A new "fun" tasting menu restaurant has opened in Durham city centre promising delicious food at an affordable price.
Coarse on North Road, Durham, opened on Thursday night and offers its guests a six-course tasting menu using locally-sourced ingredients for just £40 per person. Visitors wanting the full experience also have the option of wine pairing alongside their menu.
The menu will change every six to ten weeks and will feature stunning local produce. Currently on the menu is chalk steamed trout, scallop and smoked pork, and venison along with a delicious-sounding cookie and milkshake dessert.
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Chef Ruari MacKay, Gemma MacKay, and Craig Lappin-Smith had a long journey to open the restaurant after they launched a crowdfunding campaign last year to raise £100,000 for a restaurant on Silver Street. However, they only raised £50,000 and couldn't keep any of the money raised as they had not hit their target.
The trio managed to find a new premises and self-fund the venture and are now finally opening the restaurant they've always dreamed of. Director Craig said: "It's pretty unbelievable that we're opening tonight. It's something Durham doesn't really have and from social media, people want somewhere like this in Durham. I'm so happy we're finally opening."
Craig said Coarse will be "accessible for everyone" by making it affordable and flexible to cater to people's dietary requirements. He also said they want to make sure the restaurant has a "fun" and "informal" feel to it.
He said: "We want to subvert that idea that tasting menu restaurants are inaccessible. They can be quite formal and sometimes quite pretentious. At Coarse, it's a six-course tasting menu, there's not 15 courses and it's not going to take hours and hours.
"We don't want people to worry that they can't speak too loudly at their table or that they have to listen to a five-minute spiel when the food comes. We want to make it a lot more fun and more accessible for people.
"Durham is a student city so we also don't want to put it out of reach for them, they may not be here every day or every week but we want to make it accessible for everyone.
"We've also got a vegetarian menu because a lot of tasting menu restaurants do not cater to vegetarians. One of our members of staff is vegetarian and she said she can't go to a lot of places even in Newcastle. We also cater to celiacs and vegans, we just need 24 hours' notice."
Craig also said the restaurant will use ingredients within 100 miles and said they are keen to continue working with local businesses. He said: "We'll change the menu every six to ten weeks and we are incorporating seasons and themes so in October we'll do a Halloween theme and use very autumnal ingredients like pumpkins.
"We use local and seasonal ingredients so everything we use will be within 100 miles. We use local fish, local meat, and local vegetables."
Head chef Ruari, who trained with Terry Laybourne in Jesmond Dene House, rose to head chef at Bistro 21 before transforming the Garden House Inn, Durham, where he earned praise from The Secret Diner and Guardian critic Jay Rayner.
Ruari then moved to the Traveller's Rest in Witton Gilbert, winning more acclaim from The Secret Diner, who said Ruari transformed the business into "a food pub of the first order". And Craig said he's' excited to take on a new challenge, adding: "I think now he's just excited to have free reign and do what he wants. I think it's really liberating for him."
You can find out more information or make a reservation on their website here.
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