A seaside community will be pulling together on May 12-13 for the inaugural Tynemouth Food Festival. KATHARINE CAPOCCI has the details.
THE first-ever Tynemouth Food Festival takes place across the village in mid-May in celebration of the great wealth of top quality local food and drink the North East is fast becoming famous for.
With North Shields Fish Quay just a lobster pot’s throw away, a plethora of quality restaurants and cafes in the area and a thriving monthly farmers’ market, there is a diverse offering on the menu.
Residents and businesses alike across Tynemouth have joined forces to make sure the inaugural food festival delivers a truly gastronomic taste of the North.
And the majority of the mouth-watering events taking place are free to attend.
The gourmet extravaganza on May 12-13 will see food and drink stalls aplenty, two days of North East chef demos, a beer festival, school cooking competitions, a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and a host of other activities.
Centred round the small village green known locally as Queen Victoria Park opposite King’s School, the festival is the brainchild of the Tynemouth Business Forum supported by among others The Co-operative Membership, North Tyneside Council, fish and chip shop suppliers Henry Colbeck and village businesses Fezziwigs, Priory Art and Brannen Partners.
Chair of both the forum and the food festival organising committee, Sally Craigen, who runs Tynemouth’s Martineau Guest House, has been bowled over by the number of businesses, local schools and residents who have come on board to not just support the event itself but local producers too.
“There is a smorgasbord of treats in store and we hope the public will accept our invitation to come into our village to enjoy the mix of sights, sounds, aromas and tastes that will be conjured up by so many fine foods, drinks and culinary skills gathered in one place.”
It is expected to attract thousands of extra visitors to the village with hundreds more taking part in fringe events.
Festival-goers’ appetites for the main showcase will be whetted between May 9-11 as former North East Chef of the Year and Journal columnist David Kennedy opens his first ever pop-up restaurant at King’s School.
The chef behind the acclaimed Food Social at Newcastle’s Biscuit Factory commercial art gallery and David Kennedy’s River Café on North Shields Fish Quay will be taking over King’s Café K canteen in the Oswin Building.
David K @ Café K will see the Food Social team serving up its own take on Northumbrian tapas on May 9, a three-course spring menu on May 10, closing on May 11 with a five-course taster experience.
David will then move on to take one of the demonstration kitchen slots on the Saturday as he joins other well-known North East chefs to rustle up a selection of locally sourced seasonal dishes over the two days of the main festival.
Among the other top culinary names taking part are Graeme Cuthell of Irvin’s Brasserie on the Fish Quay, Simon Walsh of No 19 at Close House Hotel at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Rhian Cradock of the multi-award-winning Feathers Inn at Hedley-on-the-Hill, Troy Terrington of Blackfriars in Newcastle, former MasterChef: The Professionals finalist John Calton of the Harbour Lights in South Shields and Adam Hegarty of Six Restaurant at the Baltic in Gateshead.
May 10 will see the opening of a week-long beer festival at Tynemouth’s historic Cumberland Arms with around 50 different regional and award-winning beers on tap – many never before seen in the North East. But it is the food producers themselves who will be the real stars of the festival. Around 40 will be setting out their stalls in Queen Victoria Park.
Epicureans will be able to stock up on succulent Northumbrian meats and cheeses, delicious artisan breads, top quality fresh fruit and vegetables, delectable chocolates and cakes and tempting brews.
But the fast-paced chefs’ demos, pop-up restaurant, artisan stalls and beer festival are just four of the tantalisingly tasty food and drink events that will be taking place across Tynemouth.
The Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company is inviting children to join the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit for a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party; there will be real ale and food matching sessions at the Priory Pub while the Deli Around the Corner will be putting on wine and cheese tastings.
Gareth James Chocolatier will also hold a mass chocolate sampling session.
Local schoolchildren’s winning entries from a tie-in cake decorating competition will be displayed in shop windows throughout the village for the duration of the festival.
Meanwhile, the winning team from a Junior MasterChef-style contest for secondary school pupils in the area organised by Tynemouth’s Grand Hotel will get the chance to recreate their dish alongside one of the celebrity chefs on the demo kitchen on the Saturday.
Tynemouth Food Festival is free to attend and will take place May 12-13 between 9am and 4pm at locations across the village. Visit www.tyne mouthfoodfestival.co.uk and www.facebook.com/tynemouthfood festival
CHEF DEMOS
Pull up a seat as a plethora of top North East chefs tantalise Tynemouth Food Festival-goers’ taste buds May 12-13.
Saturday, May 12
10am: Graeme Cuthell, Irvin’s Brasserie, North Shields Fish Quay
11am: Simon Walsh, No 19, Close House Hotel, Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland
12pm: Mary Wilkins, New Exchange Brasserie and Bar, North Shields
1pm: David Kennedy, David Kennedy’s Food Social @ The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle
2pm: Gareth Mellor, Gareth James Chocolatier, Tynemouth
3pm: Grand Hotel Junior MasterChef winning team
Sunday, May 13
10am: John Wiegmann, David Kennedy’s River Café, North Shields Fish Quay
11am: Troy Terrington, Blackfriars, Newcastle
12pm: Ann Cudworth, Doughworks, North Shields
1pm: John Calton, Harbour Lights, South Shields
2pm: Adam Hegarty, Six Restaurant, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead Quays
3pm: Rhian Cradock, Feathers Inn, Hedley-on-the-Hill, Northumberland
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Article source: http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/2012/05/04/a-feast-for-the-senses-at-this-seaside-food-festival-61634-30895820/