Multi-award-winning Salt Kitchen in Banbridge is embracing an exciting new chapter as it celebrates 10 years of culinary excellence with a major expansion. The restaurant has doubled in size and has moved to a new, larger space, five metres away within The Boulevard shopping outlet mall. The move will bring an elevated dining experience, bold new seating, and culinary innovations. This milestone cements Salt Kitchen’s reputation as the go-to destination for exceptional food, shopping, and entertainment at Northern Ireland’s leading outlet mall.

As Salt Kitchen expands, it is welcoming 15 new team members, bringing its staff to 50 strong. This growth enhances service excellence, elevates the guest experience, and creates valuable employment opportunities. By investing in its team, Salt Kitchen reinforces its position as a leader in the local hospitality industry, committed to delivering exceptional dining and outstanding service.

With over 175 seats in the new restaurant, Salt Kitchen is taking its dining experience to the next level. This expansion brings more creativity, more flavour, and more innovation, as the menu evolves to reflect Salt’s commitment to quality and the finest local ingredients. From fresh seafood and locally sourced meats to Salt’s signature dishes, diners can look forward to exciting new flavours, seasonal specialties, and a schedule of exciting events from supper clubs to tasting events.

Gary Scott Chef/Director of Salt Kitchen shares his excitement: “This is a game-changer for Salt Kitchen. Moving into a larger space at The Boulevard gives us the opportunity to push culinary boundaries, introduce new dishes, and create an experience that truly stands out. We can’t wait to welcome even more guests to our Next Chapter and share what we’ve been working on.”

This expansion is a huge moment for Salt Kitchen and The Boulevard, bringing fresh opportunities to raise brand awareness, attract new customers, and generate media buzz. The restaurant is set to engage the local community through job creation and events while driving foot traffic to The Boulevard and Omniplex, further positioning itself as a must-visit dining destination.

Salt Kitchen are members of Food Heartland and Food NI and invite food lovers, media, and the local community to celebrate this exciting new chapter and experience the next level of dining in its new home, booking online: https://www.saltkitchenbanbridge.co.uk

Ever noticed a colourful and hexagonal shape outside hotels, restaurants or other
eateries across Northern Ireland and wondered what it is all about?
Hospitality establishments here are busy hanging the distinctive Taste of Ulster
plaques that signal a commitment to providing quality food and drink from the best
locally sourced products and ingredients.
Issued annually as a recognition of commitment to these important requirements, the
coveted plaques – reflecting the UNESCO Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim –
follow exacting inspections by experts from Food NI, the local food and drink
promotion and marketing body that runs the badge of local quality and outstanding
taste scheme.
Michele Shirlow, boss of the independent food and drink body since its formation a
decade ago, explains: “The inspections are carried out on a mystery visitor basis to
individual establishments here.
“The inspectors conduct a rigorous review of how much local produce is used; what
is in place towards sustainability; the knowledge of staff about the menu; and then
quality and taste check three courses of food in each establishment.
“A detailed feedback report is then created and if a score of 80 percent is achieved,
a Taste of Ulster plaque is awarded. This repeats each year, hence some eateries
have a few years of plaques showcased on a wall usually outside the business,”
adds Michele.
Plaque winners enjoy other benefits, including features on Food NI’s social media
channels, in the richly illustrated annual handbook in all airports, visitor centres and
other public places.
Plaque holders also take part in ‘live’ cooking demos at events such as the
renowned Balmoral Show, one of the biggest agri-food shows in Europe that
features a vast Food NI Food Pavilion, one of the show’s highlights. The pavilion
usually features upwards of 100 smaller and artisan food companies and attracts
more than 100,000 visitors.

Laura Vogan, owner of S’more’a’licious, a FoodNI member in Armagh, an award-
winning producer of gourmet marshmallow fluff and kits, has embraced unique
Arabian Gulf flavours in her own version of the on-trend Viral Dubai Chocolate Bar.
Created in Dubai and featured widely on social media, the bar is inspired by knafeh:
(a Middle Eastern dessert made with a shredded phyllo pastry), a sweet, sugary
syrup and then layers of cheese, pistachio, cream or other fillings. The bar is then
covered in a rich milk chocolate.
Laura explains: “From the moment I saw all the buzz surrounding the unique
chocolate bar, I knew I had to create something special, something that captures the
richness, luxury, and pure joy of this chocolate craze but with a marshmallow twist.
“And we’ve done just that. The response from family and friends has been
phenomenal.
“After weeks of perfecting the recipe, sourcing the finest ingredients, and ensuring
every bite delivers the indulgence people crave, our take on this global sensation is
now available,” adds Laura.
Laura, a farmer’s wife with a passion for marshmallows, has, in fact, created two
varieties of the Gulf treat. One is filled with deliciously creamy handmade
marshmallow fluff and pistachio mix, while the other is just classic pistachio mix.
“Both bars are made with the finest, luxury Belgian chocolate and have the all-
important crunch,” she says.
Laura set up her S’more’a’licious small business making marshmallow kits in 2020
during lockdown and just two months after the birth of her second child. She
subsequently won two awards for her enterprise. These included Dragons’ Den star
Theo Paphitis’ Small Business Sunday award.
The business has continued to grow from sales here and further afield of the kits with
all that is needed to make delicious marshmallows. Her customers include local delis
and farm shops and abroad from online.
Based on the family farm, near Caledon, S’more’a’licious now offers a wide range of
different luxury treats.

