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NewcastleGateshead
will stage its first food and drink festival next month showcasing
the best of the region's food produce and culinary delights from its
retail outlets, restaurants and hotels.
EAT!
NewcastleGateshead will run from the 6-15 April and will form part of
NewcastleGateshead Initiative's programme of world-class festival and
events for 2007.
Simon Preston,
who has worked in hospitality and the food industry around the UK and
the world, including most recently Harvey Nichols, is directing the
festival in conjunction with renowned chef and proprietor Terry
Laybourne, NGI Creative Director Stella Hall and representatives from
the food and drink industry around the region.
As well as an
exciting mix of events encouraging people to celebrate and enjoy the
very best food and drink the region has to offer, the festival also
aims to encourage convivial eating, raise the profile of the
hospitality industry and build connections with local schools,
community groups and catering colleges.
Highlights include:
EAT!NG A
Guerrilla Restaurant - April 9 - 14 - At a secret location
EAT!NG - a
guerrilla restaurant will open for dinner on April 9 and shut its
kitchen for good after the last supper on Saturday 14. Existing for
just six nights and catering for only 35 guests per sitting, the
guerrilla restaurant promises to be the most exclusive eatery in
town. Running the kitchen will be a mystery Michelin-starred chef who
along with their trusted team will create some unforgettable, unique
and intriguing dishes which are anything but expected.
Keep logging
on to the EAT! website www.NewcastleGateshead/foodfestival
to find out how you could be one of the exclusive few to eat at this
once in a lifetime restaurant&ldots;.and try to guess where it will appear!
Fish on the
Tyne - Thursday April 5 - NewcastleGateshead Quayside
Fish on the
Tyne will see the spectacular sight of a traditional fishing boat
sailing up the River Tyne and under the iconic Gateshead Millennium
Bridge, before mooring on the Quayside to be met by chefs from
restaurants around NewcastleGateshead including Blackfriars, Secco
and Malmaison. The chefs will land fresh fish from the boat which
will then feature on traditional Good Friday supper menus in their restaurants.
The
Convivial Table - Throughout the festival - Restaurants across the cities
The Convivial
Table, aims to encourage people to appreciate the simple pleasure of
enjoying a meal and talking together around a table.
Restaurants
around NewcastleGateshead will set aside a dedicated table seating
eight guests or more and encourage convivial conversation with a menu
of suggested discussion topics and a changing 'subject du jour'.
Families,
colleagues, colleges, clubs and classmates are also encouraged to set
aside time to enjoy a relaxed lunchtime with great food and good conversation.
To encourage
employees to get involved, employers will be asked to give an extra
long lunch break on one day during the festival period.
Photographs
taken during Convivial Table get-togethers at home, in community
cafés and at work can be uploaded to the EAT! website for
participants to share their memories with others and to be entered
into a prize draw.
Afternoon
Tea Party - Throughout the Festival- Various venues around the city
Cafés
and restaurants will launch a special EAT! Afternoon Tea menu to
entice people to enjoy some of the region's sweet specialities.
Nominations forms will be on hand so you can vote for your favourite
cake stop.
The tea
parties will culminate in a hotly contested Hinnie Showdown, where
participants will submit their best traditional Singin' Hinnies to
judges at the Food Heroes Tasting Market on Friday 13 (see below for details).
Black,
White and Brown Menu Night -Tuesday April 10 - Restaurants around NewcastleGateshead
Restaurants
around NewcastleGateshead including Comfort Food Company, Old Fields
and Grainger Rooms will present special Black, White and Brown Menus
celebrating North East England's produce and food heritage. The name
derives from the instantly recognisable Newcastle United's team
colours and the area's equally iconic brown ales, which will feature
heavily; expect brown ale sauces, batters and even ice creams.
Wines of
the Times - Wednesday April 11, 7.00pm- 8.30pm - Newcastle Guildhall,
Newcastle Quayside
20 wine
retailers, suppliers, micro breweries and restaurateurs will bring
their very best to the table for an enjoyable mass wine tasting of
100 wines and beers at Newcastle's Guildhall.
Before diving
in to the tastings, Newcastle Wine School will be on hand to teach
you everything you need to know in a 'Twenty Minute Wine School'.
Participants include: Champagne Mumm, Tavasso Wines and Wylam Brewery.
Food Heroes
Tasting Market - Friday April 13, 10am - 5pm - Venue Northern Stage
Square, Kings Walk, Newcastle University
Bringing
together a hand picked collection of 20 of the region's top food
producers, some of whom rarely attend markets. This all-day event
will showcase a huge range of unique local food and produce with the
emphasis firmly on tasting. Local chefs will be demonstrating
throughout the day.
