Words: Paul Chapman
Images: Paul Chapman & Thyme To Eat
The number of people following a vegetarian and vegan diet has increased dramatically in recent years, and as more people aim to eat less meat, for ethical, health or sustainability reasons, having a local café dedicated to vegetarian and vegan food is a real bonus.
Thyme To Eat is Chesterfield's only entirely vegetarian and vegan restaurant. Owned and run by husband and wife team Sharon and Jerr O’Carroll, it’s nestled away in the historic shambles right in the heart of town.
“We do have quite an increasing number coming to see us, people are thinking about their environmental impact and choosing vegetarian options, the small things like sourcing our vegetables from Ibbotsons means less waste and helps us support the environment”
“We’re unique”, says Sharon. “The closest businesses doing what we do are out of town, we even find that people travel into Chesterfield to eat with us. We make more or less everything in house, we don’t do our own bread for instance, but if we don’t do it ourselves, we source it locally.
“There are an increasing number of people with allergies. Being in control of what we do, with control of all ingredients, we know what goes into our products so can be sure of the advice we give to our customers.”
Sharon has always worked in catering, restaurants, hotels, sandwich shops, the whole sector. More recently, she ran a sandwich shop in New Whittington but was looking for something that was more a challenge, step up Thyme To Eat.
“We move into Thyme To Eat at the Shambles about 5 years ago. It was already operating as a health food business and had always been a vegetarian café, it was still a popular place, but we liked it and took a shine to it. The town centre location was busier and allowed us to look at how we could further improve on the plant-based diet we offer.”
“Alongside the food, we offer a small range of products, tea, supplements, flours, herbs etc. It’s not a huge range but we carry the essentials and we’re happy to order things in if there is something specific people want us to find.”
The menu at Thyme To Eat is all made in-house as mentioned, a breakfast menu, brunch, soups, lunches, vegan chilli, gluten free lasagne, jacket potatoes, sandwiches, and toasties, salads, scones, cakes daily and seasonal specials of sweet potatoes and parsnip curry with rice, or BBQ pulled jackfruit, tacos salad, and sauté potatoes perhaps?
Sharon is proud to use local suppliers. Ibbotson's are their main supplier of fruit and veg, bread comes from Jackson's, they use a local milkman, Cheese Factor for cheeses etc and they continue to look for suppliers that fit their ethos.
“We have recently been awarded a Blue Plaque by Plastic Free Chesterfield cutting out single use plastic, paper straws, degradable take out boxes, paper bags, having drinks not in plastic bottles, and providing degradable take out cutlery.”
Thyme To Eat they do more than just food; they have hosted music events by invite, small intimate gatherings where people bring their own drinks, enjoy the act and generally have a great night.
What strikes me about the café is how laid back the place is, it’s a welcome change from the fast food and large restaurant food chains, it’s another of the fantastic local independent businesses that are growing in number in Chesterfield. A place where you’ll find a friendly bunch and relaxing place in which to eat or drink.
It’s not surprising to know that people travel into Chesterfield from the surrounding areas to pay them a visit. “We do have quite an increasing number coming to see us, people are thinking about their environmental impact and choosing vegetarian options, the small things like sourcing our vegetables from Ibbotsons means less waste and helps us support the environment”, explains Sharon.
“We have recently been awarded a Blue Plaque by Plastic Free Chesterfield cutting out single use plastic, paper straws, degradable take out boxes, paper bags, having drinks not in plastic bottles, and providing degradable take out cutlery.”
“It’s also great to know that other local cafes are sending people to us if they don’t offer gluten free options” says Sharon. “And we’re happy to do the same, we will often send people to our neighbours if they aren’t happy with vegetarian options.”
Making the news regularly at the moment is the new location app, what three words, this gave me an idea, asking Sharon ‘what three words would she use to describe Thyme To Eat?’
Healthy. Relaxing. Homely.
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