One half of TV's best loved Geordie cooking duo dropped in on one of his favourite places to eat in the North East on Friday.
Si King of the Hairy Bikers stopped by at the Big River Bakery in Shieldfield, a social enterprise and bakery which is aiming to change the world "one stottie at a time". Si has been a supporter of the bakery since it opened and was back for its baked goods on Friday morning, where had had his picture taken with staff.
Si has returned "now and again" since featuring the social enterprise on the Hairy Bikers Go North in November 2021, where he hailed it as making the "best stotties ever". And owner Andy Haddon said that exposure has led to customers coming in from every corner of the globe.
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Andy told ChronicleLive: "It's been an amazing thing what being on that programme has done for us. We've had visitors from Australia who have come in and said they saw us on iPlayer.
"We've still got people coming in now saying "I've seen you on the TV so now I'm here", and they come from all over the country and beyond. It's because of our values I think, they painted that picture very well on the show, we're forever grateful for that."
The Big River Bakery aims to be more than just a bakery, and has become a community hub since opening in 2019. Owners Andy and Gail and their 12-strong team give people looking to get back into the world of work classes on how to bake, provide food to local food banks and homeless hostels, and even sowed wheat on Tyneside for the first time in a century to create the "Shieldfield Loaf".
The bakery stands alongside the Harbour View fish and chip shop in Seaton Sluice as one of Si King's favourite food haunts in the region.
Have you tried the Big River Bakery? Let us know!
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