street and Park Road, and trains at the nearby Olympic Club at lunchtimes.

"I was going to the gym and not having anywhere to go for lunch when I came back,'' she said. "I was getting frustrated having to walk all the way into town to get lunch.

"I said it would be ideal to get a deli in this area. As soon as this place became available we discussed it and decided to go for it.'' The premises became free in June last year, so they rented them. Official approval for their plans arrived about seven months later.

Soon the former balloon greetings shop was being transformed -- by Nick and father-in-law Erskine Swan -- into the deli. After about two months the big opening day arrived -- April 12.

Duffy's Deli is now open from 7.30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday.

"We wanted to provide a central location for the office buildings and to allow vegetarians more of a choice,'' said Cathy.

"We wanted it to make it look as modern as possible but to have a homey feel as well. That's why we put plants in and put stools in the window and the lace curtains, to make it feel like you're at home.'' The deli's black-and-white flooring and tiles add to the contemporary feel, she said.

"We didn't want it to be a sterile place. We want it to be a place where you feel comfortable eating.

"The emphasis is on cleanliness - they all wear gloves and they all wear hats.'' Nick believes the place will appeal to a growing number of Bermudians who, as are the Duffys, are interested in being healthier.

"We're trying to cater for the people who want vegetarian food and the people who want low-cal food,'' he said. "As far as I'm aware we're the only place offering low-cal options.

"We're going to expand our vegetarian foods depending on what people like and don't like.

"I think people want this option. I think more and more people are health conscious.

"If you look around in Bermuda you will see interest in new gyms, and in general there's so much going on with all the runners and the cyclists and the triathletes.

"The younger generation especially are more and more interested in taking care of themselves. People are becoming much more aware of the bad things in foods and they want a healthy style of eating.'' But Nick stresses the choice available at the deli is for vegetarians and meat-lovers, for those who are watching the calories and those who aren't.

"We're always going to offer two types of mayonnaise -- the low-fat kind and the full heavy-duty kind. And we're always going to offer meat -- if people want to eat it that's fine by us.

"But we want to give people a choice. A lot of people don't realise how nice some vegetarian things can taste.'' DELI TEAM -- Cathy Duffy (centre) and, from left to right, cashier Tina Vincent, manager Angelique Allen, sandwich preparer Angela Frith and pantry worker Kim Lindo.