"Famous for its bridges, its black-and-white-striped football team, its big-hearted warmth (the people, if not the temperatures), Newcastle has usually been dismissed as a dining hot-spot. That would be unwise. The city gained its first Michelin star over 35 years ago; it now has two Michelin-starred restaurants as well as a jostling handful of serious wannabees. And that's just at the fine-dining end, the tip of an eating-out scene that crackles like the Geordie humour."
"Let's get the clichés over with: yes, you can still find stottie cakes (a thick flat-bread), pease pudding (mushy yellow split peas) and, obviously, Newcastle Brown (though it's now brewed in Tadcaster and the Netherlands). But you can also find mesmerising tasting menus, polished restaurants that deliver quality without the starchiness, a street of Chinese restaurants (that's you, Stowell Street), neighbourhood eateries that are little beacons of creativity, wine-and-small-plates bars, vegan pubs, artisan bakeries, and coffee-and-brunch places down unlikely side-streets."
"This is dining as an event; three or four hours of entertainment from watching the skills in the open kitchen and the chefs' service - the chefs serve each guest - to the wonder and delight of each course. Chef restaurateur Kenny Atkinson gained a Michelin star here in 2023, less than a year after opening - he already had a star at House of Tides, a bigger affair in an atmospheric beamed building five minutes around the corner on the Quayside."
Newcastle blends traditional local dishes with a dynamic contemporary food scene that now includes two Michelin-starred restaurants and several ambitious newcomers. Classic regional items such as stottie cakes, pease pudding and Newcastle Brown sit alongside mesmerising tasting menus, polished restaurants, a concentrated street of Chinese eateries on Stowell Street, neighbourhood creativity hubs, wine-and-small-plates bars, vegan pubs, artisan bakeries and hidden coffee-and-brunch spots. The compact city is easy to explore on foot, with neighbourhoods such as Heaton and Ouseburn frequently producing the next exciting kitchens. Solstice provides intimate, theatrical tasting experiences and earned a Michelin star in 2023.
Read at CN Traveller
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