Member Article

Restaurateur set to transform former Sunderland pub into upmarket eatery and bar

A restaurateur who made the North East his home more than 20 years ago has created 12 jobs after a six figure investment to transform a former pub into an upmarket eatery and bar.

Kostas Aslanidis has opened The Albion At Ryhope Restaurant & Bar – a year after spotting the premise’s potential and five months after buying it.

It is a second Sunderland restaurant for German-born Greek Kostas, 47 – he also owns the popular Marina Vista Ristorante, at Roker Marina – and he hopes that by turning it into a focal point of the community it will enjoy similar success.

He and his wife Lijie Zhang have not only invested heavily financially, but personally laboured alongside a small but dedicated team of professional craftsmen to ensure the end design exactly matched their vision.

They say they are delighted at how they have put their personal stamp on the former Albion pub, which is believed to have opened in the 1920s but suffered recent decline.

But they have ensured it has retained enough sense of tradition – original fireplaces, a clock and last orders bell remain – so that local residents recognise it from the past and want to be involved in its future.

Trained chef Kostas, who moved to the North East in the early 1990s to study hotel and catering, and business, said: “It’s very important to us to make a valuable contribution to the Ryhope area, and I’m confident that will happen.

“We have talked to residents and made sure they have been kept informed of our plans at every stage. I even went to a local community meeting to introduce myself. It is very important that they can see the positive improvements we are bringing.

“A lot of incredibly hard work has gone into ensuring that everything is exactly as we want and done to a very high standard - it was needed to totally remodel the interior, but I’m very proud of what we have achieved.

“We have invested heavily to create 12 full and part-time jobs and have rejuvenated what was for a long time a major feature in Ryhope and the surrounding area.

“High quality food and drinks will be served within a wonderful setting which retains a traditional feel. I’m delighted with the results and very much looking forward to the future.”

The Albion At Ryhope Restaurant & Bar, which will be open at various hours seven-days-a-week, caters for around 80 guests – and its intimate side room can be adapted to sit 45 people for special occasion bookings.

The spacious interior also benefits from a striking bar – again part of the old Albion’s fixtures and fittings but, reduced in size and restored – which is perfect for pre or post -meal drinks, and there are potential plans to add a conservatory. There is also a 12-space car park, with ample on-street parking.

Lijie, played an integral role in transforming the interior, even flying to her native China – which she left in 2007 to study media production at Sunderland University – to source lights, soft furnishings, tables and chairs.

To her it has become a real labour of love - and one she believes fate may have played a hand in.

She said: “It’s strange but we came to Ryhope to view another property that was for sale but spotted The Albion and liked it more. At that point it was not on the market but amazingly the next day it was – perhaps it was fate.

“We both had a real sense of what we wanted to achieve here, and I knew of items in China that I thought would be perfect, so I did not mind making the journey at all.

“It’s wonderful that our vision has been received so well locally and that we have enjoyed great support for this venture at every step.

“We really hope our business is a tremendous success for the area and attracts a nice clientele from far and wide.

“Such is our respect for this place that we decided to stay close to the building’s original name, even though other names were considered.”