NE1 Hosts First Ever Newcastle Restaurant Week Live Pop-Up Food Demonstrations in the Heart of the City
NE1 is serving up something new and exciting ahead of its much-loved NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week event in August. For the first time ever, NE1, in partnership with Tyne and Wear Metro, will host NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week Live — a vibrant food and entertainment showcase bringing the flavours, energy, and buzz of Restaurant Week, out of the city’s participating restaurants and onto a pop-up stage at Grainger Street in the heart of Newcastle for everybody to enjoy.
On Thursday 31st July from 11am to 4pm, the mouth-watering event will offer a delicious preview of what’s to come during NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week, which runs from 4th to 10th August and features 120 participating venues.
With free, live, interactive cookery demonstrations, NE1 Restaurant Week Live will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Newcastle Restaurant Week. Five of the finest participating venues will come together to demonstrate the delights of Restaurant Week, highlighting some of the very best of Newcastle’s thriving and eclectic restaurant scene.
A mix of restaurants have confirmed their involvement, including 21, Dakwala, Sachins, Sushi Me Rollin’, and Gaucho; a welcome mix of longstanding favourites alongside newer venues in the city. Restaurants will celebrate their involvement in August’s Restaurant Week by showcasing some of their signature dishes, prepared live in front of the audience.
The event promises to be lively and interactive, compered by North East celebrity chef, Anthony O’Shaughnessy, a Master Chef semi-finalist and former head chef at the award-winning Blackfriars restaurant. In his role as host, Anthony will interview chefs as they prepare their dishes, getting an insight into signature menus, restaurants and what people can expect at different venues during NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week.
Commenting on NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week Live, Rachel Fenwick, Head of Marketing and Events at NE1, said: “Everyone loves NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week, and we wanted even more people to get a taste of what makes it so special by bringing it out into the city’s streets. Restaurant Week Live is all about celebrating the vibrant food scene here in Newcastle and showcasing some of the fantastic dishes people can enjoy at discounted prices during the week itself.
“Being live and interactive adds another layer of excitement, allowing us to shine a spotlight on the talented chefs and personalities behind some of the city’s best restaurants. We’re looking forward to cooking up a storm on Grainger Street with everything from Indian dishes to pastries, and from sushi to steak. The event will highlight the variety of food on offer in a fun, engaging way with plenty of opportunities for the public to get involved, and even better, to taste the dishes fresh from the kitchen.”
Terry Laybourne, chef and restaurateur of 21 Hospitality Group, who, together with NE1, came up with the original concept for NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week after experiencing a similar event in New York, said: “Restaurant Week Live adds a fabulous new dimension to the NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week event, which broke new ground when it was first introduced in the UK in 2011. Taking the chefs out onto the streets will add a fresh and interactive element that will involve the public in a new way, getting people excited about the week ahead and celebrating the city’s culinary talent.
“21’s fabulous Megan Armstrong is already gearing up to demonstrate her talents, after recently winning Young Pastry Chef of the Year at the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Annual Awards of Excellence. We’re so thrilled for her and proud that we’ve taken part in every NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week since the beginning. While Megan is demonstrating her skills, the rest of our team will be busy prepping, ready to welcome diners to our five city centre restaurants taking part in August’s event, and we would urge people to get booked in and visit us throughout Restaurant Week itself.”
Image: North East celebrity chef Anthony O’Shaughnessy
