nA city centre restaurant and delicatessen is emphasising its focus on local quality food as one of the highlights of the Taste Cheshire Food Trail.
Joseph Benjamin, based on Northgate Street next to the Roman walls, was set up in October, 2006, by Joe and Ben Wright.
The restaurant won best small restaurant of the year in this year’s Chester Food and Drink Festival Awards.
Joe Wright spoke of the success he and Ben have enjoyed.
He said: “We didn’t want to go for pretentiousness, but for local quality.
“We saw Chester as having a gap in quality.
“There is the Grosvenor Hotel, which is at the top, but then there’s a big gap between them and the rest. We’re aiming to fill in the void that exists.
“Our menu constantly changes as to what’s in season, with advice from local suppliers.
“We show off local ingredients, everything here is made from scratch – including the tomato ketchup and our other sauces. That way there are no nasty e-numbers or artificial flavourings.
“We try to avoid silly menu phrases and using the term ‘homegrown’ all the time, we don’t need to ram the fact that it’s local down people’s throats. We are going for people who are trying things for the first time.”
