Consistency the key to restaurant’s recipe for success

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine we pay a visit to the multi-award-winning restaurant The Pepperpot to find out its recipe for success.

Since opening at Wavensmere Homes’ Nightingale Quarter development, on the site of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, the venue has quickly established itself as one of Derby’s finest eateries.

This was underlined when it was named Restaurant of the Year at Marketing Derby’s Food and Drink Awards last year.

It is one of many accolades that have come the way of the restaurant, which is housed inside one of the DRI’s original Victorian ‘pepperpot’ buildings.

Innovate went along to meet Graeme Fulton, from the Fulton Partnership, which owns The Pepperpot – and its head chef Dan Fincher, who himself is making waves in the culinary world having recently been accepted into the Master Chefs of Great Britain – a prestigious organisation celebrating the country’s most accomplished and respected culinary professionals.

Speaking about the thinking behind The Pepperpot concept, Graeme told Innovate: “The inspiration was always to create a place in Derby that we would like to go to ourselves and that we thought was missing from the city’s offer.

“There were some great restaurants on the outskirts but not so much in the centre.

“And when the opportunity with this building came up, it’s so incredible that it was just too good to miss.

“Since Dan took over, the quality of the food is a given which has allowed the team to focus on the rest of the experience – and things have really clicked.”

In addition to being named Restaurant of the Year at the Marketing Derby Food and Drink Awards,The Pepperpot was also awarded a prestigious AA Rosette for Culinary Excellence.

The AA Rosette scheme is one of the UK’s most respected benchmarks of restaurant quality, with only a select number of establishments receiving this accolade each year.

The award recognises The Pepperpot’s inventive menus, dedication to locally sourced ingredients and the exceptional skills of its kitchen team.

According to Dan, the key to the restaurant’s ongoing success is consistency.

He told Innovate: “It’s absolutely key, even down to fine details such as if we put a carrot on a plate, do we cut it into three, or into two, or do we cut it at all?

“And we need to do things in a way that the team can replicate. There’s no point me taking a day off and then things being completely different.

“People come now expecting us to be good, and that’s great because it challenges us to ensure that it always is.”

To read the feature in full click here.