Both passionate about food, chefs George Brentnall and Isabel Simmonds have opened a delicatessen in Walberswick in the premises that was the original ‘Tuck Shop’ on The Street. Many years ago the shop was the home of the village cobbler, before being turned into a grocery by John Brakes and many residents will remember it being taken over by Ginger Winyard before he built the current shop, now operated by the East of England Co-operative Society.
Ginger was never happy about his regulars shopping anywhere else, even using Reynolds shop on The Green. One day when one such regular, Mrs. Harman, walked past the shop carrying an empty basket, Ginger was heard to say, only half to himself, “Where’s she a’gooin’ with that baaskut?”
George and Izzy, both 23, have had their work cut out transforming the semi derelict space at the back into a micro kitchen that will meet their exacting standards. George freely admits that their catering skills have not prepared them for the renovation work; icing and plastering may seem similar to the untrained eye but apparently they are not interchangeable, and they’ve been grateful for the practical help they’ve had over the last few weeks from friends and neighbours.
When it comes to sourcing and producing good local food however, the young couple know exactly what they are doing. George’s catering skills were ignited when he worked for Andrew Blackburn at The Bell Hotel in Saxmundham at the age of 13, here he learned about traditional French food. At 17 he left school and worked full time in the Walberswick Bell whilst he applied to The Waitrose sponsored Bournmouth and Poole Specialised Chef’s Scholarship, it was here that he met Izzy. Before being recommended for the Chef’s Scholarship Izzy had taken the bold step of writing to John Williams at The Ritz, asking for work experience and been accepted, it was a baptism by fire. Izzy told us “It was quite intimidating at the time because I was only just 18 and with cheffing being such a male orientated profession I found myself surrounded by lots of angry, motivated looking men!”
George Brentnall and Isabel Simmonds
The young chefs were given intensive tutoring by David Boland and graduated with distinction. As part of their course they were placed in high profile kitchen environments, Izzy at One Aldwich Hotel in Covent Garden and George in the Royal Household. Between them they can claim a finalist place in the British Culinary Federation’s Young Chef of the Year, working in the kitchens of Balmoral, Sandringham and Buckingham palace and cooking banquets for heads of state, as well as working with executive chef Tony Fleming (ex-chef for Marco Pierre White). One of them has even prepared a meal for some rather famous corgis so you’ll see that the village is very privileged that they’ve decided to settle here and provide us with Suffolk cheeses, mustard from Woodbridge, cordials from Bury St Edmunds, apple juice from The Saints, red poll beef from Bramfield and honey from Walberswick common.
The village turned out en-mass on a lovely sunny evening this Tuesday to sample the Black Dog Deli's wares. This was an opportunity to 'try before you buy' and George Brentall and Isabel Simmonds handed out samples of their home made pate, quiches and chocolates, amongst other things. They opened for business on Wednesday and there was a queue outside at lunchtime, which bodes well.