Lights, camera, celebration! Antrim-based Golden Popcorn is toasting ten years of a
blockbuster partnership with Tesco NI.
Over the past decade, the supermarket giant has played a starring role in the
company’s award-winning retail success, offering its signature cinema-style popcorn
in Sweet, Salty and Sweet & Salty flavours —and more recently, its healthy snack
line, Gourmet Crunch—on shelves across Northern Ireland.
The company was founded in 1996 in Mallusk, and it supplied popcorn exclusively to
movie theatres across NI. Managing Director Sean McClinton and investors acquired
the business in 2014 and concluded its future hinged on a crucial plot twist:
transitioning to retail.
To make this bold move, Sean and his team developed a new recipe for “butter salt”,
which is responsible for the distinctive “cinema popcorn” flavour while ensuring it’s
made with only natural ingredients, free of allergens. In 2017, Golden Popcorn
moved to a purpose-built factory and office space in Antrim.
As the moment arrived to make their retail debut, Tesco NI rolled out the red carpet.
“We are proud to say Tesco NI was the first supermarket chain to offer a listing for
our retail popcorn bags and we’re thrilled to have our product on their shelves ever
since,” Sean remarked. “Tesco NI has been fantastic; they’re always open to
discussing Marketing and Product Development, and their support with product trials
has been invaluable.”
Tesco NI’s supporting role came into the spotlight again in 2021, when Golden
Popcorn launched sister brand Gourmet Crunch, and Tesco once more was the first
one to store the product in NI. The vegan snacks are made from cassava and are
available in Thai Sweet Chilli, Mature Cheddar & Spring Onion flavours. The new
Louisiana BBQ and Irish Salt & Balsamic Vinegar flavours will be launched at Tesco
in the next few weeks. 
“We’re delighted to say Golden Popcorn has had a box office smash of a decade,”
Sean added. “When we first started, our turnover was around £400K—now, we’re on
track for £4.5M in 2025. Partnering with Tesco has been incredible.”
Tess Osborn, Head of Fresh Foods Sourcing NI at Tesco, commented: “We are
thrilled to offer such a high-quality and beloved local brand like Golden Popcorn as
part of our ongoing commitment to supporting local suppliers. We’re proud to help NI
businesses shine and contribute to the local economy.”

Jarlath Watson credits the Echlinville Distillery’s single estate approach with giving its whiskeys a sense of provenance, community, tradition and authenticity. “A sense of place that’s completely unique to us,” is how Watson, the distillery’s head of whiskey and financial director, describes it.

Echlinville’s adventurous story is of the land from which it originates and the people who bring it to life. Tucked away in a gorgeous corner of the Ards Peninsula in Co Down, it’s run by Watson and Shane Braniff, a local businessman and farmer who has farmed the land since since 2007.

From the outset, they have never been ones to follow convention. Before they even got their distilling license, one of their first moves was to resurrect an old iconic brand, Dunville’s, in 2012. This earned them tremendous praise and in 2021, they did the same with the much loved Old Comber brand.

They now produce whiskey for these brands and the host of others they own completely on the grounds of the distillery. And I mean completely, as in every single step is done there, as Watson tells me.

“We are a true single estate, field-to-glass distillery, the first in Ireland to do everything on-site, from the ground up,” he says. “Every step of the production process, from sowing and growing, harvesting, malting and milling, mashing and fermenting, distilling and dunnage, maturing to vatting, blending, bottling and labelling is completed by us.

Dunnage, for the uninitiated, is an old school three barrel stack style of ageing whiskey. Echlinville is reconnecting the farm, the floor malting the distilling and the dunnage, or as Watson puts it, “weaving together again the people and processes in whiskey making that have become unbound by industrialisation”.

It’s an amazing commitment to tradition and to capturing the terroir of the estate, but its not the distillery’s only defining characteristic. Watson spoke at great length about their two whiskey stills and why they adhere to a double distillation method and not the triple distillation that is more common with Irish whiskey.

“Our mantra was always to produce waxy, full-bodied and full-flavoured whiskeys. We were never going to run a third distillation, as we believe this would sacrifice too much of the character we wanted in our whiskeys,” he says. “Our Scottish cousins have shown us that double distilled single malts can be some of the best in the world, so that was never in doubt.”

They have also pioneered a rather unique, slow style of extracting flavour, a process they have dubbed trickle distillation.

“Creating an exceptional whiskey is all about time; there’s no substitute for it. At Echlinville, that’s not just about the time the whiskey spends in casks, it’s also very much about the time taken to distill,” he says.

“The slower the distillation, the better and sweeter our spirit, so we slow the still right down to ensure maximum copper contact for our liquid, and achieve a spirit that is as full bodied and complex as it is delicate and sweet. It is not the most economical way to produce whiskey, but as I’ve said before, we do not and will not compromise on quality.”

Echlinville’s clear spirits are also quite exceptional. The gins all use barley grown on the farm, as well as a heady mix of local botanicals. The vodka, called Weaver’s, is clean and crisp, superb in a Moscow Mule, and as any poitín fan will tell you, has done stellar work in this category too, especially with the famous Bán brand.

Here are just a few of the exceptional releases that have come from Echlinville’s stunning portfolio. For details of the distillery tour, and stocksts, see echlinville.com.