Hatch offers chef chance to create snacks

There’s also a vegan option – a potato waffle with barbacoa, jackfruit, pico de gallo and aioli.

Gemma (29), an experienced chef and co-owner Alexander’s & Co restaurant and bar in Holywood, brought her A Peculiar Tea pop-up food enterprise to the novel Hill Street Hatch last weekend…and with stunning success.

She’ll be serving up her delicious takeaway dishes again from Thursday to Sunday at what is fast becoming Northern Ireland’s most original food destination, a hub for imaginative chefs seeking to create novel taste experiences.

Gemma is the latest chef to benefit from the opportunity offered by the quirky Hill Street Hatch in a narrow street famed for its historic paving of square sets and wide choice of restaurants and takeaways.

The Hatch is now driving food-on-the-go creativity in the city through the opportunities to younger chefs in particular to reimagine traditional favourites such as toasted sandwiches, sausage rolls and gelato.

The Hatch’s next occupant will offer authentic Filipino street food. Ham and cheese toasties which were originally created by the Toast Office start-up on a short term basis have become a fully-fledged food outlet due to the popularity of its toasties.

And Moon Gelato’s original iced desserts continue to be served daily by chef Aaron Heasley at the Fat Gherkin café in Moira.

Gemma’s A Peculiar Tea is based on a dissertation about an enterprise offering original savoury dishes which helped her gain a masters in culinary arts management at the Ulster University.

Originally from Carryduff, she turned the dissertation into A Peculiar Tea as a pop up in 2019 providing themed dinners, teas and other food events. It continued to provide these services by means of themed boxes for delivery during the pandemic when hospitality here was shuttered.

“I’d always wanted to do something really creative with local food and A Peculiar Tea is the vehicle for this ambition,” Gemma says. “Great British Menu was another opportunity to be different. The Hatch is a fantastic development for local chefs by Ryan Crown and his team behind the initiative.”

Gemma’s creativity proved an outstanding success for local people and visitors in the Cathedral Quarter last week.

“We were sold out well before closing time all three days last week,” she continues. “We’ll certainly be prepping a great deal more for this weekend’s stint. It’s also proved great for feedback from customers. And I am delighted to say that the feedback last week was wholly positive and immensely encouraging.”

What she’s achieved is a re-invention of waffles and eclairs, longstanding snack favourites, using savoury ingredients. Gemma’s passion for good food, especially local produce, owes much to her mother, a chef in a Belfast restaurant. She originally studied nursing before a back injury led her to begin her journey in hospitality at the age of 23. She started working at Slims Kitchen on the Lisburn Road and sharpened her skills and experience in the kitchen of at five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel in Belfast and then as head pastry chef at the Old Inn, Crawfordsburn, where she subsequently held other important roles including sous chef.

“I didn’t start working in kitchens until I was 23, up until then I was studying to become a nurse. I had a back injury and had to leave nursing and didn’t know what to do for a long time. I had always had an interest in cooking but never really thought of it as a career until the back injury. I decided to do a degree in culinary arts management at Ulster University during my time as a commis chef at Slims Kitchen.

I got most of my classical training at university and alongside that, working in different kitchens throughout Northern Ireland,” she explains.

A stint at Alexander’s in Holywood, near the famous Maypole, led to her being offered an opportunity, in 2019, by the two owners to join them in running the popular restaurant/bar. She jumped at the offer and has developed highly creative menus that are proving hugely popular with diners from Holywood and further afield.

Gemma is also quick to acknowledge the inspiration she’s drawn from chefs she has worked alongside in Northern Ireland.

“I’ve used them as a sponge. I also have an obsession with cookbooks and I study culinary arts constantly,” she explains. Taking part in BBC’s popular Great British Menu was another learning experience for the ambitious and talented young chef that has encouraged her impressive endeavours at the exciting A Peculiar Kitchen.

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