North East restaurateur Terry Laybourne is reopening popular Quayside bar and restaurant St Vincent after a three-year hiatus.
The well-known Newcastle chef and business owner, who leads the 21 Hospitality Group, closed the venue in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Other sites within the group reopened after lockdown – including 21, Broad Chare, and Café 21, Porterhouse Butcher & Grill and Saltwater Fish Company in Fenwick – but St Vincent remained closed.
However, Mr Laybourne will reopen the doors to the site next week, bringing back many of the favourite food and wine choices alongside new offerings, as well as some of the original front of house team.
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Mr Laybourne said: “It feels wonderful to be finally re-opening St Vincent after such a long break. The hospitality sector has gone through a rollercoaster period these last two to three years. We haven’t stood still though during that period – opening Café 21 in Fenwick York and establishing the beer garden at The Broad Chare, as well as continuing our 21@Home collection service. We have been carefully managing and building our resources - St Vincent is the final piece of the jigsaw.
“We are re-opening St Vincent with a super-strong core team of familiar faces along with some lovely, enthusiastic new recruits. Customers will be able to enjoy some old favourites they may remember from previous visits; plus, we’ve used the preparation time to freshen things and create some new, less familiar options.
“We will have a concise, ever-changing menu with a seasonal focus, quite often influenced by the punchy flavours of southern France and Italy that we all seem to love so much.”
The venue’s reopening comes five years after it first opened, replacing Italian restaurant Caffe Vivo which marked 10 years of service before closing to make way for changes. St Vincent sits alongside Newcastle’s Live Theatre and will reintroduce pre-theatre drinks and food, with a fixed price menu when the theatre has drama productions.
Jacqui Kell, executive director at Live Theatre, said: “All of us at Live Theatre are delighted to see the re-opening of St Vincent. We’ve missed it. This restaurant is an important asset to the Quayside and to Live Theatre, enabling us to broaden the offer to our theatregoers.”
Stephen Patterson, chief executive of business improvement district company NE1 Ltd said: “The long-awaited re-opening of St Vincent is great news for the city and the Quayside and highlights the vibrancy of Newcastle’s hospitality scene.
“St Vincent is a shining example of Newcastle’s hospitality sector, which boasts more independent restaurants per person than any other city outside of London. A personal favourite of mine, the restaurant adds an extra dimension to the city centre offer with its independent wines and seasonal food menu. I can’t wait to book a visit when it re-opens.”
St Vincent reopens on Thursday, March 9.
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