Owners of Worcester restaurant Saffrons say farewell after 25 years

Admittedly the latter was in spirit rather than in person, the man having been dead since 1791, but it just shows what made Saffrons in New Street, Worcester the place to go for a convivial night out these past 25 years. 

Sadly it will be no more, for owners Nick and Chrissy Hunt have retired after a quarter of a century and although the premises will continue as restaurant, there will be a new team and a new name. 

Saffrons Bistro in New Street, Worcester

“It’s been rather emotional,” said Nick. “But we always thought after 25 years the time was right to step down. Obviously Covid hasn’t helped, but that’s not the reason. We had always been busy, we had enjoyed some wonderful times and we had planned it this way.”

It’s been a while since he arrived in Worcester as a 15-year-old, when his father Donald – who became the doyen of many a Three Choirs Festival – was appointed organist and choirmaster at Worcester Cathedral in 1975.

But for a keen football fan, the local team switching overnight from the Leeds United of Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter and Allan Clarke to Worcester City was only part of the story.

He explained: “My brother Tom was a good musician, so I decided to leave that side of things to him and after finishing King’s School I got a job over in Cambridge, where my brother-in-law was running an American diner.

"When I returned to Worcester I used to joke I had come down from Cambridge. I didn’t say I had been washing up in a restaurant!”

However he liked the life and in 1981, Nick, his sister Jacqueline, brother-in-law Chris Wade, and friend Arvin Gautama joined forces to open Heroes in Friar Street, Worcester’s first bistro.

“We thought we had spotted a gap in the market because it was something new for the area,” he said. With its relaxed, informal style and trendy décor, eating downstairs and a bar above, Heroes was a hit in the cathedral city, both with locals and tourists.

The Saffrons adventure began in 1995 when Nick, his wife Chrissy, Arvin and his wife Therese, took over the former Symposium restaurant in nearby New Street.

Nick and Chrissy Hunt with their original business partners Therese and Arvin Gautama on Saffrons final night

“We took what we had learned at Heroes and aimed to improve it,” he added. “There were better dishes, better ingredients and people really went for the laid-back, rustic surroundings and relaxed style. We were busy from day one. The easy part was choosing the menu, it was much harder to choose in the name.” 

They picked well, because Saffrons soon became one of the best known places in town. In 1999 during the Cricket World Cup, the entire Australian cricket team dropped in the evening before  playing Scotland at Worcester’s New Road ground.

Nick said: “It was almost surreal seeing all these green blazers coming through the door, filling the place. I was so taken aback I completely forgot to get a photograph. Of course we were only too happy for them to eat and drink as much as they wanted, hoping it might help Scotland’s chances the next day.” But it didn’t, Australia won by six wickets.

Another never to be forgotten night occurred in 2006 when, at his father’s request, Saffrons hosted an Austrian themed evening to celebrate the 250th birthday of Mozart. Not a typical event in the Faithful City. There was an Austrian menu and Mozart music.

“ The people who came, and there were plenty  of them, knew what they were paying for,” Nick added, “but I must say it was something rather different for us.”

Nick Hunt and Arvin Gautama, fun days at Worcester’s Victorian Fayre

 “People have asked us how we managed to stay open as long as we did.  I always say we tried to keep to our ethos of a warm friendly atmosphere, staff with great personalities, fab food, eclectic music choice and also not pushing the bookings too much at the cost of the service.

 “The music we played was always a talking point. I loved my music and would put together a suitable playlist depending on the customers visiting. If people over-stayed their welcome – usually after midnight – rather than turn the music off I would choose my ‘time to go’ playlist.

“It consisted of many songs including the likes of It’s Too Late by Carole King and Supertramp’s Goodbye Stranger. It didn’t click in with most customers until So Long, Farewell from The Sound Of Music started. Then I think they took the hint."

Now the Fat Lady has sung and there will no more “Farewells” at Saffrons.

Nick and Chrissy have kept the name, but, scotching social media chatter, have no plans to resurrect it. Not even in a village near Worcester.