Stall holders
include: Lindisfarne Oysters, Chainbridge Heather Honey, Carrolls
Heritage Potatoes and Doddington Dairy to name just a few.
Ten Things
to Eat Before you Die - Sunday April 15, 7.30pm- 11pm - Venue
Discovery Museum Great Hall, Newcastle - £85 per head, smart
casual dress
This is a
truly once in a lifetime experience and a fitting finale to the
festival. This heavenly five-course dinner will feature local and
international foods that everyone should try at least once in their
lives. Gastronomic delights include Wagyu beef, Russian King Crab,
Lindisfarne Oysters, Spanish Iberico de Bellota ham, Perigord
truffles and local wild foods.
Developed with
leading NewcastleGateshead chefs using fabulous and rare ingredients
the proceeds of the event will be donated to leading North East
England healthcare charity The Children's Foundation.
Meet the
Producers - Friday April 6 to Monday April 15 - Around the region
Sample the
delights of the Northumbria Cheese Company, Chainbridge Heather Honey
and Archers Ice Cream to name but a few, during a season of open days
at food producers' premises around the region.
Adopt a
School - Weeks preceeding
and during the festival - Schools and restaurants throughout NewcastleGateshead
Ten chefs from
restaurants around NewcastleGateshead will each spend a day in a
local school introducing children to the senses we use to enjoy and
appreciate our food and discussing the basics of cooking, tasking and
nutrition. During the festival the children will visit the chefs in
their restaurant and see the kitchen in action before sitting down to
a simple shared nutritious lunch.
This campaign
follows the Adopt a School programme developed by the Academy of
Culinary Arts.
Yes Chef -
Monday April 23 - Monday May 7 - Restaurants around
NewcastleGateshead and Newcastle Catering College
Six students
from Newcastle Catering College and Tyne Met College are each twinned
with a Chef de Partie at one of six quality local restaurants.
Student apprentices will work alongside Chef de Parties for two weeks
before taking part in a "Ready Steady Cook" style
competition at Newcastle Catering College kitchens.
EAT! 3 for
2 - Dates throughout the festival - Selected Restaurants around NewcastleGateshead
This promotion
is intended to encourage the public to experience the best quality
food and drink available in NewcastleGateshead by eating at three of
the best restaurants during the Festival paying for only two and
getting the third free.
Local
Ingredients - International Food - Dates throughout the Festival -
International restaurants around NewcastleGateshead
International
restaurants from across NewcastleGateshead will create recipes in
their own house style but using locally produced ingredients, such as
'Steve Ramshaw's Northumbrian Organic Beef', 'Lindisfarne Oysters' or
'Northumberland Cheese Farm Nettle Cheese', serving up never before
seen dishes. Amateur cooks will also be able to log onto the EAT!
website where all the recipes will be posted and recreate the dishes
for themselves at home.
Festival of
Food and Wine at Jesmond Dene House - Sunday April 8 to Monday April
16 - A week-long festival of food and wine will be held at Jesmond
Dene House Hotel and Restaurant in Newcastle.
Stella Hall,
Creative Director NewcastleGateshead Initiative,
said:"NewcastleGateshead was recently named one of the top ten
cities to dine in outside London, therefore to create a festival
which celebrates the area's growing gastronomical importance makes
perfect sense.
"Food and
drink is something which everyone enjoys and we hope to see not just
people who live here get actively involved in some of the many
aspects of this festival, but also want to welcome visitors to get a
taste of what we have to offer as a destination by sampling some of
our fantastic food."
Simon Preston
said: "This festival not only promises to be great fun and a
time of celebration, but also has some important messages. By
encouraging people to sample good quality food and enjoy the simple
pleasure of a convivial meal with friends or family we can change the
way people think about shopping for food and drink, cooking and eating.
"By
working with some of the best chefs and producers in the business and
showing what can be achieved we are hoping many more will aspire to a
career choice in the hospitality or food production industries."
Terry
Laybourne, who co-owns Jesmond Dene House and runs the Cafe 21
restaurants, said: "The festival is a real coup for North East
because it shows that we are building a strong reputation for good
food and creative cooking. We have some of the finest British and
European chefs taking part in the Festival of Food and Wine at
Jesmond Dene House and that highlights just how far the region has
come in the past few years. I believe that our local cuisine is
something to be proud of and hopefully this festival is the first of
many events that will help to reinforce that message."
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