UK (Deda) – The manager of a cafe that was recently awarded a five-star food hygiene rating says the secret to success is vigilance.
Cube Café Bar manager Sam England is hoping her full English breakfasts and an earlier opening time can draw new customers to a Derby dance house.
Cube, in the Deda dance venue, was recently awarded the top rating of five for the quality of its food hygiene and she is hoping this could lead to more trade. The venue, which operates as part of the Deda charity, offers a wide range of breakfast and lunch dishes, as well as hot, soft and alcoholic drinks.
Each month, Derby City Council inspectors visit bars, pubs, restaurants, cafes and food shops in the city and assess the quality of their food hygiene. In a recent inspection, Cube was awarded the highest rating of five.
Ms England put the high mark down to the hard work of her team. She said: “We have got an excellent chef called Caroline, she’s in charge of overlooking the cleaning and all of the paperwork that goes into getting a five. It’s about being vigilant and clean and making sure all of your stock is healthy and in good order. It’s about having a good relationship with the hygiene inspectors as well, they’re there to help you.”
So what does she think of the food hygiene requirements set for eateries in the city?
“I think the standards are there for a reason and I think they’re there to help businesses to get to the same standard,” she said.
Ms England, who has been in the manager role on maternity cover since July, said: “Everyone’s welcome, whether they’re using the centre or just want to pop in for a coffee. All of our produce is homemade and locally sourced.”
Derby Dance was established as a dance development agency based at Derby Playhouse in 1991, before becoming one of the first wave of national lottery funded capital projects to aid its move to new premises, in Chapel Street, Derby, in 1997. In 2008, the name of the organisation changed to Déda. Déda is the only dedicated dance house in the East Midlands, acting as a local, regional and national resource for dance artists and the wider arts community.
It houses a 124-capacity studio theatre, three dance studios, meeting room facilities and café. In 2014, Déda re-developed part of the Queen’s Leisure Centre, expanding its facilities to include meeting rooms and conferencing facilities, along with a brand new state of the art studio and production space. Profits from the Cube cafe go directly to the charity.
Ms England said Cube’s main source of customers is through users of the Deda dance classes but she is looking to attract more people in the city. Cube now opens at 8am, as opposed to 10am, and serves a range of breakfast dishes. She said: “We had a big breakfast launch where we gave away free samples and we are active on social media. A lot of our customers are mums and dads waiting for their children to finish their dance classes, we have some very regular customers. We are hoping to appeal to more people in the city.”
Helen Castledine-Smith, group leader at Derby City Council, said: “Once again the cafe has been rated as a five, maintaining high standards throughout. The standards of food safety and cleanliness have been consistent and are a credit to their commitment to food safety.”
