New restaurant Main Street Kitchen serving French cuisine opens in Keswick

Main Street Kitchen made an introduction to the people of Keswick with its food box service last week.

Head Chef, Adam Baker said he wanted to offer something different to locals with the boxes of prepared, restaurant quality meals that only require heating up once delivered or collected.

"We want to provide a service to local people, especially those living in rural areas who are isolating and are missing going out for that dining experience and can’t do it at home," said Mr Baker, 42.

"We want to be there to provide that little bit of sunshine for people in what is such a grey time of year. It's difficult having that uncertainty over when we’re actually going to be able to get out and start eating, drinking and making merry again."

Mr Baker, originally from Bristol, moved to Cumbria to start up a new restaurant with business partner, Joe Gregory.

Mr Baker added: "Bristol is a food destination city. I learnt a lot from there and it’s a great place to come from to provide a type of food that you might not get as regularly in Cumbria.

"The thing that really drew me here is that sense of community, and it seems like local businesses are really supported.

"My ethos as a chef is to use as many local suppliers as possible."

Although conceding that is was a brave move to open up during a pandemic, Mr Baker was keen to stress that his and Mr Gregory's positivity had helped them through.

He said: "We were at the point where we were about to get our tables, chairs and dining area set up before we were pushed back into another lockdown.

"The pair of us are sunny side up, though.

"We’re really enjoying where we are and looking forward to where we’re going in the future. We did have a few people saying that we were brave to open during a pandemic, but we’ve also had a lot of praise for it. You just have to get on with things sometimes.

"There’s always challenges with any new business, but it’s about how you overcome them."