Five restaurants in Northumberland, Newcastle and Darlington have been named in the Estrella Damm National Awards 2023.

All locations featured within the top 100 restaurants were all crowned winners at the ceremony on Monday (June 12) hosted at London’s Hurlingham Club.

Restaurant Pine, Solstice, House of Tides, Hjem, and The Raby Hunt were among those awarded.

The Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards is the restaurant’s annual countdown of the top 100 restaurants in the UK as voted for by the UK’s leading chefs, restaurateurs and food writers.

5 North East restaurants win at Estrella Damm National Awards 2023

Restaurant Pine

Location: Vallum Farm, Military Road, East Wallhouses, Northumberland, NE18 0LL

This restaurant won a Michelin star only nine months after it first opened in 2021 and is set in Northumberland, offering scenic views of the landscape and Hadrian’s Wall.

The National Awards Website adds: “The theatre of nature extends to what’s on the plate with Pine chefs Byerley and Ian Waller serving an almost 20-course procession of dishes, many of which use ingredients foraged from the Northumberland countryside or grown within the restaurant’s own kitchen garden.

“The cooking is progressive, using techniques such as preserving, fermenting and ageing to full effect, but never feels overwrought.”

Solstice

Location: 5-7 Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3JE

Solstice is the second project of chef Kenny Atkinson who also owns House of Tides.

This venue seats 14 diners and offers a 15 to 18-course tasting menu of “finely-tuned modern cuisine.”

“The restaurant is billed as a more intimate and focused counterpoint to House of Tides. Atkinson’s menu gives very little away with each course named after a single ingredient,” writes the National Restaurant Awards.

“The menu is big on premium ingredients with the likes of caviar, langoustine, wagyu beef, scallop, turbot and squab pigeon featuring heavily.”

North East’s very own Atkinson also won Chef of the Year at the industry's celebrations.

House of Tides

Location: 28-30 The Close, Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, NE1 3RF

Also owned by Atkinson, he runs this restaurant with his wife Abbie which is situated near Tyne Bridge.

The National Restaurant Awards website describes House of Tides as a “beacon of excellence.”

It says: “Awarded a Michelin star in 2016, House of Tides has been an unchecked success: a beacon of excellence in a city that’s not especially known for its food. Atkinson is a firm believer in the multi-course tasting menu approach and he doesn’t scrimp on them, with premium ingredients aplenty.”

“The quayside restaurant offers a set lunch and dinner menu Wednesday to Saturday. Both start with a succession of intricate snacks before leading on to larger plates that are grounded in classicism but not boringly so.”

Hjem

Location: Wall, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 4EE

This is the “dream” project of Swedish chef Alex Nietosvuori and his partner Ally Thompson.

The website says: “The restaurant serves an ambitious 15-18 course tasting menu created from ingredients sourced from surrounding farms and gardens, and cooked with Scandinavian precision and practices Nietosvuori has acquired over his extensive career.

“The wines poured alongside, meanwhile, are carefully chosen by sommelier Anna Frost from wine makers who work with maximum respect for the environment and minimum intervention in the cellar.”

The Raby Hunt

Location: Summerhouse, County Durham, DL2 3UD

Situated near Darlington, The Raby Hunt won winning chef-patron James Close his first Michelin star in 2012, comments the National Restaurant Awards.

It also says: “Close’s cooking is as idiosyncratic as his CV with the chef inspired by travel and mixing international ingredients and cuisines across a 15 or so-course tasting menu that takes you from Cornwall to Alsace via stops off in Peru, Mexico, Sweden, Tokyo and New York.”

James Healey, UK Head of On-Trade for Estrella Damm, said: “Estrella Damm has always been proud to support the National Restaurant Awards and each year we are amazed at the array of incredible talent, who are all fully deserving of this recognition of being the very best in the UK.

“We are honoured to share our passion for brewing with the best restaurants in the UK, who also clearly share our devotion to quality and taste in all that they do.

“We hope this list encourages everyone to get out and support each and every one of these restaurants and join us in celebrating the success of the industry.”

More information about each restaurant and the full list of winners is available on the National Restaurant Awards website.