High fives for town’s new restaurant serving ‘best of British with a few influences’
A NEW restaurant has opened in a Derbyshire town with an aim to showcase the “best in British food with a few influences”.
Five at Delph welcomed its first customers at The Delph Centre, in Market Street, Swadlincote, last Friday.
Owner and chef Jason Thacker, who is running the business with partner Rebecca Wincott, serves traditional British dishes, including slow-cooked beef which he says proved popular on opening weekend.
Mr Thacker says he’s aiming to support local suppliers as much as possible as the couple’s new venture gets up and running.
The 41-year-old said: “Where possible we try to use and support local producers and suppliers, we use the award-winning butcher Price and Fretwell, we also use flour from Caudwells Mill, and stock Darley Abbey Cider on our drinks menu, just as a few examples.
“The food we do at Five at Delph is all prepared and cooked fresh and is a British style with influences.
“On our opening weekend the slow-cooked beef, with savoy cabbage and bacon, and roasted carrot went down really well followed up with a portion of our sticky toffee pudding, toffee sauce and ice cream.”
Mr Thacker was a former chef leader at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College but found himself at a loose end when teaching moved online amid the Covid pandemic.
He said: “Obviously when Covid hit colleges went a bit quiet and teaching online doesn’t work in practice for cooking.
“I wanted to keep busy and we had thought about setting up a dining restaurant business for a while.”
The owners are also hoping to set up a cookery school in a couple of months time.
Mr Thacker, who has won awards for his cooking, added: “The cookery school will be the second phase in about two or three months.
“We will look at courses on cooking on a budget, healthy eating and dinner party cheats [to name but a few].”
The restaurant, set up in a unit which was formerly a bridal shop, has 32 tables.
The couple are also hoping to hire one kitchen apprentice and two front of house apprentices.
Tables can be booked by messaging Five at Delph on Facebook or calling 01283 619547.