Never thought pans could be that exciting? You haven’t been to Stanger’s Cookshop in Jesmond. Rosie McGlade has lunch with owner Jessica Stanger, and writes up her Christmas list
Many years ago, Jess Stanger might have taken the route into musical theatre, having studied drama and enjoyed singing with jazz groups in London.
But she took another path, moving back to Newcastle to the childhood sweetheart who played in a band called the Crosby Brothers with his brother and her famous saxophonist father; a very neat band in its day. She waitressed, became general manager of the Metropolitan, now Barluga, in Grey Street, Northumberland, then started working with her now husband Ben and his brother at Crosby’s, the Shieldfield-based professional kitchenwear company, and had two daughters.
In December 2010 she opened Stanger’s, her own shop in Jesmond, and brought a little piece of kitchen paradise to Newcastle. The musical world’s loss was our gain.
You can imagine Jess on stage, though she says she wouldn’t have the confidence now. But she sings in her shop to the radio when no-one’s about. She’s a mix of vivacious and warm, the sort of person who brightens a day up. That’s probably as nice a comment you can get, but relevant, as we all want our days cheering and Jess is public property in that her shop is open to all.
And what a shop, foodie people. Not a bite to eat, but full of things to drool over. Pans, pots, dishes, zesters, squeezers, olive woods, tongs and tins. Copper, stainless steel and cast iron, gleaming. Some pricey, at investment last-you-a-lifetime level, some bright, cheerful and rubbery, aimed more at students’ pockets. All very French, Jess hopes, that being her inspiration.
In her kitchen in Newcastle’s High West Jesmond (very nice too, painted wooden units, oak floors, big pine table with hints of the girls’ felt pens adding pitch-perfect family feel), Jess is bemoaning the fact the ‘pan shop lady’ doesn’t have a sugar bowl, but gets out her small collection of favourite tools to show us; a rasper, a mandolin, and a garlic rocker.
“I’m not a fussy person who wants loads of gadgets, but these I do like,” she says.
The garlic rocker is like a shoe horn with holes in the middle. You put the garlic on a board, and rock over the top of it. “It’s the perfect gift for a man!”
We tuck into lunch. “I’ve always been foodie, but was probably more passionate about cooking before the business,” Jess explains. “I’m more of an assembler now, so people can pick. It’s a time thing, but also the way I like to eat. You know how you can go to a restaurant and choose the wrong thing? I like a good spread with lots of flavours going on, and I love salads, so this is the kind of food I tend to do now when people come round.”
It’s very tasty too, clean and crisp, recipes I’ll definitely be trying. Pete, our photographer and more recently regular cheesecake-maker, will give the orange mascarpone tart a go too, he says. What a nice day it’s turned out.
When customers ask for advice, Jess will help them work out their needs. If they entertain, but don’t have much time, like her, then they need nice serving dishes so they can chuck together good ingredients and make the most of them on the table.
It was a brave move, opening a shop like this in the middle of a recession. “But if you can make it work in a recession, you can make it work anytime. It meant I had to start small, and build slowly and steadily. But I was very aware of all the stuff on the TV, the Great British Bake-Off and so on, and I’ve always had a passion for beautiful French cookshops, and I wanted to give it a go.”
The idea was to mix high-end professional quality wear – French and Italian copper pans, for example, that you can spend a few hundred on – with good quality high street products like Le Creuset, Kitchenaid, etc. “I suppose the shop is about design and function,” Jess says. “Everything I’ve chosen for a specific reason. There are certain new products, and I know they’re worth having in the kitchen, but I listen to my customers, too.”
The new Delia range, with prices starting at around £8, impressed her instantly. “She’s gone with a company called Silverwood, which people like Mary Berry and Lorraine Pascale all use. It’s the same quality stuff, very lightweight, anodised aluminum, so you get a nice, even bake with it, but she’s adapted slightly to fit with her own recipe favourites.
“Some chefs put out products you know they don’t use themselves, but Delia’s been cleverer than that.”
While Jess insists on quality, she’s obviously going to have an eye on what will sell well. “The Jersey Pottery Sardine Run range has been a massive hit, for example,” she says. “We’ve had internet orders from all over the country for wedding lists. It’s part of our Made In Britain, range, along with things like the Richard Welch stainless steel utensils.
“All our olivewood stuff is really popular, too. The French company Jars do these gorgeous ceramic oil drizzlers and jugs that customers have loved, and the Joseph Joseph range is full of fun but very useful and affordable.”
If you’re stuck for a present idea, it’s definitely worth a thought. Jess even says she’ll price match.
“Sometimes a man will come in and say, ‘oh, my wife would kill me if I bought her something for the kitchen’,” says Jess. “And then a woman will come in and want everything!”
So is she pleased she ended up down this road? “Yes! It’s hard. You have to be competitive. But I’m very happy I’ve done it. There’s always something lovely and new out there, and never enough space in the shop, but I’m never bored!
“I’m meant to have a day-and-a-half off a week and that never really happens, but my husband does all the Saturday car runs to ballet and gym classes and it all works out, really. It’s fantastic, actually. It’s a passion.”
