Strong start to 2024 for new Wellingborough fusion takeaway as bosses hope to give back to the community

2024 has started off strong for new local business Eat Right, which opened its doors in Wellingborough’s Cambridge Street on December 15.

Since the business began trading the food spot, that takes up a unit formerly used by a Chinese restaurant, has ‘grown from strength to strength’, and is hoping to be a mainstay of the town for years to come.

Emille Idrissi, owner of Eat Right, wants it to be a part of the community as well as a different local dining option.

He said: "The opening was impeccable, and it’s got busier and busier. It’s definitely blown my expectations for what I thought it could be.

"I wanted to bring fresh food, tasty food and a different option to Wellingborough.

“If the food's good and the company is even better, you’ve got a winning recipe.”

Emille is from a Jamaican and Moroccan background, and has used the influence of both to bring a menu of comfort food items that hope to stand out in a street that has become known locally for its dining choices.

Cambridge Street was chosen to house the business as Emille wanted to be in what he called ‘the heart of Wellingborough’.

He added: "You can’t get any more in the heart of Wellingborough than Cambridge Street, so when the opportunity arose for this shop to come to me I thought why not.”

His journey in hospitality started at school, and an interest in cooking was nurtured by his parents.

Emille added: “At school we used to love cooking. I did it for my GCSEs, I was in the inter-school junior Masterchef, and I’ve always loved cooking from day one.

“Mum and dad are big cooks, mum’s Jamaican, and constantly cooking every single day, dad loves cooking, so whenever we go to family houses it’s always big feasts, big meals, fresh and perfect.”

Emille is Wellingborough ‘born and bred’, and wants to use the shop to harness a sense of community in the town he calls home.

He said: “I want to give back to the community, so anything I can do to help them out. Yeah, the idea is to make money, but for me, it's giving back to the community and If I can help, I’m there.

"Me being from Wellingborough I know pretty much everyone, so this is as much my shop as the rest of the community’s.

“They raised me, from playing on the Queensway field to Glamis Hall, that’s my community, so it’s only right that we help each other out and look after each other.

“I’m grateful to the people in Wellingborough. Without them, there is no me.”

The town centre has seen better days, with our recent data showing that its vacancy rate is still high, and footfall is not what it once was.

When this was put to Emille, he insisted ‘it’s not a concern’.

He said: "In Wellingborough, if we can get some of these shops filled, we bring more people here, and the town goes up.

“We’ve got Rushden Lakes, thousands of people will go there every day just to go shopping. We’re just down the road, and there are some very good places here that people wouldn’t even know about because they just bypass this and go to Rushden.

"What we want is to bring more people to town, we want people to come. Everyone’s got social media and scrolling through TikTok you see these nice places, some people drive two hours, we want that for Wellingborough.

"In Wellingborough we don't have many new, modern shops. If you go to bigger cities you see stuff that’s more modernised, but here, I want to make sure our community doesn’t get left out, because even though it feels like a quiet town, we’re full of energy here.

“I can never complain though as it’s been very good since opening. Local places are where it’s at.”

Set-up was a communal effort, with people coming from all walks of life to assist the opening. From receiving the keys to the premises to beginning trading, it took a total of two-and-a-half months to get it to where it is today.

Eat Right is open from 3pm until 2am every day, including Sundays.