the fab four – Sole kitchen – 10 year anniversary

The Fab Four – Folkelife takes a moment to celebrate four traders who have been at Folkestone Harbour since 2015.  As they mark 10 years of trading, and we wanted to know what those first moments were like.  The Fab Four are: Simon and Jess from The Lighthouse Champagne Bar, and since 2022, The Tasting Rooms;  Bernie and Emma with the Big Greek Bus, which has now grown into Cavells Mediterranean Lounge; Alison Abbott started with Go Dutch, moules and frites, and Dutch pancakes – poffertjes and now has Shesells Seashells; and lastly Mark Babbins with Sole Kitchen, then adding on Harbour Coffee, The Fish Shack and Sailbox.

sole kitchen

Mark: “My business partner Michael Lake and I had been running a small pop-up selling street food in a little stall by The George and the fountains.  That was in 2014 and 2015, and we’d just finished for the summer. Michael rang me up and asked if I’d been down the Harbour to see what they were doing. He said it was amazing, that there was so much potential.  I went down and everything was empty.  There was a pizza place, and a little bar, but it was completely dead. There was nobody there. 

“We had a few conversations with Diane and Denice but it was early days.  I had been in catering, and am also a builder, and I was seriously thinking of giving up the catering and was starting to think about branching out on my own.  Then Michael called me and said that the Devers had just told him a hut had become available and could we start straight away.  We were like, yeah, ok… so cobbled a few pieces of equipment together, £100 for a fryer, £60 for a little work top. Our starting menu was fish finger sandwiches, salt and pepper squid, no beer or anything.”

specialising in paella

“Denice and Diane needed someone to cater for the Salt Festival that year and asked Michael if we could do it.  They wanted paella, and Mike, ever the quick-thinker, said that we specialised in paella.  In all honesty, we’d never made paella before in our lives!  But, a little bit of research and we know our way around a kitchen so we pulled it off.  It went down really well.  

“That first year we made a little bit of money, and I went back to being a builder.  I really enjoyed that first year though, and they asked as back for 2016.  So we took the money we’d made and bought a bigger fryer, got a beer system and started to work with a local brewery.  Even though we were only open weekends and some holidays, and bank holidays and so on, word spread.  People told others to come down and see what was going on. It just started growing.”

harbour coffee

“By 2017 there was an opportunity to move into a little container that was at the end of the car park.  We had this idea to have a coffee shop, but both of us still had full time jobs as well.  Everything was derelict up to the Big Greek Bus so that first year was slow.  Again, I bought a load of chairs off Ebay, and rented a coffee machine. Every year we’ve reinvested in the property and the equipment and so you see how it is now. 

“Covid struck and we became part of the offering in The Goods Yard.  I did a thing called Mr Grilled Cheese with a cheese toastie stand.  You can now get them in Harbour Coffee.  It was a small venture to start with, but when Paulo, the new General Manager, arrived, he, with the financial backing of Sir Roger De Haan, invested in that area so that it has become a great success. Now our option in there is The Fish Shack.”

Covid

“The three venues, Sole Kitchen, Harbour Coffee and The Fish Shack were working well but things were still closed in winter.  I decided to open Harbour Coffee in the winter and it was incredibly quiet.  But Covid helped that too.  I was furloughed and so sitting at home, I thought, why not just open up, with a screen and a paddle to hand the coffee cups through the hatch.  

“I really needed the business to get through the next winter but Sir Roger De Haan was brilliant in supporting all the traders.  He said that if anyone wanted to open, he’d do a deal and let everyone open without charging anyone rent.   The traders opened up, and the customers started coming.  I cried. Every day people came for their walk, and got a coffee and had a brief moment of normality in that crazy time.”

a queue of 40 people

“To start with it was just a few people, but then there was a queue of about 30 to 40 people snaking across the car park.  I got my sister in to help, and it grew from there.  We got a reputation of being open.  All my equipment was rented and I got the grants from the Council which meant I could buy my own coffee machine.  I can remember it being like buying buying a racing car; it was a thing of beauty!  It arrived on this pallet, this beautiful Italian machine with top of the range grinders. Suddenly, I felt this meant business. 

“All that hard work had paid off, and conversations with Paulo started to talk about putting a container on top of Harbour Coffee and extending upwards. We started doing kippers for breakfast, and avocado on toast.  It was such a great location, and we were really busy, but the second it rains, everyone goes.  A bit of wind, and you can feel it up there!”

sailbox

“Paulo was building some larger units out of containers on the eastern side of the car park.  One set was due for another trader but they pulled out.  So he asked me if I wanted it.  I didn’t really think about it, it made sense to bring the top bar down here, and serve brunch, beers and Sunday Lunch.  Now it’s too small for us.  We have 67 seats in here, and 60% of the time it’s full. 

“We did a social media campaign where you saw the gravy being poured over Sunday Lunch and instantly got 600 bookings off the back of it.  It was the perfect moment.  As soon as the sun comes out I have 100 extra seats, but in the winter, it’s a busy place!  Look for another expansion next year: Sir Roger has been really supportive in making the businesses work.  He comes in, sees what’s going on and how things are working, and helps suggest ideas of how to grow and improve.”

tv performance

“It’s certainly a great place to work here.  There’s always a buzz and it’s great when the whole Harbour is jumping with people.  I really enjoyed being on telly too.  That was a bizarre experience, but I wouldn’t have had it had I not been here.  I had to show how to open an avocado and remove the stone.  It was over in seconds, and I guess I’d do it all again if they asked me.  But I was nervous at the time.”

Read more about Mark’s businesses and his time on telly here.