New deli opens its doors in Carlisle city centre

First We Eat is on Fisher Street in the city centre and is the brainchild of retired couple Alan and Karen Senior, who are ‘relishing’ the chance to bring ‘delicious delicacies’ to the city.

The high street has struggled during the cost-of-living crisis and the covid pandemic so the news of a new deli is welcome for the city centre.

Many of the products being sold First We Eat are award-winning and the pair say they’d like to ‘highlight the exceptional food’ being produced on our doorstep.

Alan said: “The last deli in Carlisle closed some time ago, but there’s still a real demand for these sorts of specialist foods.

The shop will be open from Tuesday until Saturday (Image: Supplied)“I used to work in hospitality, so you could say food is in my blood, but we hadn’t always had the chance to try all these Cumbrian foods, so it was great to go round and test them out for ourselves.

“It’s fantastic to be able to support local producers too - they’re doing great work and don’t get as much coverage as they deserve.”

The shop features cheeses made by Appleby Creamery, seafood from Grant’s Seafood in Maryport, and cured meats from the Eden Valley Smokehouse in Penrith.

Some of the produce available at the shop (Image: Supplied)As well as traditional British products, there’s also a range of Italian items with the pasta coming from Kendal’s Northern Pasta Company.

“You can’t grow olives in Cumbria unfortunately but where we can get something locally, that’s what we’ll do,” said Alan.

With neither coming from a retail background, the pair, who live in Wigton, have been keen to praise Carlisle Chamber of Commerce, who they say have been ‘invaluable’ in helping them get the deli up and running.

First We Eat is open Tuesday to Saturday on Fisher Street in Carlisle.