New future brewing for Tyneside tea house

A former Newcastle tea house which shut its doors more than two years ago is set to re-open, after being taken over by a fast-growing leisure group.

The site at Eldon Place, part of Newcastle University, is now under the ownership the Northumberland Restaurant Company, one of a family of businesses which includes the Northumberland Pub Company and Kennedy and Rhind Ltd.

The group also recently acquired the DotBagel outlets in Newcastle under the Kennedy and Rhind banner and is co-owner of two other hospitality businesses Lovage in Jesmond and Novellos in Washington.

And it is that extensive experience which will now be used to help bring the former Quillam Brothers back to life. The venue went into administration and has been closed since 2020 until the company agreed to take it over, with plans to rename it the Claremont Tea House, which will open in February 2023.

As well as selling a range of signature teas, the new look café will also offer an extensive selection of coffees and bakery items from both DotBagel and Kennedy and Rhind. The aim will be to have both brunch and lunch on offer, as well as a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan products.

Stuart Young, who owns the Northumberland Restaurant Company and its sister brands, believes the new venture is the perfect fit for the company.

“We have a proven track record of running high end cafes and producing amazing baked goods,” he said. “The recent takeover of DotBagel has allowed us to expand our offering as well as growing the number of sites we have and the Claremont Tea House will give us another strong foothold in the city.

“We’ll be able to offer a really exciting and extended range of products and it will also mean that we are bringing back to life a great venue, right on the university campus and in a busy city centre location.”

The company has operated Kennedy and Rhind bakery at Holly Avenue West, Jesmond, for a number of years, growing it to become a café with a breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea service.

The DotBagel sites at Chillingham Road re-opened before Christmas and is fast becoming another success story for the company, which under the umbrella of the Northumberland Pub Company runs the award-winning Blackbird at Ponteland and The Northumberland Arms at Felton.

The teahouse will share Newcastle University’s Sir Terry Farrell Building with the upcoming Farrell Centre, which is due to open in the spring. It will be a new public centre for architecture and cities and will launch on 22 April with the More with Less exhibition, which will offer new visions for architecture in the light of the climate crisis.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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