A taste of the Caribbean!
A FAMILY HAVE BROUGHT THEIR HOME-COOKED CUISINE TO THE POTTERIES AFTER MOVING HERE FROM LONDON. FINDS OUT MORE...
AFAMILY have moved from London to start a new life in Tunstall – and brought their Caribbean home cooking with them.
Naomi Stewart, aged 34, and husband Alex Palmer, aged 42, relocated to the city with their four children and opened their takeaway and mini-restaurant on Wesley Street a month ago.
Brickhouse serves up jerk chicken smoked on a barbecue, traditional saltfish and ackee, Caribbean rice and peas, and a range of snacks.
These include stuffed dumplings and chicken patties, platters and desserts, including rum cheesecake, which is proving a hit.
They also serve three different types of rum punch – red, purple and original – which is sold by the cup or litre.
It is made with Way and Nephew Caribbean rum.
Naomi said: “My partner and I moved here from London about eight months ago. We wanted to get away from London and we fell in love with Stoke-on-trent.
“I know another few people who moved up here, it’s because the people of Stokeon-trent are so amazing and friendly.”
Naomi said Tunstall ‘has a lot of potential’. She added: “We launched our takeaway and mini-restaurant in Tunstall because we’re trying to bring more people and business into the area and bring up the economy to build something better for the community. You don’t get that sense of community in London – we want to build it up and work together.”
Naomi hopes to expand the business and open a full restaurant.
Alex is a chef who has worked in Gordon Ramsay restaurants, and chain hotels including Radisson. Naomi has always worked in hospitality and front of house.
They have four children – Tyris, aged two, Ellis, five, Lewis, six, and 18-year-old Jermaine.
Naomi added: “We serve
Jamaican food with South American influences. Both our parents were born in Jamaica but we grew up in London.
“All of our sauces and marinades are made from scratch as is our rum punch. It is something we love to cook.”
The move to Stoke-ontrent was partly triggered by Naomi’s fear of her older son being hurt or robbed in London.
She said: “I thought ‘Do I really want this for our younger children? There are better things and opportunities for a family here.
“What we love about Tunstall is that it’s quite multicultural. They learn things in school about different cultures and religions. The schools in London were really overcrowded. Now they get the attention they need. We can really make a good life here.
“We’ve only been open a month so we’re still seeing what works and what doesn’t.”
Contact the takeaway on: 07493 444208 or visit https:// brickhousevents-and-catering.business.site.
A STELLAR cast leads this fournight murder mystery thriller that has a Broadchurch feel with plenty of detectives with dark pasts.
Based on the novel by Ann Cleeves, it stars Ben Aldridge as DI Matthew Venn, who has returned to live in a small community in North Devon with his husband.
Matthew was brought up in the evangelical Barum Brethren before leaving to go to university. At 19 he knew he couldn’t continue to live there, hiding his sexuality and, to his mother’s despair, declared he no longer believed.
Now he’s back, not just to grieve for his father, but to lead the investigation into a shocking murder.
Juliet Stevenson plays his mother Dorothy, who challenges Matthew’s return to the area.
In the meantime, there’s work to be done after the body of a man is found on the beach close to Matthew’s home – casting suspicion on the entire community.
Pearl Mackie plays DS Jen Rafferty, who helps Matthew in the investigation while also managing her two teenage kids as a single parent. Having set up a new life in Devon, she’s trying to put some distance between her own traumatic scars from her former life in London.
Martin Shaw plays the Brethren leader Dennis Stephenson, with Anita Dobson as his wife Grace, while Neil Morrissey appears as one of the locals Christopher Reasley.
Ben Aldridge says: “Matthew is a brilliantly unorthodox detective who audiences will see solving a gripping and intricate case, while at the same time surmounting a deeper, more personal mystery within himself.”
Continues tomorrow night