Wales’ first hot sauce bar and bottle shop is set to open this weekend, with a tantalising array of homemade hot sauces, seasonings, Welsh beers and burgers on offer to tickle your tastebuds.
Created by “big foodies” Maesteg-born managing director Jonathan Paget and head chef Jake Holcombe, from Porthcawl - both 33 - Reaper was started in October 2020 from a love of hot sauce, food, music and friendship. Starting out sending bottled sauces in the post to friends and family - of which there were only three flavours on offer named earth, water and fire - by April 2021, they began selling their sauces on the street food and food market circuit.
Read More The Welsh bar named the best city centre craft beer pub in the UK
And now, for the first time, the duo - friends since the age of 16 - are inviting spice lovers of Cardiff into Reaper's new HQ in Canton, open Saturdays and Sundays - for now. It will house 12 unique hot sauces, such as coffee and habanero (aka ‘fire’) and pineapple and jalapeno along with 12 new seasonings to try with their returning dirty dining menu, which features a deep-fried mac'n'cheese patty and their signature vegan Kentucky fried Cauliflower burger.
The menu will also include new items, such as the mix’n’match chicken wings, and if you can’t handle spice, fear not - their range of sauces also cater for the faint-hearted, with non-spicy sauces too.
“We've always had a passion for food and we've always wanted to have our own business, so yeah, it's a dream come true,” JP says. “Doing a year of food pop ups, we had the confidence and self belief that we could manage our own place. And we believe we've got quite a unique character as well.
"We want to show that through the business, and having our own place is the best way to do that. [The business] is an extension of ourselves really and our personalities. For people who come there, it’s like inviting them into our living rooms; the music and the way that it's designed, the food and the whole experience.”
He adds: “We've always tried to be different and do things that no one else has done before. We love Cardiff, we love Wales, and we want to bring new things to people in Cardiff, so that's our hope with the bar.”
The bar will be opening its doors for the first time to the public on Saturday, April 30 from 12pm til late , where customers are encouraged to "head down, grab a tinnie out the fridge, pick a seasoning, pick a sauce and yam down our wings your way".
Find them at Unit 6 Paper Mill Court on Canton’s Paper Mill Road.
What is happening where you live? Find out by adding your postcode or visit InYourArea
