Call of the kitchen lures Nick to a stove that is all his own

It takes a brave man to leave the security of working for a large organisation to set up his own business, and in the midst of a recession it is an even braver decision.

But for Nick Goodfellow it is the realisation of a dream. He has just opened Nick's Kitchen in Holmfirth, a small caf-cum-bistro which is a far cry from his old job as operational head chef for the Living Room chain of restaurants.

"It had been a dream of mine for quite a long time, to have my own place, cooking the type of food I like to eat, all of it freshly-cooked and locally-sourced."

Nick got his love of food and cooking from his mother.

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"She was German and taught us to try everything and not to waste anything," explains Nick. "From a young age I would join her in the kitchen rather than playing outside."

His favourites were cakes and puddings, a passion that is clear when looking at the treats in store at Nick's Kitchen.

After working weekends at the Green Man in Middleton Nick started to realise that he wanted to pursue a career in the hospitality industry and embarked on a four-year hotel, catering and hospitality management course at Sheffield Hallam University.

As part of his degree Nick spent a year working in Germany brushing up his language skills and working in some the country's best five-star hotels.

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"They worked on such a massive scale, but what was most impressive was the attention to detail and eye for perfection. The standards were so high."

After leaving university he started working for Caf Uno in Sheffield where he met his wife, Amy.

The couple went travelling for a year-and-a-half which gave Nick the opportunity to learn more cuisine during his time in Australia.

On their return to the UK they moved to Leeds and Nick started working for the Living Room where over the years he worked his way up to head chef and then operational head chef in charge of all the chain's northern restaurants.

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"Working in a kitchen is like having a second family – in fact you probably spend more time there than you do at home. But as operational head chef I was travelling a lot and not really getting the cameraderie I loved. It was relatively well paid and safe, but I missed my kitchen."

Nick says he had always wanted to have his own caf and deli serving good quality food on a small scale. "It allows you to put attention into every single dish."

Nick and Amy had moved to Shelley and wanted to open their business in Holmfirth.

"It just seemed the perfect location," says Nick. "There are a lot of cafs and tea rooms so there is a lot of competition, but I didn't particularly want the tourist market, I want to provide a service for the local community and Holmfirth just seemed the right location for us."

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Early this month Nick's Kitchen opened as a caf with a plan to extend opening to three or four evenings a week.

"The menu at the moment is a bit of a taster menu; I really want to see what people want."

Nick buys all his produce locally and won't buy it if he doesn't think it is up to his high standards.

"At the moment I don't serve chicken," he explains. "To get good quality chicken and make a profit would just be too expensive and I don't want to buy cheap chicken. Obviously if people really want it then I will have a rethink."

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Amy is a vegetarian and the premises used to be a vegan caf so Nick says there is a still quite a lot of vegetarian dishes on the menu.

But on Nick's special Sunday lunch menu there is definitely plenty of meat about.

"On Sundays there is still the normal brunch menu if people want it, but I am also offering a traditional Sunday lunch with all the trimmings."

There will be no choice of meat and Nick won't know until the day before what he is going to serve.

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"I will go into the local butcher and see what looks best and buy that cook it and serve it. Sunday lunch was really important when I was growing up and it is something close to my heart."

Nick is also offering a delivery service to local businesses.

"This isn't going to make me a millionaire, but it is where I love to be."

If Nick's Kitchen proves successful then he hopes to open other cafs in the future.

For more information visit nicks-kitchen.co.uk