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Restaurateur anchors Geordie comfort food at the coast

The owner of one of Newcastle’s top restaurants is captaining a new venture in Whitley Bay to champion a wealth of Geordie-influenced British classics.

Andy Hook, who owns the multi-award winning Blackfriars Restaurant in Newcastle, is launching Hinnies offering rustic and hearty comfort food Geordies love to eat.

The launch marks a decade since Andy sold his first restaurant, Sidney’s on Front Street in Tynemouth. The success of Sidney’s heralded the start of an increasingly buoyant dining scene at the coast.

Ten years on, Andy is coming back to the seaside with his business partner David Townsley to warm the cockles of local diners’ with a restaurant made almost entirely from recycled materials.

Head chef Jonny Wardale joins Hinnies from catering company Love Food, and also worked for Fresh Element which operates Six at the Baltic amongst other venues. His brother is Chris Wardale, head chef at Blackfriars, who will be lending his support to Jonny, along with several members of the Blackfriars team.

Hinnies’ menu features a range of locally inspired dishes such as a modern take on the famous Saveloy Dip: smoked sausage, mustard, gravy-dipped bap, peas pudding; as well as North East coast creamy crab soup; North Sea mackerel pate, pickled cucumber, toasted sourdough; Black(friars) pudding, poached egg, crispy bacon; Slow-roasted belly pork, pease pudding, cabbage & onions; Newcastle Brown Ale slow-cooked beef, horseradish dumplings; Pan Haggerty, greens, poached hens’ egg, mustard cream; and Crème brûlée, Tynemouth Garibaldis; not forgetting old Geordie favourite, Singin’ Hinnies, bramble jam, clotted cream which inspired the name of the neighbourhood eatery

Andy said: “It’s a brilliant time to return to the coast to launch Hinnies - a relaxed, informal, warm and friendly neighbourhood restaurant serving comfort food we all like to eat - earthy, rustic and hearty dishes made properly from scratch, using local and seasonal produce to give a real taste of our beloved North East.

“We’ll be showcasing Blackfriars best-selling dishes from the last ten years but with more of a Geordie twist.

“We chose the location because of its prime position on the spectacular Whitley Bay seafront. The timing of our arrival is ideal, thanks to North Tyneside Council’s exciting re-development plans for the coastline.

“We’re very much looking forward to seeing the continued re-invigoration of the area between St Mary’s Lighthouse and Cullercoats Bay – and the multitude of benefits that more than £36 million of new investment will bring to local residents, visitors and businesses.”

The interior of Hinnies was designed by Newcastle-based designer Neil Wilson, who said: “The brief was to make the restaurant a warm, relaxed and inviting place to eat, so we thought it would be interesting to combine a coastal colour scheme with warm natural wood tones and features, but then add a range of vintage furniture, fittings and accessories to give Hinnies character and a sense of cosy nostalgia to go with the comfort food.

“Much of what you see inside the restaurant is recycled, including the chairs, tables, bric-a-brac, booths, front bar, back bar, floor, light fittings, cutlery, kitchen and kitchen equipment.”

Hinnies is open to everyone in the community and a special children’s menu has been devised by the chefs to give them a taste of the region too.

Hinnies is open from Tuesday – Friday: 12pm-2pm and 5pm – 9pm, Saturday: 10am – 9.30pm, Sunday: 10am – 5pm, and Bank Holiday Mondays.

For further information about Hinnies, call 0191 447 0500, visit www.hinnies.co.uk, like Hinnies Family Restaurant on Facebook, and follow @HinniesRest on Twitter.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hinnies .