‘The journey over the past decade has been incredible’: How a small 80-seat Northern Ireland restaurant grew into a top dining destination and there's still more to come

Restaurant life has always been fast-paced, but for me that energy is part of what makes the industry so exciting.

Every day is different — one minute you’re running the kitchen, the next you’re planning the future of the business – and that’s certainly true of life at Salt Kitchen.

As a Banbridge native, I bring a deep-rooted passion for my hometown to the pass daily. My journey with Salt Kitchen at The Boulevard in Banbridge began in July 2016, when I stepped into the role of head chef, quickly becoming the driving force behind our award-winning modern Irish menu. My commitment to Salt Kitchen’s success went beyond the kitchen in October 2020, when I became a shareholder and director. Today, I balance my culinary creativity with a leadership role, ensuring that every dish celebrates the local produce and seasonal flavours that define the Salt Kitchen experience.

On any given day, I wear several different hats. You never know where the day will take you.

With my head chef hat on, I’ll be managing kitchen operations, ensuring that every order moves seamlessly from ingredient to finished dish. Wearing my director hat, I’m focused on managing the finances of the restaurant and identifying new growth opportunities. We’ve put a lot of emphasis on planning ahead, which allows me to shape what’s coming next for the business. I’m working on our April to September plans right now and feeling really energised by what’s coming up around the corner for Salt Kitchen.

The industry has changed a great deal since I started out. A big shift in recent years has been the growing value for social media as a platform to grow interest in your business. I’ve learnt more about food and drink photography and presentation than I ever anticipated. While staying ahead of trends can be challenging at times, I’ve found the continual learning that is required in the business to be hugely inspiring.

We’re constantly pushing to better ourselves and deliver the highest standard for every customer local to Banbridge and from further afield. Being based at The Boulevard brings the added benefit of a steady stream of visitors, with shoppers regularly discovering Salt Kitchen as part of their visit.

With so many tourists discovering us on their travels to and from Belfast, it’s important to me that we showcase the very best from our local suppliers. As a result, local produce sits at the centre of every new dish we create. We’ve been working with local suppliers for as long as I’ve been at Salt Kitchen, and each year we’ve been fortunate to grow that network even further. Those relationships have helped shape our offering, creating seasonal menus built around the very best local produce we can source. The distinctive flavours we’ve become known for are a result of our local approach, and it’s something the industry itself has recognised, with Salt Kitchen named a finalist for LCN Restaurant of the Year in 2024.

Looking back, the journey over the past decade has been incredible. Salt Kitchen has grown from a relatively small 80-seat restaurant into a major dining destination with around 175 seats following our recent expansion. We’ve just marked one year since doubling the restaurant in size and relocating to our new home within The Boulevard. The expansion has allowed us to welcome 15 new team members, bringing our total staff to 45. Growing on this scale has enabled us to elevate our offering in ways I never could have imagined when I first started back in 2016. We’ve been leaning into ideas of dining as an experience in its own right, hosting a series of supper clubs throughout the year.

Reflecting on the past year since moving to our larger location, it’s been a strong year for Salt Kitchen, with new supplier partnerships enabling us to grow our retail offering in 2025. Being able to introduce new take-home products in store as well has opened the restaurant up to a whole new audience of customers who love cooking at home.

I feel privileged to be able to describe how the restaurant has moved from strength to strength in recent times. The past 10 years have not always been smooth sailing though, the impact on the business from the pandemic hit us hard, as it did across the industry.

Experiencing those highs and lows definitely reinforced to me just how important our team is. Our staff sit at the centre of the restaurant experience, everything from customer service to the quality and creativity that define our food offering. I’m delighted to say our recent expansion enabled us to invest even more in our people too, offering inhouse NVQ programmes that create real opportunities for our staff to

learn on the job.

With the strong momentum of 2025 behind us, we’re now looking ahead and gearing up to introduce a number of exciting new additions to the restaurant, including a carvery unit and pizza oven. We’ll be continuing to work hard to stand out as a leading hospitality venue in Northern Ireland.

I know whatever the year ahead brings, one thing won’t change. Everyone at Salt Kitchen remains committed to being a customer-driven, locally focused restaurant — the same values we started with when this journey began.

And for me personally, it’s been a privilege to see how far we’ve come.