Manchester's Soup Kitchen is the brainchild of Nicky Rybka-Goldsmith and Yvonne Goldsmith-Rybka, and was last week named Best Newcomer at the Northern Hospitality Awards. Emily Manson found out what it was all about
How did you come up with the idea for Soup Kitchen?
We wanted to create a community dining space and encourage residents and workers to sit down and eat together.
How did you identify the gap in the market?
I've had a design business in the Northern Quarter for the past six years and used to just grab a sarnie for lunch. I thought there was a void because there was nowhere where the food was well priced but with variety and atmosphere too - all the things the Soup Kitchen now offers.
What's your best seller?
Normally the daily specials, and obviously the soups are really good sellers.
Why do you think Soup Kitchen won?
It's a really fantastic big space, like an old dining hall. Customers come through, grab a tray and can move across counters to get hot or cold food, salads, smoothies or soup. We use all local produce, and it's fresh, quick, easy and well priced. What we offer is a real, honest product, and we nail that. By about 3pm we've sold out of everything, and that's when we close the doors for the day.
How important do you think the Northern Hospitality Awards are?
I think they're brilliant. We didn't expect to win, but were absolutely ecstatic, as it shows an appreciation of our staff and of what we've all created.
What are the key things to get right when launching a new concept?
It's vital to identify a market. Consider who you are aiming the business at and try to look at things with a completely new approach. In our case, Yvonne had run many restaurants and bars and understands that market extremely well, while I understood how people would move round the space and could design it so they would feel comfortable inside.
What's your top tip for starting a new business?
Do your research; identify the market; be consistent with your product; make sure you've got an incredible team behind you; and go for it.
Why have you taken each other's surnames, despite not being in a relationship?
It's weird, but we met on the first day of university and have known each other for so long. It was always a bit tongue-in-cheek, but we think it gives us an air of mystery.
So what's next?
We're looking at franchising the concept and have got a couple of other sites on the simmer in the North-west. We are also going to develop our outside catering offering for festivals and really get our brand out there.