Chef opens new business after return from abroad

A CHEF has returned to Henley with a new venture in the town centre.

Steve Luscombe, who formerly ran Luscombes at the Golden Ball in Lower Assendon for 15 years, has moved back to the town from Mallorca, where he had been working as a private chef. He had a home on the island for a number of years.

He quit his former restaurant last November, blaming rising costs and a staff shortage.

Now the 57-year-old has taken over the former Café Buendia premises in Bell Street, which closed in September when owner Nestor Castillo and his wife Alicja retired.

The new Luscombes café, restaurant and takeaway will open this weekend.

The interior has been partially renovated but the tables and chairs will remain for now. The façade will be repainted.

Mr Luscombe’s decision to return to the UK was hastened after suffering a back injury in December that left him unable to work for months.

He said: “I just bent over and had a back spasm and was on the floor for like 10 hours and couldn’t move.

“It was awful. I was in a wheelchair for a while but then I used my insurance and had an operation, which went very well.

“But, of course, it’s the recovery time. That is the thing about a back operation — afterwards you can’t do anything, especially in my line of work.

“I couldn’t work for 10 months so we had no sort of income and had to rely on our savings. Coming back to the UK made sense financially and business-wise.

“I’m a very active person. I cycle, run and swim a lot but I couldn’t do any of that.

“Anyone who has had a back operation or had trouble with their back will know that it’s the mental side of things that is the hardest part of recovery rather than not physically being able to do anything.”

He also wanted to return for his children’s schooling — he has two daughters, Clara, 13, and Alva, 11, and a son, Frankie, nine, with his partner Carolina.

Mr Luscombe said: “Mallorca was amazing and was a bit easier when they were younger but now they’re older and starting secondary school, we decided to come back. They have friends here anyway.

“Mallorca sort of lacked culture. It was fine swimming, cycling and everything outdoors but lacked museums and that sort of thing and I thought it would be better to come back to England from that perspective, too.

“We’re very happy to be back. It took the kids a week or two to settle in and we had to buy some winter clothing. Frankie has basically lived most of his life in Spain. He speaks Spanish and supports all the Spanish football teams.

“I’m going to adjust him into English life, the Premier League and all that sort of thing. When we moved out there, the girls were five and three and already had friends here but Frankie was too young, he was only two.

“I have a lot of friends here and a lot of clients and I really missed everyone. Even having been back here for a month, I can’t really get much work done because when people see me, they’re like: ‘Whoa, Steve, you’re back, I’m going to come in and support you’ and all that sort of thing.”

His former front of house manager, Sharon Harper, is to begin working at Luscombe’s. She has been working in events and spent time at the Crooked Billet restaurant in Stoke Row.

Mr Luscombe said he wanted prime location for his new business.

He said: “I always wanted to be in town and I was sort of searching to see what was coming up and I saw that this was on the market back in March. Prime sites don’t actually come up that often. I have a very long lease.”

The café will offer lunch and two dinner sittings as well as takeaways and there will be a salad bar with fresh fish and cured meats.

Mr Luscombe hopes to also hold private dining events at the café, which seats 26, with tasting menus.

He said: “It’s a great venue and we will have a licence until midnight. We can have a chef behind the bar, an oyster bar, sushi and canapés and cocktails.

“I can offer a quality of food that wasn’t on offer before because obviously I’m a chef and it’s the style of catering that I do but we’re still keeping it as a café and a takeaway. We will keep it healthy using some things that I’ve learned in the Mediterranean — fresh fruit, coconut yoghurt and fresh pancakes with sweet-cured bacon, that sort of thing.

“I am trying to do something slightly different because there’s a lot of cafés in town that do a really good job. Fresh food is our main objective and then a light lunch, with nice coffee and drinks.

“When it will really come to life is in the evening. We are going to get the feeling of going to a restaurant in Paris where it’s very close quarters but with a nice atmosphere, music and wine.

“All the fresh fish will come overnight from Cornwall. I’m well known for my fresh fish and I’m from that area originally.

“We also plan to do some nice steaks and soufflés, which we were sort of renowned for at the Golden Ball.”

Mr Luscombe plans to hire four chefs — three of them full-time — and four part-time front of house staff alongside Ms Harper and says he will be on hand “24/7”.

He said: “One of the reasons I took this site is because with the economy and the staffing issues in our industry, it is a unit that could be managed without having a vast team. It’s very economical to run an operation like this — the costs are low.

“Our prices will be taking the economy into consideration. I’m very cost conscious as well and know that when we go out as a family of five, it is hugely expensive, even if you go to a chain.”