A POPULAR Darlington street food restaurant and takeaway business is expanding by launching a brand new Italian-style menu. 

SALT street food kitchen and bar has established a large local and social media following while operating out of its Grange Road restaurant in Darlington town centre.

Its expansive menu offering the likes of hearty burgers, bao buns and loaded fries have won locals over while its takeaway service has helped advertise the business further afield in the North East. 

It is this success which has now led the owners to launch Dough - a new offshoot serving pizza, “beaut pasta dishes”, charcuterie and other Italian sides.

The Northern Echo:

An idea of what’s on the menu is already being teased on social media with lasagne, beef cheek ragu and pizzas featuring Barbacoa Beef and charred courgettes and leeks.

Speaking about the decision to expand the business, one of the owners Aaron Walbourne said: “We really love food and we’ve got an experienced team with staff who are really talented. 

“It’s giving them an opportunity to branch out a bit. We don’t want to put all of our eggs in one basket and just be one food place. SALT is absolutely flying but there is nothing wrong with expanding.”

Launching and maintaining new businesses has been a struggle for many in the town over the past two years but SALT has thrived, Aaron says. 

 

“Since the lockdown, business has been flying for us and its not slowed down, so launching Dough complements the business nicely. The restaurant has its own location and we want to provide more high quality takeaway to people.”

Self-professed food fanatics the team behind SALT, which includes Aaron’s brother Mitchell, Thomas Mammolotti and Will and James Hickerson, all benefit from being among the food scene to know the latest trends and must-have cuisines. And it is this expertise which led them to launching Dough, 

Aaron said: “I think: ‘What are the things that I’m craving?’ I take that idea and create a concept and business that revolves around that. You can create the best food in the world but if it’s not marketed correctly it doesn’t do as good as it could and that’s such a shame. It’s being aware of market trends and what people want.”

Food will be available for delivery and from its soon-to-be-revealed location, which is helped by the business already having the appropriate facilities in place. Its takeaway service operates out of a separate kitchen and site to the restaurant and it is there where Dough will be based. 

The Northern Echo: beef cheek ragu with a parsley crumb, shaved parmesan & parsley oil.beef cheek ragu with a parsley crumb, shaved parmesan & parsley oil.

An official announcement with full details of the launch is expected in around two to three weeks. For now, it’s all about promoting the Dough as much as possible on social media. 

“We’re rolling out social posts every day to make people realise what we’re doing to boost our reputation and our product and hopefully people think it’s another welcome addition to Darlington,” Aaron added. 

“I didn’t think the business would be as successful as it is. There’s been a lot of hard work and passion that has gone into it. 

“Lockdown benefited us and gave me and my brother time to step back and rebrand the business and it was then that we blossomed. 

The Northern Echo: The team at SALTThe team at SALT

“We’re Darlo lads, we’ve lived here all our lives and we’re very passionate about the town and take pride in improving it. We want to make Darlington a better place on the food scene and we feel like we’re doing a good job of it at the moment.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054