Kitchen double act looking forward to a bright future at the Old Lamp Room

REUNITED: Daisy Rowley with mum Wendy outside The Old Lamp Room at Cottingham station

By Phil Ascough

A mother and daughter team are promising to serve up delicious dishes at the double after being reunited in the kitchen of a hidden gem of a restaurant.

Wendy and Daisy Rowley first worked together properly five years ago when Covid cut short Daisy’s academic aspirations and she joined her mum at the Black Horse pub and restaurant in Little Weighton.

From there Daisy broadened her culinary education at The Tiger Inn, Beverley, but now she’s back with Wendy at the Old Lamp Room, which has progressed from coffee shop to the highest quality cuisine on platform two at Cottingham station.

Kasha Gravill-Vines had customers queueing from day one when she opened the redundant rail building early in 2020. When the first lockdown forced temporary closure, she kept the business afloat by offering takeaway picnic boxes.

As Covid subsided, Kasha was diagnosed with cancer but has confronted her illness with a determination to establish the restaurant as one of the region’s culinary stars, regardless of whether she will be around to see it.

She added breakfast, brunch and lunch, then acclaimed Sunday dinners. When the Black Horse at Little Weighton closed in 2023 chef Wendy joined the team and launched monthly supper clubs which sell out weeks ahead. This year, they have introduced an evening service every Friday and Saturday.

Daisy’s first experience of restaurants came when her parents had Wednesdays, an acclaimed bistro in Wednesday Market, Beverley. She also picked up a few tips in the kitchen at home but seemed set on a different career path after graduating in sociology from York St John University.

However, she abandoned plans to pursue her Masters when it became clear the studies would be largely online, and instead she joined the team at the Black Horse, but with little idea of where it would lead.

Daisy said: “I have absolutely no idea where I would have ended up but when I was a kid I always helped in the kitchen. I have been doing it properly for five years now. I just like making things that make people happy and make their day better.

“The Old Lamp Room has a lovely environment and a great atmosphere. Everyone who works here is really nice – it was my birthday on my second day and they all got me a card. I know how things work here and I know I can make a good contribution.”

Wendy added: “Daisy grew up in the restaurant when we had Wednesdays so it’s in her blood. She was helping at the Black Horse when she was still doing her A levels, coming in to wash the pots and do desserts.

“We think the same, we don’t even have to say anything because we just know what the other is doing. We sit together on the sofa and talk about the restaurant, and even before she started Daisy gave us a lot of input for our supper clubs.

“Daisy joining us will make things so much easier and my stress levels will come right down! As good as we were before, with Daisy arriving we can be doubly as good.”

Kasha added: “It’s wonderful to have another chef because we have been getting so busy, and it’s fantastic that it’s Daisy because we know what she can do and we know she will fit in.

“It’s a really exciting time because she has the same passion as the rest of us and she will help us get better and better.”