The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Honour for venue at top of its game
ROOFTOP VENUE SIX INCLUDED IN MICHELIN GUIDE
AS far as openings go, SIX Rooftop’s relaunch on the dining scene could hardly have proved better.
The restaurant, on the top floor of Baltic art gallery in Gateshead, underwent a revamp and menu change to open its doors again in February, and soon afterwards was awarded two AA rosettes for culinary excellence.
And now it has also been included in the prestigious Michelin Guide. This success – following news that Osters in Gosforth is also a new addition in the guide, with its inclusion coming just a few months after its own opening – is another sign of how the fine dining riverside restaurant is hitting its mark.
Run by Pneuma Hospitality Group, under food director Greg Lambert and head chef Alex Walker, it set out with a new menu of dishes showcasing locally-sourced seasonal produce, as well as plant-based options, and what it calls its “accessible fine dining” is clearly proving a hit.
When SIX recently unveiled its new look, it showed off its new ‘Chef’s Table’ where customers can enjoy a whole new dining experience, and it is currently also planning its first event – a nine-course Spring Celebration Tasting Evening to take place on May 31.
Its write-up in the Michelin Guide referenced the restaurant’s sixth floor location at the Baltic “affording brilliant views of the River Tyne” and it called the building – which was transformed from the Rank Hovis flour silo into the gallery in the 1990s – “an imposing and eyecatching presence in the city”.
Of SIX’s “modern cuisine”, the guide added: “A set menu comes in Land and Sea and Plant formats, delivering colourful dishes that are generous in both size and flavour, using fine produce like Portland crab and Dexter beef.”
The Michelin Guide also highlighted facilities of ‘air-conditioning, car park, great view, vegetarian menus and wheelchair access.’
Michelin inspectors are constantly on the road and add new restaurants to the guide on a monthly basis. However, its famous awards of stars and bib gourmands are announced only at its annual Michelin Guide ceremony. The inclusions of SIX and Osters made the April update of the guide. Osters, run by the team behind Lovage in Jesmond, which itself made it into the guide within five months of opening, was singled out for its seafood, with the guide mentioning its oysters, “prime fish and shellfish” and adding: “The chefs are aware of the quality of their ingredients, eschewing over-complication in favour of simple combinations”.
The Newcastle and Gateshead venues were among just eight new entries and the guide noted that the area has “had a particularly good month” with the restaurants “strengthening the city’s already enticing selection”.