I can still recall my mother’s horror when, aged 17, I declared, over breakfast, my intention to turn her home into a restaurant. This was not a one off occurrence – but was invariably fuelled by my vivid imagination, my father’s spirit of bon viveur not to mention a glass or two of red wine. Needless to say it never got off the ground – the desire to open a restaurant however remained.
Weaving my adult working life through fashion retail, wedding planning, PA to a member of the European Parliament & then to a Cabinet Minister brought me to a crashing halt. The wake up call was a panic attack which resulted in my doctor ‘insisting’ I resign & do something I enjoyed. I had always done some level of outside catering as a hobby job & with children having fled the nest – it seemed the perfect time to pursue this lifelong desire.
So I spent the summer of 2013 working in a deli kitchen, running pop-up restaurant events at The Gallery Highwaymans in Risby, running cookery classes & preparing buffets for parties. By August I was feeling confident enough to consider a permanent premises on St John’s St in Bury St Edmunds. With a will of iron, financial backing and practical help from friends – we set about transforming the premises at number 7 from a purple, unfurnished, unequipped shell into Cafe Del Mar. There were times when 18 hour days back to back resulted in me having to crawl up to stairs to bed…I was that exhausted!
Upcycling, paint jobs, a fantastic work experience team from the decorating department of West Suffolk College & my daughter, Anabelle, with her Theatre Design Degree all came together to create our quirky interior on a very tight budget – which we have repeated in our new venue!
The food offering & menus started life as a daytime café with a few evening meals – including a number of tapas offerings. Mainly Spanish & Greek influences in the early days, but over time we incorporated Moroccan, Italian & Persian. Breakfasts & morning coffees became replaced with lunchtime platters & evening tagines. We opened in October 2013 but did not get our alcohol license until the following spring.
I love the ups & downs of the hospitality trade & the characters – believe me I could fill this entire magazine just on those! The sheer pleasure of putting a freshly prepared meal in front of someone in a nice environment, with a smile – is the best way of giving someone a metaphorical hug. Creating & costing the recipes, learning how to order the food plus all the different ways of doing things in a commercial kitchen. What a learning curve & yes there were times when I wondered what I had let myself in for. Would I swap – not ever!
One of the hurdles was when CAFE DEL MAR in Ibiza stared sending us legal threats for using their name! We thought we should change it as Café had begun to be a bit of a misnomer. Changing it to CASA DEL MAR – meant we only had to change 2 letters & all our artwork stayed in tact!
The premises on St John’s Street provided us with many challenges – it had been neglected over a number of years – as such leaks & electrical faults were a regular occurrence. The final straw came when due to Treadfirst’s premises closing we lost our fire escape and route to putting bins out.
I had spoken to Nicholas Corke (What a brilliant surname for a wine merchant!) of Thos. Peatling Wine Merchants about the premises formerly known as The Rising Sun but all of a sudden the matter was pressing. I sent an email to Nicholas, who was hard at work wine tasting in Spain, asking if he would like a long-term committed tenant? Happily he said yes – then on his return we set to work on turning the building, which had been empty for two years into a wine bar & restaurant. He thought he was on a tight deadline when we set our opening date for 8 weeks time – however I realised that actually we would miss the bank holiday! So we then had 6 weeks for a major refurb! But we did it & the new premises give us so much more scope.
Over the next few months I want to share with you my absolute passion for food & the fact that I truly believe everyone can cook! So watch this space over the coming months!
