A summer return for NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week is on the menu following the success of the current event.
Ben Whitfield, head of marketing and events of NE1 Ltd which organises it, confirmed that Restaurant Week 's traditional second outing of the year - in August - is back on the cards following its cancellation last year due to the pandemic.
Speaking on Friday, as the current Restaurant Week prepares for a busy closing weekend, he said the week of special deals at more than 85 restaurants across the city has been a huge success.
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And that's both with diners, who are taking advantage of a chance to explore the city's restaurants at a cut-price, and the venues themselves which are enjoying a welcome boost to business as they recover from the effects of the lockdown and restrictions of the past two years.
Ben said: "I think we can safely say the public demand seems to be there - unless circumstances change we are pretty likely to go ahead again in August."
The pandemic has actually seen the emergence of new restaurants around Newcastle and 15 of them are currently taking part in Restaurant Week for the first time.
Among others taking the chance to showcase what they do is Horticulture in Market Lane where, during a busy lunch service, head chef Peter Breckon told how he and the team are delighted to be working flat-out doing what they love and seeing diners enjoying themselves.
They are offering dishes already on the menu - which uses ingredients from local suppliers - to give more customers a chance to enjoy an authentic experience, said Peter, at a time of year money might be tight.
And the team are feeding off the buzz of a busy service. "I love serving food and seeing the restaurant full and happy customers enjoying themselves," added Peter. "It's great."
This time he was prepared for the rush of customers after being caught a bit by surprise when the then-new Horticulture took part in its first Restaurant Week before Covid hit.
Mike Hesketh who owns Horticulture - which was recently named Best Restaurant in the North East at the Prestige Awards - is so pleased with this week's result, including seeing new customers, that he has decided to continue with the special-price deal beyond the end of Restaurant Week on Sunday.
It now will be available into next week.
Ben added that, while many people might expect the week to be booked out in its closing weekend, there are still restaurants with bookings available and he pointed out that some, such as Meat:Stack, take walk-ins so there are plenty of opportunities to explore.
Horticulture currently still has some availability for this Sunday. For information about all the Restaurant Week deals on offer see here.
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