Figure it Out
If brunch can be found somewhere between breakfast and lunch then what is between a restaurant and café? Rosie tells us about her travels and the journey that led to the creation of The Fig, a delicious restcafé.
Rosie at The Fig, tolerating Gresty’s nonsense gibberish.
What is your background and how did your interest in cooking develop?
Rosie. I was very naughty at school, always getting in trouble! I left my school in Ashford and went to art college in Camberwell, South London, for a year, but decided that wasn’t for me. Then I came back for a year and worked in a local pub as a waitress, then decided to go and do an art degree because it meant three more years of not working! I studied fine art in Leeds, where I got another job in a pub, I worked front of house, I became interested in cooking and the chef was amazing; he took me under his wing as an apprentice.
I spent my time over the next three years cooking in ski seasons in the winter and then spent the summers travelling around cool parts of the world. So I did one ski season in the French Alps, then to India and Nepal, back to the French Alps, then South America, back to the French Alps again, then to Indonesia, that was really fun! After all of that I moved back to Rye, and I worked at The Standard Inn as the chef for a while. Until I went off to cook in Russia, in the Arctic Circle, which was really cool (no pun intended).
To get there, we flew to Helsinki, then to Murmansk, where we got on a World War II helicopter that was duct-taped together, and we flew into the middle of nowhere, no phone reception, no nothing. So I stayed there for three months and cooked for English, Canadian, Irish people coming for fishing trips, which was the best. A helicopter would arrive with the new guests and just a bunch of mystery ingredients to cook, like a half cow, just loads of stuff, weird but wonderful. I burst into tears when I had to leave.
After that, I decided to look for premises in Rye and then found this place on The High Street. The Fig started off really tiny; I was looking back at one of the first menus the other day, it was so basic, but it was just me working Monday to Friday and then it just got busier and busier. When we first opened, we had five tables in here because I didn’t want to overload myself, then when it got busier, we were serving sandwiches, quiche, quick lunchtime food. It has completely changed, it is a café, but it does feel like a restaurant, and it is great, it’s been really busy.
I must mention Justina, she is an angel; she has been with me full time for six years; she is literally the best!
Now that we are open in the evening, we’ve made it more comfortable; we have larger tables and decorative screens; I want the place to be suitable for the evenings. I get bored quickly, so I keep changing the look; this is the fourth refurbishment I’ve done since opening; I love interiors. If I didn’t do this job, I’d love to be an interior designer.
When you were planning to open a business, what was the plan?
Rosie. Before having The Fig, I had no interest in coffee - that soon changed. I wanted an evenings place for food, but there were restrictions on the licence. Plus it was kind of like a confidence thing. I have no proper chef training at all, so in the beginning, I did sandwiches, poached eggs on toast, we did quiche, all simple things. What can happen is that, for whoever is cooking that kind of stuff, it can become boring. It is soul-destroyingly dull to make sandwiches all day.
“Over the last six years, my confidence has grown as a chef, as a cook. Because I can see that people like what we’re doing, which makes me feel like, yeah, I can do this! I want to be the best version of what I can be and I don’t want The Fig to be just another café. I want The Fig to be the best place to eat in Rye.”
Tell me about life in Rye?
Rosie. I think Rye is booming! I used to work at a place across the road called Bird, a women’s fashion shop selling really nice clothes from LA and other places. It would do so well if that shop was on our High Street today, but I don’t think Rye was ready for it. So when we opened The Fig, there wasn’t anything like it. Rye had lots of classic tearooms and scones, but now there is more variety; there are lots of great places to eat and drink. I can’t think of a better place around here to open a business. We opened The Fig in Hastings briefly, it did nowhere near as well as it is doing in Rye.
“You hear people say that the high street is dead; I don’t know how you could say that here. At the weekend or in the week, we are full every day for lunch, which is pretty good for a small town; there is so much to do around here.”
Do you keep the menu the same or does it this evolve and develop?
Rosie. Before, we were doing brunch all day; we now do brunch till 12, then switch to our lunch menu. I want people to come and have a nice meal, a couple of bottles of wine and enjoy themselves. I want The Fig to be more of a place where people spend an hour or two and enjoy themselves and socialise, rather than just being an in and out café. Then in the evening, we do small plates, which reflect all the travelling; there is Indian, Moroccan, Thai food, definitely an eclectic mix of dishes from around the World. I want to keep changing the menu; if you cook the same thing all the time, like with the eggs, we worked out that we poached around 15,000 eggs in a year!
For whoever is cooking, I want it to be fun and interesting. Most of our chefs are not chefs yet; they’re young people who want to learn. It is great if they are cooking different things every three weeks instead of repeating the same recipes. I want local people that might come here once a month not to end up having the same thing all the time. The Fig is becoming what I originally wanted it to be; if you showed me the menu we have now, when we first opened, I’d be like, WOW!
And now we have our rooms up and running, I’m so pleased to be finally making the most of the space upstairs. It’s been great fun designing all the rooms and getting my interior design fix!
Do you develop new dishes yourself or work with your chefs?
Rosie. To be honest, though I say that I like the idea of people coming up with ideas, I am very controlling and bossy. There is one dish on the menu that Paulina created. If someone comes up with an excellent idea, I wouldn’t say no, but there are certain things I’ll be like, no, never! But creating a menu is my favourite part of having the place. The Fig has developed naturally as I have developed with cooking.
I have noticed that you always have Anthony Burrill’s latest prints on your walls, what is your connection?
Rosie. I love him; he’s a dream, his whole family they’re gorgeous. Funnily enough, Anthony’s daughter used to work here, they’re the nicest family you will ever meet in your entire life, and now his son and his girlfriend are working here too! The Burrill’s are so supportive; every time I do anything, they’re here, his work is cool, he is so humble, and his prints look perfect for the café.
Gresty chatted with Rosie from The Fig, 2 High Street TN31 7JE
