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Introducing a new cuisine to Grimsby isn’t always easy…

Joe’s Hut, serving authentic Jamaican food, was started in a home kitchen one weekend by two friends, and is now opening its doors to a new restaurant located on Hainton Avenue in just 16 months.

The business is owned by Emma Boswell who has worked for many years as a chef in various industries and Kelly Thirumaran who worked closely within their family business. The two met through their children playing football together and became firm friends because of their strong passion for cooking and Jamaica.

Some of the local’s favourites on the menu are jerk chicken wings, curried goat, brown stew chicken and oxtail.

Emma explained the inspiration behind the restaurant. She said: “My grandma used to cook amazing Jamaican food and her recipes were always a big family secret. So, I love to recreate those dishes but with my own flavours and recipes. My family heritage prompted the name for the business, as Joe Hut is where my grandfather was born in Jamaica”.

The duo are also looking to connect with other local businesses to source produce.

Emma said “All of our food is fresh and cooked by ourselves. We source the goat from Turners Butchers in Grimsby, and we are actively looking to source our vegetables from other local businesses”.

In addition to this, Kelly and Emma bake homemade cakes for customers to enjoy, along with fresh cookies supplied from Emma’s brother, Zak at ‘Loaded Cookie Dough’.

Emma said “Cooking is a passion we both share and when I started feeling unhappy in my job and Kelly was made redundant, we decided to take the plunge. We put a small amount of money together and decided to try cooking one weekend at my home. We completely sold out on the first night and it all started from there”.

The business has been constantly growing through support from the locals and a big hit with the GTFC footballers. Kelly and Emma decided to move to a local business with a larger kitchen, however the lockdown forced them to move the business back to Emma’s home whilst looking for a more permanent premises.

“Although the lockdown was a worry for us, it didn’t really impact our business negatively and luckily we were able to still deliver to customers, so our business kept growing which is when we found this place and decorated it to make it our own” Kelly said.

The restaurant opened on 4th February 2021 for deliveries and for outdoor seating on April 12th in line with government guidelines. There is outdoor seating available at the front of the restaurant and back which is decorated to give a Caribbean feel, which has been very popular with the locals. A large proportion of the work, including fitting out the kitchen and putting down new flooring, was completed by local carpenter, Lee Turkington, and the ladies couldn’t be happier with the results.

“We are overwhelmed with all the great feedback from customers since we first opened the doors. We also received a 5* hygiene rating recently, which we are incredibly proud of because we have worked so hard to make sure everything is perfect”. Emma said.

Throughout the journey, Joe’s Hut have been working closely with E-Factor Food Sector Business Advisor, Rachel Appleton. Kelly originally attended the Be Your Own Boss workshop, and from there worked with Rachel to organise day to day running of the business, product costings, cashflow budgeting and setting plans for future growth.

Rachel said “Emma and Kelly were incredibly enthusiastic throughout the whole process of setting up their business.  They were open to suggestions, but also had a strong sense of the brand and what they wanted to achieve.  We worked together on a number of aspects such as food regulations and costings and it has been a pleasure to see their dreams come to life.”

“We are currently looking to hire some delivery drivers and in terms of the future, we hope to add more to the menu, continue to grow the business and hopefully look at opening a second restaurant would be really great” Emma said.

The restaurant is open; Wednesday 5-9 PM, Thursday and Friday 12-9 PM, Saturday 12-11PM and Sunday 4-8PM and is available to order via Facebook, Telephone and the Grimsby & Clee Eats App and indoor dining will be available from May 17th  2021.

For more information please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/Joes-hut-111477676989772/

 

For more information, please contact:

Rachel Appleton, E-Factor Business Growth Hub Adviser.

Enterprise Village, Prince Albert Gardens, Grimsby.

  1. 01472 252780 | E. Rachel.appleton@e-factor.co.uk