A whole lotta love in Lizzy's Little Kitchen

Meeting your future in-laws can be daunting – especially when they are undertakers.

“I had told mammy and daddy: ‘For the love of God, don’t bring Arek near the funeral home because he is going to run a thousand miles,’” laughs Lizzy Lyons about the first time she brought her then-boyfriend to meet her parents in Listowel, Co Kerry.

“I went upstairs to the toilet and when I came down, I said: ‘Where’s Arek gone, mam?’ And she was like: ‘A big load of coffins arrived and sure the boys aren’t around here to help your father.’

“So I went out to the funeral home and I could see daddy with the coffin, saying to Arek: ‘Catch it now there’... Arek was white.”

“I thought there was still some bodies inside,” admits Arek of his baptism of fire.

Still, it didn’t traumatise him long-term, because not only are the couple now married with two sons, they also run the feelgood healthy food business, Lizzy’s Little Kitchen, between Listowel and Ballybunion.

Lizzy always wanted to work in hospitality. While her friends bought clothes with their confirmation money, she invested in a Kenwood mixer, and, after studying hotel management, got a job as duty manager with the Moran hotel group in London.

It was here she met Arek, who had left Poland to find a job in the UK, despite having limited English. Lizzy had spotted him at work and, because she smoked at the time, used it as an excuse to spark a conversation.

“I thought he was really cute and I went over and I said: ‘Excuse me, do you have a lighter please?’ And he went: ‘No,’” laughs Lizzy, explaining that Arek did not understand what she was asking for as he had not learned that word yet.

However, once his panic had subsided, he set out to make amends.

“I was over by the coffee machine and I was filling up the tea into a pot and I could see him coming over and I was like: ‘Oh my God, what does he want?’” recalls Lizzy.

“And he said: ‘Excuse me, how are you?’

“And I said: ‘I’m very well, thanks, how are you?’ And he said: ‘I’m good. I was wondering, do you have a boyfriend?’ And I said: ‘Ah... no.’ And he said: ‘Would you like one?’”

“I wanted to ask: ‘Do you want to go for a date?’” qualifies Arek. “But I didn’t know how to ask.”

And – despite having to use a dictionary on their first date – the couple fell in love and married in 2008. Lizzy’s career also took an exciting turn, with a role as catering manager at Universal Music, rubbing shoulders – or at least plates – with stars like Mick Jagger and Lionel Richie, who left her genuinely star struck.

“I said: ‘Pull it together now, because if I drop a plate on Lionel Richie, that’s it,’” she laughs.

It was at Universal that Lizzy was first exposed to the style of healthy ingredients that would later influence her own business, from fresh lime leaves and lemongrass delivered from Borough Market, to wholegrains like quinoa.

“Cian-who?” she recalls. “I remember looking at it going: ‘Oh my God.What is it for?’”

But despite the fact that Lizzy and Arek were happy in London, the thought of raising a family there did not appeal, so three weeks before their first son Ruairí (now six) was born, they moved to Listowel.

Arek found a factory job, while Lizzy worked as a hotel food and beverage manager. But after the arrival of Pierce (now three), Lizzy decided to stay at home. Though, by then, the idea for Lizzy’s Little Kitchen had also been born.

“I bought two gas burners, a tent, two tables and I went into the market in Listowel on a Friday with eight loaves of brown bread, five litres of chowder and five litres of roasted tomato and mascarpone soup – and that’s where it started,” says Lizzy.

Soon, the menu was boasting mains from slow-cooked lamb tagine with pomegranate cous cous to Madras-style chicken curry with fluffy rice and homemade chutney, salads like roasted chilli and ginger squash with quinoa, feta and walnuts, open sandwiches such as Dingle crab and avocado on seeded brown bread, as well as scones, bakes and cakes –and they were selling out by lunchtime.

By then, Lizzy and Arek had also started a home catering service, so after approaching Kerry Enterprise Board, they got grant aid towards building a production kitchen.

And last summer, they took another step by opening a pop-up cafe in Ballybunion, having negotiated a short lease and availing of the opportunity to use their public liability traders’ market insurance, which covered the pop-up for three months.

However, not only is the cafe still running successfully, they are now starting polytunnels at home to grow more of their own ingredients and hope to open a permanent premises in Listowel shortly.

And we suspect there will be a lot more to come from Lizzy’s – and of course Arek’s – Little Kitchen.

“We’ll probably have to change the name,” laughs Lizzy.

For further information, visit www.facebook.com/LizzysLittleKitchen or call 087-149-7220. Catch Lizzy’s Little Kitchen at Listowel Farmers’ Market every Friday from 10am- 2pm and in Ballybunion every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11am- 4pm.