“Impressive” new Northumberland café and bar to create local jobs upon opening

A new “trendy” café bar Martino Lounge is now open at Sanderson Arcade shopping centre in Morpeth, marking the first of the Lounges chain to open in the North East.

The former Laura Ashley shop has been transformed into a retro-inspired retreat, with a nod to a glamorous bygone era. Heavily patterned wallpapers, tiling and stripped wooden floors feature alongside oversized vintage sofas, upholstered lounge chairs, eclectic artwork and statement wall and pendant lighting.

The new café bar also features an “impressive”, large-scale mural behind the bar featuring historical figure, Emily Davison, who had close family links with Morpeth. Martino Lounge caters for all tastes throughout the day with a “varied and innovative” all-day menu.

The all-day menu features everything from tapas and salads to burgers and buttermilk fried chicken, with vegans and those favouring a gluten-free diet well catered for with their very own menus.

Particular attention has been paid to families with a selection of games, books, colouring pencils and pads on offer. A full menu, highchairs and baby-changing facilities are also available for Little Loungers with the venue also being dog friendly.

Gemma Irwin, community manager at Loungers, commented: “We’re so looking forward to opening the doors of Martino Lounge. We hope our family friendly environment and top-notch food and drink offering will prove popular with local residents.

“We’re passionate about integrating genuinely into the communities we serve so we’re looking forward to meeting everyone and to playing our part at the heart of Morpeth’s food and drink scene. Anyone looking for a space to host events or groups should pop in once we’re open, we’d love to hear from them and see what we can do to help.”

Martino Lounge is the 198th opening for Loungers and will create 25 new jobs in Morpeth, with a range of front and back-of-house roles currently available.

The new arrival will strengthen the leisure and hospitality offering at Sanderson Arcade. The centre is already home to Barluga, coffee shop Central Bean and the independent café Morpeth Larder.

Centre manager at Sanderson Arcade, Lottie Thompson, added: “We are delighted to welcome Martino Lounge to our centre. The interior looks fantastic and we’re confident Morpeth diners are going to love the food that’s on offer. We wish the team every success.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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