Restaurant rises from a watery grave with a brand new vision
Almost a year after Storm Callum left parts of Wales under water, Robert Harries talks to one business-owner who is now reopening a restaurant which was a victim of the flooding
ARESTAURANT in the heart of a Welsh town is reopening almost a year after Storm Callum ripped it apart and left it under 6ft of water.
October 13, 2018, started as just another day in Carmarthen. The forecast had warned people of the brutal weather that was to come over the weekend, but nobody could have predicted the devastation that the worst storm in 31 years would leave in its wake.
Businesses and homes were ruined in a matter of minutes as rain battered large areas of Carmarthenshire on that Saturday morning and into the afternoon.
One of the worst parts affected was the Quay in Carmarthen, which sits next to the Towy, the river that separates the area from Pensarn, a river which had become wild as it surged over walls and on to the town’s roads.
A popular restaurant was hit as badly as anyone. Diablo’s On the Quay, which opened in 2013, bore the brunt of Storm Callum as it forced its way through doors and windows and forced the immediate closure of the restaurant.
The ground floor, which housed the food and preparation areas, store room and customer toilets, was totally ruined. The first floor, home to the dining tables and bar area, was rendered useless, with the operational heart of the restaurant now under water.
Today, the owner is ready to open a new restaurant in its place – Dexters – which will be Carmarthen’s first steakhouse.
“I was on holiday that day,” remembers Alex Luck, who also owns and runs Diablo’s cocktail bar in the centre of town.
“I got a phone call on the Saturday morning to tell me what had happened. I knew it was bad. My staff told me what to expect and I saw pictures of the mess, but it still didn’t really prepare me for what I saw
when I got back.
“I got on the next flight home from my holiday and went straight to the restaurant. It was a scene of utter devastation.”
Within minutes, Alex realised that his and his team’s years of hard work, creating one of the best places to eat in Carmarthenshire, had been blown away. It had taken more than six years to build up the business and less than six hours to wipe it out.
Carmarthen had not seen anything like it since the floods of 1987. Businesses near the river were ruined, most of Pensarn was under water, and the emergency services were out in force throughout a weekend that will live in the memory of all who were unfortunate enough to be caught up in the storm.
“We used to get a lot of flood warnings,” says Alex.
“Prior to that weekend, there didn’t seem to be anything exceptional about the weather or the warning, so we just all thought it would be like the others.
“We didn’t anticipate the depth that the water would rise to or just how bad things were going to be.
“It had never happened to us before at all, but on that Saturday morning the water just came in and everything was destroyed.”
Now, almost a year later, Alex’s new vision has risen from the ruins of Diablo’s in the Quay, and he admits that he had to take stock after what happened last October to carefully consider his next move.
It’s a been a long journey to get back, but it’s one that finally has a finish line in sight.
“We’ve had to work so hard to get back,” says Alex.
“We have had to endure and overcome many obstacles out of our control, and the saddest part for me was when I had to lose staff just after Christmas last year. That was the end of a chapter.
“But I took the time after the devastation of what happened to train and educate myself, and really reflect on what I’m passionate about in this industry.
“I travelled to London to work at renowned steakhouses there and I’ve been totally motivated by what they have to offer, and I want to bring that home.”
The new restaurant is unique in that it will be the only steakhouse in Carmarthen. So what made Alex go down a different route, as opposed to reopening Diablo’s On the Quay as it was? After all, customers loved it.
“I’ve always had a love of beef and all things beef, really,” reveals Alex.
“So much so that I’ve spent almost a year learning about it – how it’s farmed and how it’s actually quite difficult to get good steak on your plate.
“We’ll basically be buying the whole animal and trying to use it from head to toe, giving people the option of trying every kind of steak possible, as well as burgers.
“And although we’re passionate about being a steakhouse, we will of course offer much more than that – we’ll have fish dishes and vegetarian options, too.
“We’ve completely renovated the whole restaurant and it’ll just be great to have customers back in here again after such a long time.”
There may have been more than three decades between the two worst incidents of flooding in Carmarthen in living memory, but does Alex have a constant nag in the back of his mind every time the heavens open and the rain comes washing down Carmarthen’s Quay?
“You just have to get on with it,” he says.
“Things are different now. If flooding ever happened to that extent again, we are prepared.
“We have tiled the place with waterproof backing and the whole of the downstairs is waterproofed as much as it can be.
“If we had rain like that again it would require a big clean-up operation, but it wouldn’t devastate us like last time. We would be closed for a few days, not the best part of a year.”
Dexters opens its doors next Tuesday, and will serve food every day between 12pm-3pm and 6pm-9pm.
Almost a year after that Saturday morning when a few hours of rain caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage and months of anguish, meat-lovers in Carmarthen will be hoping that Dexters was worth waiting for.