A Cumbrian couple has celebrated a dream decision to open a Carlisle eatery after it reached its second year in the city centre. 

David and Pamela Haddock have been serving delicious roast dinners and Yorkshire pudding wraps to the people of Cumbria for two years and called their decision to open as 'the best thing we've ever done'. 

After quitting their jobs as a chef and a nurse respectively, the husband-and-wife duo opened Cumbria Roast Company on Fisher Street on October 31 2022. 

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Their Halloween opening date certainly hasn't spooked off the customers though, with queues regularly out of the door in the last two years, while around 600 Yorkshire puddings are sold each Sunday. 

David said: "We had a burger van about 20 years ago but we always said that we'd have a shop one day. Pamela was working in a GP surgery, I was a head chef in a local restaurant. We were never seeing each other, we were passing ships. So we both quit our jobs in the summer and started this up with just the two of us, and we've gone from strength to strength ever since. It's been amazing."

David believes that the key to success lies in staying true to their identity and the menu, which has barely changed in the two years that they've been open. 

He added: "We always said we wouldn't deviate from what we said we would do. We've stayed true to it, and kept faith in our produce and our ability. Having that trust in yourself and keeping it simple has worked. We still sell exactly the same things we did on day we've opened. I could count on a postage stamp the amount of waste we've had, it's been that good. Everything just goes."

A very busy summer period has been and gone but with Christmas around the corner, David only expects to get busier which also has him and Pamela dreaming of a potential expansion in the future.He added: "It's a really busy, popular place. It's the best thing we ever did. Pamela comes from a nursing background but she's taken to it like a duck to water. Together, we're the perfect storm."