A Northumberland-based winner of Come Dine With Me: The Professionals has taken over a second restaurant in Blyth as a response to the cost of living crisis.
Caboose fended off competition from River Beat on Newcastle's Quayside and Savoury Fix from Hetton to win the £1,000 prize on the new format of the popular daytime TV cookery show in early July. But the restaurant's big win on national TV wasn't the only news last week - something that went a little more under the radar was the owners' takeover of another Blyth eatery La Casa.
With the town centre Mediterranean restaurant said to have struggled since it opened in November 2021, La Casa has been taken over by Caboose owners Marc McPake and Michael Kell, who have retained all of the staff working there. Marc says that the takeover not only a response to the cost of living crisis for the staff who work there, but also for the people of Blyth, with the aim of offering a more budget-friendly offering than seafood restaurant Caboose.
