ANCHOR Setting

Absolutely heads to The Boatyard Eatery and chats to manager, Allister Catchpole, about what we can expect from a new Dedham favourite

Q Tell is about the background to The Boatyard Eatery...

A Chris and Marion Maestrani have owned the Boatyard since 1993 when it was a tea-room in a corrugated hut where the “conservatory now stands and spent the next two years converting the boatshed into the restaurant and adding the conservatory. The jetty was then built along with the boat storage shed and finally some landscaping with trees and plants. When other interests took them abroad the business was leased to other operators over a number of years but, when the lease came up for renewal it was too tempting a chance to take the business back for themselves.

Q Why were you keen to take it over?

A In my position as operations manager and chef for the previous owners, I along with my partner Amy running the front of house, had an amazing opportunity to work for Chris and Marion and use my prior knowledge of the business over the last three years to help the success of the new business model.

Q Is the location perfect?

A Frankly the location is one of the best restaurant locations in the local area. With easy access from the surrounding towns, onsite parking and in an area of outstanding natural beauty allowing you to visit us and take some beautiful walks, hiring one of our rowing boats or maybe while away the day on the terrace whilst eating from our breakfast, brunch and lunch menus ,or just a sweet or savoury snack from our deli and cake counter.

Q How long did the process take before the Boatyard Eatery was ready?

A The transition was relatively swift and I worked behind the scenes with the owners and our design crew to rebrand the business and give us a little facelift. To be honest, there are still lots of familiar faces around the building including many front house members and myself which made everything much easier in transition for our customers which is most important. We haven’t changed too much at the moment as lots of things worked for our original customer base, but we have added a lot of new dishes and a new way of working the menu allowing us to change dishes on a weekly basis. I guess to answer the question, things felt di erent from day one but with a comforting familiarity.

Q Why the name, Boatyard Eatery?

A We wanted a name to cover everything we do. We are not just a café, but also not a formal restaurant. The Boatyard part was just really bringing back the name from its original identity and Eatery just felt right to cover our current relaxed but contemporary o ering with the ability to make additions in the near future.

Q How di erent will your o ering be to what has come before?

A We have many plans for the future including using the adjoining field for weddings and events as well as eventually bringing back some evening dining. To begin with though we plan to stay with an o ering that is familiar to our customers and slowly make additions to enhance the experience when visiting the Boatyard Eatery. We are keen to keep some of our premium evenings free for events such as our popular quiz nights, supper clubs and wine tasting evenings.

Q Aesthetically, have you made many changes to the look and feel of the site?

A We have already made a few minor changes in terms of the look of our menus, uniforms and signage, but there is much more to come. Our goal is simple, to give value to the customer.

Q How have you approached the menus?

A As mentioned, we firstly aim to give value to the diner. Secondly we love what we do and when we are having fun it shows in our o ering. A weekly changing menu, along with daily extras which involve local and seasonal foods allow us to keep our costs competitive, which will be passed onto the customer. theboatyarddedham.co.uk

Q Can you give us maybe 3 dishes that highlight your approach to food?

A This is always tricky but I would say Fish and Chips. Admittedly a simple dish but it is made with particular care. If we use cod, we use large fillets so we cut from the centre, triple cooked chips, chunky tartar, mushy peas and a side of our curry sauce. Smashed Avocado and fried egg on toast with tomato salsa, again simple but tasty, always on our brunch menu and you can change it up with chorizo or feta. Lastly, Duck confit with mixed bean and Toulouse sausage cassoulet, buttered greens. I have added this because a good confit of duck should be on everyone’s menu. I could go on for hours but our ethos on our main menu is to keep it honest with our own spin to elevate the simplest of dishes.

Q What else will you showcase?

A We have many years of experience in the team front and back of house and we are always looking to showcase our skills whilst having a bit of fun at the same time. We try and buy as responsibly as possible and always champion local suppliers. We are currently working with a local brewery to bring a “Boatyard Craft Beer” to our product line.

Q Will you be hosting any kind of events?

A We already have a pre mentioned and popular quiz night that is lots of fun but alongside this we are hoping to host a “Boatfest” with local bands, food and drink in the summer sun. We will also be starting supper clubs this year as well to kick start our evening dining and of course our ever popular row and dine will be back in July.