Bringing boujee to Birtley…
When a chef opens a restaurant in their hometown, you’ve gotta give them a ton of respect. Especially when, in the case of local lad Chris Finnigan, it isn’t Banbury, Berkhamsted, or Bishop’s Stortford, but Birtley. It’s not somewhere I’d really given a second thought to. Despite being less than six miles from Newcastle, it’s an(other) Gateshead mining town, not much going on, and a cursory skim of TripAdvisor shows the best-rated eating places in the town to be… takeaways.
But when that chef is Chris Finnigan, it’s a different story. Aioli (10 Arndale Houses, Birtley, Chester-le-Street, DH3 2PG) is his new, Kickstarter-funded project, and I’m sure, a venture and life endeavour that’s equally as joyful as stressful — to open a restaurant of his own in his home town.
I loved Chris’s work initially at Lane7 where the food there was punching way, way harder than you’d expect for a bowling alley. It’s not been done since which is a real shame as it was always banging. Prior to that though, stints at Le Manoir bring some French classicism, and a good quarter-final run through Masterchef has become a rite of passage, before cooking at Leila Lily’s and a few others.
£25k+ raised through Kickstarter shows that when there’s a will, there’s a way. So with £50 worth of ‘pretendy-money’ credit, we went along to Aioli once the opening nerves had been ironed out.
The first few menus read ‘Mediterranean-fusion’ as is fairly typical these days, spanning Spanish, with some British ingredients and techniques, alongside Italian staples, and beyond. Chris states “I cook food I like to eat”, which shouldn’t sound like a revelation, but when you see some of the shite poor chefs cooking for someone else have to churn out these days, it’s a welcome sigh of relief.
The menu may be restrained, with just eight starters and mains, but it’s reassuringly 2024-priced. And I feel that’s where — as with the rest of the restaurant industry — things might be tough. There’s a Sunday roast menu which treads the same starters and desserts and I’m sure will be popular with locals. And it’s more keenly priced at 2c for £22 which should do a good job of converting those first-time visitors.
The restaurant is basic, but depending on how you look at it, cosy/crowded. Further setting the homely tone was a humble baguette… with some salty and Sunday vibes-inducing roast chicken butter, and gravy thick with rosemary. “Food I like to eat” ✅
The signature starter is surely going to be the scallop and black pudding bhajis (£13). Scallops are a little small but it’s a combo of well-established flavours and textures that works to great effect, and it’s just an elegant dish. Maybe like you’d see in Leila Lily’s, but without all the chintz. King prawns (£10) remind me of Spanish city breaks in the best way possible – you can’t go far wrong with the combination of chorizo, EVOO, and a sweet taste of the sea, even if the prawns themselves were fairly average.
Mains come with two sides but are all around twenty quid which I feel may be the toughest barrier to entry at Aioli. I’m well aware ‘that’s just the price of mains in 2024’ but it might meet some resistance – probably from the same people happy paying £17.50 for Frankie & Benny’s toddler-food BBQ chicken. If you’re at all caught up on value, just think about the private equity group that owns those chain restaurants, compared to any independent family-owned restaurant run by grafters who genuinely love food and aren’t fleecing those who don’t know better. Your choice.
My cod (above) couldn’t have been fried much more precisely, yielding the most pearlescent white flakes. It comes with a rich but not overbearing tomato/chorizo sauce/stew and nuggs of lightly battered squid provide some textural contrast. To be fair, it’s a great dish. Though I’m not overly keen on the sharing-style service of the sides, I get it. I really do. I’d just rather they were incorporated into the main dish instead.
Despite that, potatoes with more of the namesake aioli are pleasantly fried. Truffle & parmesan hash browns are likely to be the pick here, they’re light on truffle and a bit claggy, but you’ll still smash them in. Buttery cabbage, and cauli cheese are merely fine.
Kate’s steak is a bit more average. It’s got a whiff of a good searing and is cooked just about med-rare, but I always wonder if steaks are best left to steak-specialising places with Josper grills and the like. There’s a bit of crowd-pleasing on the menu, which is understandable, especially early days.
Service has been poached from 21 Group which is shrewd and we’re well looked after. Like a few other places we’ve been to recently, the wine list doesn’t stray too far from the safe zone of chardonnay/merlot/pinot grigio.
Finally, we get a tarte tatin to share, you can’t just ignore it on a menu, can you? The caramel isn’t dark enough for me, but it’s a pleasant enough take on apples + puff pastry that isn’t overly sweet.
Some great dishes I’d want to eat again, and some are a bit more decidedly average. Aioli does a fine job of filling a large and longstanding gap in the Gateshead culinary landscape, and I’m sure with Chris’ passion it’ll be a success for both him and his wider hometown. If you’re North of the Tyne, there’s a lot more to tempt your inner magpie, for sure. But if you’re a proud resident of the ‘heed, you should be supporting your local gems.
Contact: aiolirestaurant.co.uk
Bill for 2c + a dessert and three drinks: ~£90
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