Restaurant of year closes its doors as inflation sends its fuel bills rocketing
‘UNFORTUNATELY, QUALITY DOES NOT GUARANTEE BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY’
AN award-winning restaurant in Derbyshire has closed its doors for good to the dismay of food lovers.
After five years, The Factory Kitchen, loved for its breakfasts, lunches and fine dining evening menus, has ceased trading.
Owners Kevan and Jane Pierrepont have put up a sign on the door saying: “Sorry we are closed. Thank you so much to all our lovely customers who have supported us over the last five years. We have had a lot of fun.”
A former 19th-Century malt house became the rustic-style restaurant in Street, Ilkeston, in 2017. Its reputation soon grew as a destination for creative dishes crafted by Michelin-trained chef Jacob Robinson, who honed his skills working for tough taskmasters Marcus Wareing and Richard Corrigan in London before returning to his home town.
During the pandemic, when hospitality was unable to open, The Factory Kitchen devised a dine at home menu and prided itself on the fact it was so affordable at £20 for a top-quality three-course meal. The quality earned it rave reviews.
Since reopening diners have been able to order dishes such as Derbyshire lamb loin and belly with violet artichoke, stone bass fillet with Cornish mussels and saffron potatoes, and Gressingham duck with roast apricot and pine nuts.
But with prices rising to £24 to £26 for a main course due to the increasing cost of ingredients, the number of bookings dropped off, leaving empty seats on what should have been busy Friday and Saturday nights.
Mr Pierrepont said: “The rising costs and the drop in customer numbers with people having less to spend was a bit too much for us. It was pretty drastic too. The gas and electric bill for the quarter was £11k and we used to pay around £12k per year.
“We stayed open for an extra month really to allow the staff to find other positions which went pretty well. It was important to us as they are mostly either family or felt like family.
“If we were younger we might have had the inclination to invest more and adapt or if the business had had more time to get established – we were only two and a half years old when Covid struck – things might be different but I wasn’t looking to go much past 60, which is next year.
“It’s a shame because since Jacob joined us we have never had a run of more than three months at a time without some world event messing things up. Once everything is sold and we are
settled we can hopefully enjoy a quieter, hassle-free time out in the countryside somewhere.”
The Factory Kitchen was crowned Great Food Club’s Restaurant of the Year for 2021-22. The guide to the best places to eat in the East Midlands describes the food as creative, seasonal and unique.
They said: “Our judges were impressed by the entire dining experience, from the interior’s memorable industrial design touches – a nod to the building’s past – to the warmth of the welcome, the quality of the cooking and the creativity of the flavour combinations.
“The small team that Factory Kitchen owners Kevan and Jane Pierrepont have put together has the feel of a happy family. That, combined with the food offering, makes The Factory Kitchen a truly special place.”
Matt Wright, founder of the Great Food Club, said: “The Factory Kitchen’s closure is a really sad loss – it was deservedly Great Food Club’s Restaurant of the Year 2021 and the GFC team always loved eating there. Owners Kev and Jane Pierrepont had created a beautiful, unique, family-run independent restaurant.
“The service was excellent, and young head chef Jacob Robinson’s cooking was memorable. The Factory Kitchen’s closure proves just how challenging it is out there right now for pubs and restaurants. It also shows that, unfortunately, quality does not guarantee business sustainability.”
Diners John Gains and Joe Corr, aka bloggers Guys Who Dine, were shocked by the closure. Joe said: “It is a shock after winning best restaurant. We’re so sad to hear about our favourite restaurant closing. We’d visited quite often and the food was always exceptional. Their chef Jacob is very talented and we’re sure he will go on to do great things.”
The property that includes an apartment upstairs has been listed for £495,000. Chef Jacob is now setting up BAH BAH, a pop-up Persian street food outfit with his brother Thomas.