Behind the scenes at Eight Stony Street.

Eight Stony Street landed in Frome at the end of 2018 with the promise of tasty food, relaxed dining and an impressive selection of wine. Housed in one of Frome’s best-loved old buildings in the heart of St Catherine’s, the space is an independent cafe by day, and wine bar and eatery by night. Last month we caught up with their head chef Jamie Mullarkey-Tubb who told us how the team are settling into Frome, and what we can expect from the kitchen soon…

Hi Jamie! Tell us a bit about your background and what led you to join the team here in Frome?

So my background is from all over the place. I started out cheffing in Browns, Bristol when I was 15. My dad knew a guy and helped me get in there early and start the basics. As soon as I could I moved down to Cornwall and started learning about preparing, and cooking fish. As well as surfing every minute I wasn’t at work!

Then from there for the next few years it was Meribel for the winters to snowboard and back to Kernow to surf for the summer and Autumn.

I worked on super-yachts in the Med for a few years, which is the influence for my style of cooking has come from, along with my love for fresh local ingredients. Along with the various high quality cooking techniques I have learnt over the many years in the industry. This is what I have enjoyed bringing to Stony Street House.

 You have been open for a few months now,  how are you and the team settling in to life on Stony Street?

We all have settled in very well and we feel welcome from everyone that I have talked to (when I am not in the kitchen). I love the energy around Stony Street and Catherine Hill and am so happy to be part of this fine local community.

We know that a big part of the vision for Stony Street was to establish a passionate and knowledgeable team. How do you feel this impacts on the experience for customers? 

The knowledge that we are passing on to the team impacts the customer in such a big way. To make them feel more comfortable buying a bottle of wine or dinner that the server has full knowledge over. You wouldn’t buy a camel from a fisherman!

 What is the most popular thing on the menu with customers? What is your personal fave?

What is popular on the menu…? Well, everything. We have had such good feedback from customers. It really makes me happy to know people are enjoying the food we produce. They love the pizzas and I think the anchovy pizza is my personal all-time favourite. I have just got back from Italy where I had an anchovy pizza everyday, along with a lot of other amazing food, and delicious wine of course.

 Anything exciting – food wise –  coming up that we can look forward to?

 We have a bunch of events on the horizon. There are always wine tasting evenings that you can pre-book in advance, some have food pairings. We have the Rugby world cup coming up that we will show and have stony street style full breakfasts and Bloody Marys!!!

I am also trying to organise a Sourdough course, so all the customers that enjoy our bread so much can come and learn all the little tricks and tips that I have picked up over the years along with walking away with a jar of my 40 or 300 year old starter. 

 Finally, tell us about your ideal day off. Where is your favourite local hangout when (if?!) you get a day away from the kitchen? 

My ideal day off… spent with my beautiful wife Jade, who is a is a supervisor at Stony Street House. We love exercising, so any kind of activity is good for us. Long walks, cycling, running, gym, squash, skateboarding.

I love cooking at home as much as I do at work so we would usually get some amazing produce from the market and cook at home in the evenings. Or head to small country pubs for a bottle of wine.

Oh the easy life!

Thanks Jamie! Eight Stony Street (formerly known as Stony Street House) is open daily until late. For opening times, and more information on what’s on offer to eat and drink, click here to visit their website.