With many people now returning to the office, lunch is once again on the menu.
We’re not talking a cardboard sandwich though. How about the best panini in Aberdeen?
Don’t take it from us, the reviews are in and Grub Fresh Food is almost
drowning in accolades.
It should come as no surprise given that you’ll find intriguing dishes such as a Scooby snack or an Elvis Parsley wrap, complete with hummus.
Owner Stuart Ross, who opened his first shop just after graduating, now runs four Grub sites across the city, including his newest one at Aberdeen Science Centre in Constitution Street.
We caught up with Stuart to find out more about a menu with a difference.
Q. Tell us about yourself.
I suppose I was a bit of an eccentric child. I’m originally from Kent and I grew up on a farm.
One of the local farmers nearby had a big orchard just next to our house, which he wasn’t really interested in. He’d said to me that if I wanted to look after the apples, I could help myself.
So, I started producing apple juice when I was very young, maybe around age 10.
I was so enthusiastic about creating my own products and even though there wasn’t any money involved in it, it was a bit like an enterprise, you know?
Ever since then, I eventually thought that I’d start my own business.
Q. When did Grub first materialise?
I came up to the University of Aberdeen to study entrepreneurship 15 years ago now.
After my first year, I changed course to economics because I thought it’d be a pretty good degree to have.
But funnily enough, once I’d finished my studies, I realised that what I really wanted to do was to start my own business.
Luckily, there was a small café which had shut down with all of its equipment still in it, not far from the university.
All it needed was a lick of paint, so I knew I could start the business incredibly cheaply. I opened my first shop around two months after graduating and I’ve been doing it since 2010.
Q. What’s the ethos of the business?
The USP, which goes hand in hand with the ethos, has always been about wholesome food at an affordable price.
It all stems from when I was a student here in Aberdeen. I used to go around campus looking for lunch and I remember quite often being stuck with a bit of a conundrum.
As a 6ft 5in guy, I would eat quite a lot. With my student budget I had around £10 a day to spend on food.
The obvious choices were going to the bakery and having a big pastry or the café on campus which used to do soups.
Both were quite cheap; one was not at all healthy and the other one was fairly healthy.
But between the two, I felt that there was something missing in the market which was the concept of having a wholesome lunch at an affordable price.
The model of Grub is built around the meal deal, where you get a snack, main and drink. But our objective is that when you go in and have your lunch, you’re also coming into somewhere with a vibe that creates an experience.
If you think about Greggs or Pret a Manger, you don’t really go for the experience – you go there to buy lunch. That’s not the same objective we’ve got at Grub. We want to make people’s lunch an experience.
Q. In what ways is the Aberdeen Science Centre café different from your other locations in Aberdeen?
What’s good about this site is that it’s down by the beach. We’re dog friendly too and there’s always someone with a dog in every day.
I saw the location and thought it would be a great place for dog walkers to sit down, enjoy a coffee and continue their walk with their dog along the beach.
Obviously, it’s quite a touristy spot as well, so we were hoping to pick up visitors who were down there anyway and offer something different to the other businesses on the boulevard.
We’ve created a science theme throughout the café with scientists on the walls with big paintings, as well as conical flask style lights.
It’s themed in tune with science centre. The décor, the music and the staff all contribute to the atmosphere in the café to make lunch feel like more of an experience rather than just lunch.
Q. What are some of your most popular offerings?
We have a hero versus villain themed menu in the café at the moment.
We have options like Jack the Ripper, Elvis Parsley and King Kong which you can order as wraps or paninis.
The most popular panini is the Hammer of Thor. It consists of piri-piri chicken, chorizo, hot sauce, pesto, sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella.
I think all the names give the food that fun aspect of our USP, as well as personality.
The Hammer of Thor is a really bizarre combination, yet works so well. If you really put me on the spot for my favourite, I’d say the Diablo.
You don’t get many spicy sandwiches, it’s got a good thing going on. It really leaves a kick and has real flavour. I love all our options though, there’s 14 different combinations in total, or you can make your own.
Q. Have you learned a lot about yourself since you started Grub?
Well, I think I’m quite self-critical so I never really stop to appreciate things that often. I genuinely always think that there’s improvements to be made, so it’s either that I haven’t quite got where I want to be yet or a fault in my character that I’ll never get to that point!
When you start off doing something, you quite often have no idea about what you’re doing and you approach tasks with enthusiasm.
Once you do that for a bit of time, you have success with it. Then you approach a steep learning curve.
I would consider myself to be well on the way within this second learning curve now. I’m a lot more clued up than what I was compared to when I started, but there’s definitely still room for improvement.
Q. Future plans?
We’re looking at upgrading the menu in the next six months by adding new options and changing things round.
We’ve still got some work to do in our shops to improve them inside. I would potentially like to open another shop as well but that’s not immediately on the cards just yet.
To find out more about Grub, check out their Facebook page.
