DORSHI, an award-winning street food business run by friends Jollyon Carter and Radhika Mohendas, is opening as a restaurant in Bartholomew’s Hall at Bridport at the beginning of March.
Jollyon and Radhika have travelled much of the UK with Dorshi, becoming firm festival favourites with their hand-made dumplings, hand-pulled noodles, salads and sauces – and winning awards and recognition along the way, for their distinctive use of local produce and unusual flavours.
Thus far, Dorset has only been privy to their dishes at a handful of outdoor events and adventurous supper clubs held in conjunction with their long-time collaborators, Rob and Michelle Comins of Comins Tea House at Sturminster Newton but now they are settling back in their home town of Bridport.
From Wednesday 9th March, Dorshi will open the doors to Bartholomews Hall, tucked away down Chancery Lane, in the heart of the town. The hall itself has seen many incarnations from a coach builders to a bank in Victorian times. Now the interior has been respectfully restored into a contemporary, colonial eating space, where the self-taught chefs bring their re-creations of East Asian food with a seasonal, sharing plates menu alongside carefully selected fine loose-leaf teas and artisanal drinks.
“For us, Dorshi was born from craving the ubiquitous noodle or dumpling joints abundant in our previous lives,” says Jollyon who moved back to Bridport in 2011, after living abroad for many years.
Through their mutual love of food, they taught themselves to cook, adapt and create recipes in their spare time. Jollyon says: “The challenge we set ourselves from early on was to not only recreate dishes that were commonplace across many East Asian countries, but to re-imagine and attempt to fully exploit the flavour profiles of local, British ingredients.
“Working backwards, we started to find an abundance of little-known plants and herbs, thoughtful, passionate producers and suppliers who had the same slow-movement ethos as us.”
Dorshi will be open Wednesday to Friday, serving lunch and afternoon tea from 11am-4pm and dinner from 6pm- 10pm. For more details visit their website www.dorshi.co.uk