Take a fancy to

Also, take a liking or shine to. Be attracted to someone or something, as in They took a fancy to spicy foods after their Mexican vacation, or I’m hoping he’ll take a liking to the water, now that we have a cottage on a lake, or We think Bill’s taken a shine to Betsy. The first term was first recorded in 1541, the first variant in 1570, and the last, a colloquialism, in 1850.