Into the Spotlight, sponsored by Huddersfield-based Scriba PR, is a regular feature which highlights some great businesses. Here we profile Huddersfield chef Barrington Douglas who is back with a new online venture The Phat Patty Company.
Top chef and former Huddersfield restaurateur Barrington Douglas is back in the kitchen – and he’s cooking up a new online business venture.
Barrington, 55, who ran popular Caribbean restaurant Discovery Bay in Huddersfield for 12 years, is bringing his artisan patties, chutneys and secret-recipe sauces back – better than ever – with his Phat Patty Company.
The Huddersfield-born chef, who has appeared on TV with celebrity chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Gary Rhodes, achieved a lifelong dream when he opened his own restaurant.
He later produced his own award-winning jerk pork pies and a hot pepper sauce. He reckons he must have sold an incredible 100,000 jerk pork pies over the years.
However, after closing Discovery Bay in 2017 and needing to spend more time with his family after the death of his father, Barrington left the food industry and went into sales.
But now the hunger is back, his passion has been reignited and Barrington has launched The Phat Patty Company based in Huddersfield.
Barrington said: “My passion for food and cooking is back and is burning bright. Barrington has got his mo-jo back!
“I’ve had the break that we all need at some time in our life and I’m back in the kitchen. I started in a small way making patties at home on a weekend and selling them via social media and the response was amazing.
“I quickly found I couldn’t keep up with demand so now I’ve turned what was a weekend operation into a full-time online venture with plans to grow and expand.”
Barrington makes an artisan Jamaican curried patty, a twist on a Cornish pastie. The original recipe is based on his mum’s from back home in Jamaica but over the last 10 years Barrington has refined and perfected it.
“It’s a short crust pastry filled with a choice of fillings – beef, chicken or vegan. The filling is flavoured with curry powder, black pepper, scotch bonnet, garlic and thyme and a few more secret ingredients.
“It’s my own unique recipe. It also has a flavoured pastry so it’s not just your ordinary pastry which is just butter, flour and water. It is something special that you won’t have tasted before.”
Barrington is also bringing his award-winning royal hot pepper sauce back. It’s medium-spiced and comes in 270ml bottles.
“Some sauces are just too hot and spicy and all you get is the heat and no flavour,” said Barrington. “My sauce is very balanced and has layers of flavour.
“It’s sweet, it’s like a chutney. It’s designed to complement my patties but because of the depth of flavours it will go with anything.”
Barrington has launched his business with a website where customers can order deliveries to their door.
Customers can get the full taste sensation by ordering a ‘Box of Sunshine’ which includes a choice of patties – beef, chicken, vegan or all three! – as well as sauces and chutney.
Barrington said: “Our Boxes of Sunshine are great for sharing, bringing us all back together. What’s better than sharing some darn good food with the people you love?”
Barrington has always supported young people and has trained some great chefs over the years. As Phat Patty grows Barrington wants to give a helping hand to more young people whose life chances may have been limited.
“I want to train kids and give them an opportunity,” he said. “Some of my previous trainees have become great chefs in their own right.”
Down the line Barrington plans to expand his range to include a jerk BBQ sauce, a tomato and pimento chutney and a Caribbean spice mix. All have previously achieved success in the Great Taste Awards.
“But that’s for the future,” said Barrington. “For now, I’m back in the kitchen following a lifelong passion for great tasting food.
“We’re an artisan business and I want to give the nation a proper patty that’s not machine-manufactured.”
To find out more about the Phat Patty Co go to www.thephatpattyco.co.uk
