PROMOTION

DAMIEN Davenport is passionate about vegetarian food and his 1847 restaurants are garnering plaudits left, right and centre. He's also a rather personable chap so we at Confidential settled down for a chat with him. This is what we asked:

Why did you become a vegetarian and how did you become such a passionate foodie?

I've been a vegetarian since I was eleven – that's 27 years ago now. The moment that did it for me was when I saw a dead chicken. I realised that's what my favourite meat actually looked like. It wasn't my favourite any more, that's for sure.

Initially, it was difficult because vegetarianism wasn't very widespread but I wanted to be healthy and I'd been put off the meaty side of things. Then, a few years after I became a vegetarian, my father died of a heart attack at the age of only 43 and that made me stick with it; it just showed how important a healthy diet is.

As for my interest in food, I've worked in hospitality since I left school and I've always been very sociable and enjoyed eating out a lot. I've always thought that restaurants have a long way to go when it comes to the vegetarian dishes on the menu.

How do you think vegetarian food has changed since you first became a vegetarian?

It's come a long way both in terms of what restaurants offer and how easy it is to be a vegetarian. For example, with packaging and labelling, it used to be much harder to tell what was actually in there. Walkers cheese & onion crisps used to be the only flavour that wasn't vegetarian because of the rennet in the cheese flavouring. Thanks goodness all that's changed now.

Chefs have also become more inventive, not sticking to boring, bog-standard dishes like lasagne with Quorn., the same heavy, hearty dishes you used to get in every restaurant. Having said that, I don't think people are ballsy enough. Chefs just aren't interested in vegetarian food.

I do think the British public have become more accommodating. We used to have 'Vegetarian Bistro' on our window sign but we dropped that because although it appealed to some people, it put others off and made them think, 'Oh God, it's a nut roast place.' We want our restaurant to appeal to everyone, whether they eat meat or not and I think it does that.

How do you feel about your achievements with 1847 and where do you want to take it next?

I'm very proud of what we've done so far. It's been a tough journey, particularly in the early days. When we opened in April 2010 as a café, it nearly sent me completely bankrupt. I lived in the restaurant storeroom for nine months until we turned it around. It meant everything to me. I borrowed money from friends and family; I just couldn't see it shut down.

Since then, we've progressed and we've progressed vegetarian food in the city too. Take the beer-battered halloumi dish we came up with – Room had it on their menu before they shut down, Leo's fish bar have it too. We're really showing the city something.

It goes without saying, I'm proud of our team too. We've gone from three staff just four years ago to 25 today and we want to take on more staff and open our third site in Liverpool.

Our logo has three parts: school; restaurant; pantry. As well as our new restaurant, I can't wait to set up our training school. It's all about retaining and developing our chefs and it will also be open to the public as a cookery school.

Our pantry is about selling savouries and cakes for our customers to enjoy at home. We also want to make more chutneys and sauces too. In fact, we're going to be at Castlefield Food Festival so people in Manchester will be able to see what we're doing.

Long-term, I want to open another couple of sites. Maybe in York – that's a great city – or Bristol. I'd also love to be in the madness of London. It's where I'm from.

What made you choose Kickstarter instead of going down the traditional route of going to see your bank manager?

I've never been one to do things normally. Banks haven't been that helpful to us and we've been with two different ones since we opened.

Also, we've seen some real success stories in the North West with Grindsmith and Sticky Walnut so we wanted to see what we could do.

Why should people invest in 1847? What's in it for them?

It's not just to fund my pension pot, if that's what you think. I believe there are very few restaurants doing what we do apart from a couple down in the South.

As well as offering what I believe is creative vegetarian food, our staff are so important to us. It's all about training and developing our apprentices who are just coming out of school and building a strong team. That's why the school part of the plan is so fundamental. It's not just about opening restaurants and making profits, it's about giving something back.

You get something out of it too. Some of my favourites on our Kickstarter campaign are getting a dish named after you at one of our restaurants for £25 or for £75 you can have your name or your company name inscribed on our wall of supporters. People probably don't realise that our chefs go out foraging – for £300 you can go out with them.

I'm not a vegetarian so why should I care about 1847?

A massive chunk of our customers aren't vegetarian. We want to appeal to everyone.

We're known for being innovative and some of the ingredients we order from our suppliers, the only other places in Manchester using those ingredients are The French and Manchester House so we're in good company.

If you get the funding, how long do you think it will take to put your plans into action?

Our new restaurant will open by the end of the year. We've identified a couple of sites already but we're still looking. Our cookery school will open in early 2016 – in time for people to enjoy their crowdfunding perks.

What happens if you don't get the funding?

We will still push ahead but everything takes a bit longer, certainly as far as the restaurant goes. We won't compromise on the training school, though. We've already recruited someone who will take that forward.

With all the events at 1847, it seems to be more than just a restaurant. Why do you bother with this?

We've got a lot going on to celebrate National Vegetarian Week this week. We've got a music night on Thursday 21 May and there's still some tickets available for our wild food event on Sunday 24 May. You can head off foraging round Chorlton and Didsbury way then head back to 1847 for a tasting menu prepared from the food you've gathered.

We like working with local suppliers and giving them the opportunity to meet our customers.

There's also an event at Corks Out in Alderley Edge on Wednesday 20 May with wine matched with some of our dishes. We've done a few of these and they're always a great success.

If you had a message for our readers, what would it be?

GIVE US YOUR MONEY. Only joking. For me, the training and development of our staff is so important. This whole election's been about zero hours contracts but it's not the way to go.

Investing in 1847 isn't just about giving me money. You are getting something in return and so is the community.

Want to invest in 1847? Click here.

Book on to the foraging day here