Having opened just over a year ago, The Scullery aims to distinguish itself from the usual cafes and restaurants – and it succeeds, as Sarah Foster discovers

ARRIVING at The Scullery, a little café/restaurant tucked away near Silksworth ski slope, in Sunderland, it’s hard to know what to expect. With a busy car-wash at the back, the car park is a hive of incongruous activity, and the building’s exterior is fairly unremarkable. Inside, however, it’s an entirely different story.

Designed to resemble an old-fashioned kitchen, The Scullery is true to its name. The tables and chairs, handmade by a local company, are crafted from wood with colourful cushions on the seats, and oversized clocks adorn the walls. There’s a stylish waiting area with contrasting chairs and a striking feature lamp with green shades, and the colour scheme throughout is muted, with greys, greens and natural wood combining to add a distinctly homely feel.

I arrived at the restaurant to book a table for my daughter’s birthday and immediately regretted coming at lunchtime. The place was packed, and I felt guilty about attracting the waitress’ attention, but when I did, she was nothing but helpful, directing me through the bustling tables to the owner, Hayley Scott. To my surprise, Hayley not only took the booking, but asked about the occasion and took down details of Ella’s birthday. She promised to decorate the table specially, which struck me as a lovely touch.

Open for just over a year, The Scullery represents the realisation of a dream for Hayley, who has worked in hospitality for 20 years and also runs an outside catering firm, AbiMil Group. With help from her partner, Simon Tuckwell, she completely transformed the building, ripping everything out to start again in creating the restaurant she envisaged.

As owner of the glass and aluminium design and installation company Glasshus, Simon took charge of the building work, creating a back wall entirely from glass featuring Hayley’s signature olives. Hayley, meanwhile, took on the interior design, adding touches like lights suspended from ropes and chains and a striking artwork of glossy green and black paint.

To maximise trade, the venue is a café by day, serving things like sandwiches and homemade burgers with a leaning towards Italian food; while, on an evening, it transforms into Cucina – Italian for kitchen – a full-blown Italian restaurant. As well as Mediterranean-inspired food, The Scullery serves traditional Sunday lunches.

We arrived for the birthday meal in the early evening, when there is an early bird menu which is very reasonably priced at £5.95 for one course, £9.95 for two or £13.95 for three. While there isn’t a separate children’s menu, there are plenty of child-friendly options, and children can choose a main course, dessert and drink for £5.50, with the added bonus of a 20p token for the sweet machine. For Ella, seven, and five-year-old Hannah, this was possibly the highlight of any restaurant experience to date, and, when the meal ended, they were delighted to retrieve a handful each of mini eggs.

The menu is fairly standard, with starters including homemade soup and bruschetta but, when my husband’s choice of homemade fishcakes arrived, what was striking was the presentation. They came artfully arranged on a slate and even before tasting them, he was happy. The same was true of my main course of king prawns in a tomato and chilli sauce served with saffron rice, which looked stunning. I had asked for extra chilli and wasn’t disappointed – the sauce had a real kick. The prawns were tender and the rice was nicely cooked, which made the £3 supplement for the dish well worth paying.

Perhaps the one thing about the food which could have been improved was the children’s pizza, which was shop-bought. The girls didn’t eat it, and, in a restaurant which clearly prides itself on quality, I would have expected it to have been homemade.

What couldn’t be faulted was the attention we received. From the moment we arrived, the staff were pleasant and hospitable, without being overbearing. When we pointed out the lack of promised table decorations, the waitress apologised and went straight to get some sparkly stars, which the girls were delighted to be allowed to sprinkle. They were also supplied with colouring pencils and princess pictures, which, though it didn’t require a huge amount of effort on the restaurant’s part, nevertheless enhanced their evening.

Hayley is clear that the priority is customer service. “Sunderland doesn’t have this whole focus on customers and, when I set up the restaurant, I thought, ‘I’m going to change that. I’m going to bring something new’, and I strongly believe that I have,” she says. “The girls get so many tips because they look after customers and they get rewarded for it. We’re not just a restaurant. We’ve got so many customers who come in every day. We know their lives.”

It hasn’t been an easy year, but as The Scullery’s reputation grows, it is starting to enjoy success. Hayley says: “It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I don’t know whether I would do it again, but looking back, it’s all been worth it.”

The Scullery, Silksworth Lane, Sunderland. 0191-523-5905

Food Quality: 3/5

Service: 4/5

Surroundings: 4/5

Value for money: 4/5