Vecina has found its niche next door to the one-hatted Flotilla at Wickham since opening last month.
Vecina and Flotilla are more than just neighbours, though. They're family.
The bar and the restaurant share a common wall and are owned by the same people.
The two venues also share a kitchen led by the talented Jake Deluca, and a commitment to providing outstanding food, wine and service to the people of Newcastle.
"It's been an amazing month since we opened," co-owner Eduardo Molina said.
"Vecina allows us to offer a more casual experience with the same quality and service as Flotilla."
He's right. The service is as seamless and professional at Vecina as it is at Flotilla, and the bar snacks menu a clever complement to the drinks offering.
Pintxos, small single-bite snacks typically eaten in the bars of northern Spain, are on trend this summer and have found a place on Vecina's menu. A nod is also given to the share-plate appeal of tapas-style dining.
"We all love small bites full of flavour, especially when paired with a chilled, refreshing and slightly fizzy glass of wine," co-owner Eduardo Molina said.
"They are casual and spontaneous. They are informal yet warm. They take you somewhere fun.
"Vecina is not quite a pintxo bar - more of a place to eat delicious bar snacks.
"Some of the favourites of the past couple of weeks include fried chicken and caviar, zucchini flowers with parmesan and honey, and the king of all pintxos: gilda, a skewer of peppers, anchovies and olives."
I tried the tempura zucchini flowers with honey and parmesan; the Wallis Lake Oysters with pepperberry mignonette; the baby gem lettuce with toasted yeast and salted ricotta; lamb and manzanilla olive empanada with romesco; manchego croquettes; and burrata with stewed tomato. It was a mouthwatering blend of textures and flavours.
Flotilla has a hyper-seasonal menu which changes every four to six weeks. This enables the kitchen to source the freshest local produce - that may be in season for only a matter of weeks at a time - and feature them on the menu.
That same ethos flows through to the drinks menu at both Flotilla and Vecina, where cocktails are curated to complement the season and wines paired with the ever-changing seasonal menu.
When I visited, Molina suggested wines and cocktails to complement each dish, and why.
He also explained what ingredients were in high rotation in the Flotilla kitchen right now, such as pistachios, and how they were being used at Vecina - including in the cocktails themselves.
"Vecina has a love for Spanish wines that pair perfectly with summer and the awesome snack menu that Jake put together," Molina said.
"We also have a selection of Spanish and domestic vermouths that make you feel like you're on holiday.
"Some of our favourite wines currently being poured are the Basque Txakoli; slightly effervescent, dry with lots of acid and low in alcohol.
"A guaranteed good time.
"As for the reds, we love our selection of garnachas, especially paired with our dry-aged black angus steaks that we offer on Wednesdays."
