North Shields restaurant Pigalo's to appear on Channel…

North Shields restaurant Pigalo's to appear on Channel 4's Come Dine With Me: The Professionals

North Shields restaurant, Pigalo's, is to feature on Come Dine with Me: The Professionals as the Channel 4 show returns for a new series.

After launching his American eatery during lockdown, Pigalo's owner Aaron Rose has had a successful first two years and is in the process of opening a second restaurant in Blyth. And now Pigalo's is due to appear alongside two other North East restaurants as they go head-to-head on Come Dine with Me.

The cooking competition is back for a new series, and for the first time on the show professional chefs will be battling it out in the kitchen. Pigalo's will feature alongside Gateshead restaurant, Namaste, and Balls of Prudhoe Fish and Chips.

Aaron, 31, said: "I'm nervously excited about seeing the show air. It was such a surreal experience, it doesn't even feel like it happened."

He added: "We got tagged by quite a few people on Facebook in a post when the show was searching for contestants. I was a bit unsure whether I wanted to do it at first because I didn't want to risk being portrayed bad in any way. But we went for it and I'm hoping that we've come off quite nice."

Pigalo's American-inspired menu is packed with gourmet towered burgers stacked with a variety of ingredients. Although he's unable to give away too much until the show is aired on Monday July 4, Aaron revealed that he served up a signature burger to his fellow contestants, which will be available in the restaurant in North Shields, and the new site in Blyth after the show is broadcast.

Pigalo's American-inspired menu is packed with gourmet towered burgers stacked with a variety of ingredients (Pigalo's)

Aaron added: "The whole experience flew over. It was filmed over three nights and each night we went to one of the restaurants. As well as the food we had to show off our restaurant and our service, our cocktails - everything.

"It was nerve-racking competing against other local businesses. I've been a chef for 11 years now on and off and I know I'm a good cook, but to have someone judge your food and to not even know what's been said yet is nerve-racking and it will be an eye-opener if it's bad."

Aaron, who returned to the food industry during the pandemic after working as a personal trainer, said he started a food prep business, The Food Prep Kings, after owning a small private gym which was unable to open during lockdown. The business would create meal preps for fitness but soon Aaron developed the business into Pigalo's after becoming fascinated by photos of stacked burgers on social media.

Aaron said: "Pigalo's has been going from strength to strength but we have been affected badly by [the cost of living crisis]. But we have come out with a new collection menu which is cheaper than our delivery menu to try and encourage people to come and collect so we're not always sending drivers out given the rising cost of petrol and everything."

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