“WE are very proud of the fact we are from Dorset” – Six years and 13 restaurants later, The Stable restaurant founder Richard Cooper talks to Taste about the recipe for success.

From its humble beginnings at the back of The Bull Hotel in Bridport, The Stable restaurant has become rather a Dorset staple. Serving pies, pizza and ciders, the business has expanded across the region and the UK since starting in 2009.

By the end of this year it will have 13 restaurants and will have opened places in Cardiff, Birmingham, Cheltenham and Southampton.

Founded by Richard and Nikki Cooper, the restaurants are proud of their local food and drink and the fact they produce all their food fresh on site. Their menu is different at each location depending on the ingredients and cider available locally.

Richard said: “We started it to celebrate all that’s great about Dorset, with the cider and all the great artisan foods.

“We really only started the Stable business as a one off- because we really wanted to do it.”

He said that Dorset residents had really been supportive of the business and enthusiastic about their offering.

Then around one-and-a-half years ago the Stables was approached by a number of investors, including family brewers Fuller’s.

The two teamed up and Richard said that gave them the “where-with-all” to roll out the business and the investment needed to create their “fantastic restaurants which aren’t cheap.”

He added: “We do all the design in house.” Indeed, they have their own furniture maker Rex, bespoke sign maker Cooper, and they met one of their designers Kyle when he started working behind the bar in Bridport a few years ago. Nikki designs the interiors and Richard’s brother Andy is the chef and dreams up the pizzas.

Richard tells me that these businesses they work with have grown with the Stable and there’s a family feel to the way he talks about their team. The team and staff are obviously very important to him.

They are passionate about good food and drink, good customer service and having fun.

And clearly the ethos is working, Richard said they are “busier than we have ever been in Weymouth” and are having a “record year” in Bridport.

So where does Richard see the Stable in the next few years? “We don’t want to take over the world, we just want to run a good business,” he said, adding that they would continue to expand as long as they were enjoying it, but as a small family-run business, adding: “As long as we are having fun and enjoying it.”

So as founder of the business, what is Richard’s favourite menu choice? “My favourite is the one with the Naga chillies, so the Bridport Blaster or the Weymouth Wailer.”

CONTACT ME:

t: 01305 830981

e: catherine.bolado@dorsetecho.co.uk

twitter: @DorsetEchoCB