Sunderland will welcome the opening of its very first seafood restaurant this weekend, when North serves up its first dishes overlooking the beach.
Entrepreneurs Ben Wall and Neil Bassett, the pair behind Mexico 70, Holmeside Coffee and The Ship Isis, first took on the scheme to open an upmarket seafood restaurant last year. The pair are now opening the doors to North in a soft launch at the eaterie, starting today, December 16.
North, which will also create 10 new jobs, will then have its official public opening on January 4, when it will unveil its full menu, which will include seafood dishes, natural wines and craft beers and is set to be the city’s only dedicated seafood restaurant, following its six-figure restoration.
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The menu will include dishes such as bouillabaisse with red bream, monkfish and mussels; fresh oysters; octopus with confit potato and piquillo pepper and scallops with chorizo and black pudding.
Mr Wall said: “We are delighted to finally be opening and we can’t wait to welcome the public through our doors. Both Neil and I live and work in Sunderland, so we knew as soon as we saw the shelter hit the market that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, how many restaurants are there in the North East where you can step out of the door and immediately be leaving footprints in the sand?
“Both the venue and the menu have been developed to nod to the city’s rich coastal heritage and we’re delighted with how it’s panned out and the feedback we’ve received from the public so far.
“Our vision is to create an all-day seafront restaurant, showcasing contemporary dining in a stunning but unstuffy and unpretentious environment, serving brunch in the afternoon and meals into the night. A number of new venues have opened up across Roker and Seaburn in recent years, helping establish the seaside as a destination in its own right, and we hope the opening of North will add to that and see an entirely new proposition introduced to its ever-growing offering.”
The restoration of the Bay Shelter has been supported by the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) which, together with funding from Sunderland City Council, is helping breathe new life into a series of heritage buildings at Roker and Seaburn.
Lease income generated from the buildings will also be used to support the Sunderland Seafront Trust, which operates the Roker Pier and Lighthouse tours and help it to broaden its activities. Sunderland-based commercial property firm Lofthouse & Partners helped secure the letting on behalf of Sunderland City Council.
Coun Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “The work being done to sympathetically restore some of our most historic buildings has already helped bring scores of new businesses to the city and we’re delighted to see North following suit. Ben and Neil are both local entrepreneurs, who have a fantastic track record of setting up and growing successful hospitality and leisure businesses and I’m sure this will be yet another fantastic success story for the city.”
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