Named Asparagus Patch, the restaurant was open for the asparagus season (officially 23 April to 21 June) and was situated on Manesty’s Lane which is one of the city’s main shopping boulevards.
If all goes well and the project proves popular with the people of the Liverpool, Andrew has plans to then morph Asparagus Patch into Strawberry Patch, just as the British summer fruit comes into season before Wimbledon.
Difficulties in making a decent return from the growing side of the Claremont Farm enterprise has always forced Andrew into diversifying to make a profit. He admits that this initiative was borne mostly out of necessity.
“I learnt about these specialist produce short lease shops springing up all over the continent through the contacts I buy plants from in Holland,” said Andrew.
“I’ve already organised asparagus cookery evenings on the farm and wanted to do something different. I wanted to bring asparagus into the heart of Liverpool.”
On the menu is the following:
- Claremont Farm Asparagus Soup served with Baltic Bakehouse Wild White Sourdough
- Cheshire Smokehouse Honey Cured Bacon with Claremont Farm Asparagus in a bap
- Ten fresh Claremont Farm Asparagus spears with a choice of topping
- The Roll Up which is Cheshire Smokehouse Baked Ham with two spears of Claremont Farm Asparagus and Creamy Delamere Goats Cheese
The restaurant was open every day of the week - Monday to Saturday between the hours of 12pm and 8pm and on a Sunday from 12pm until 5pm.
Spears of asparagus were available to purchase from the restaurant alongside bags of Wirral Watercress.
With an artisan feel, the restaurant grabbed attention of shoppers with furniture made mostly from reclaimed pallets and tree stumps from the farm. The walls of the restaurant were adorned with pots upon pots of peas, beans, lettuce and rocket - creating a striking ‘living wall’.
Capital costs were kept impressively low with Andrew only paying for rent. He estimated that the set up cost of the venture was only £5,000 – the vast majority of which was spent on kitchen equipment. The restaurant’s entire cutlery was 100 per cent compostable, with the plastic trays and drinks cups being made from plant starch.
Andrew added: “This has been a partnership between us and Liverpool One who were keen to put a restaurant of this kind onto a mainstream platform. Everything was sourced within a 40 mile radius of Liverpool and we tried to be as environmentally friendly as possible, even saving water by using disposable cutlery so we didn’t have to wash up dishes.”