HNY 🎉
From travel to a couple of key food & drink destinations in Europe this year (and a couple of bucket list ones too) to reliable joints in Newcastle, some old classics, and some that have very sadly left us, this is everything that stuck out in the year that has been 2024.
If you like this type of post, see my rundown of the best things I ate in 2023.
In no particular order…
1. Wagyu souffle, among others at St Vincent
St. Vincent comes up a lot in my ‘where to eat in Newcastle’ recommendations to people, and it’s often for the reliability of its dishes when it comes to stuff like this.
The menu is in constant evolution which is great, and there’s always something on there that you wanna order. BUT, means I might never get this souffle again. It can have its place in history here. An insane amount of umami from the parmsean, rich unctuousness from Wagyu ragu, and a savoury souffle just made every bite a 🤤 wow.
2. This parsnip dessert at Pine
We finally got along to Pine this year to celebrate our 40ths and although there were a dozen dishes that were like woah, the one that stood out to me was this innocuous looking bit of parsnip skin.
They take sustainability and low waste very seriously at Pine, and virtually nothing is binned. This was a dessert(!), with goat cheese and Pine’s own honey. I’ve had a lot of ‘had that before’ dishes this year, but this was absolutely not one of them, and embodied everything the restaurant is about. If you’re on the fence, let this be your sign to go and try it out, a superb experience.
3. Tipsy cake at Dinner, Mandarin Oriental
I’ve waited literally thirteen years to try the meat fruit, the home of triple-cooked chips, and the two-star level that Dinner by Heston introduced.
Some dishes get hyped up for all the wrong reasons — Humble Crumble, Dalgona Coffee, the ‘Tiramisu Drawer’. Others are modern classics because they’ve earned their place in history. While I thought I’d be more taken by the spit-roasted pineapple, it was merely ‘really good’. But the brioche here and its sauternes custard… jesus. I don’t believe in perfection, but this was as close as it gets.
4. Carbonara in Rome
‘It’s just pasta’ you say. ‘Not even homemade!’ I haven’t even told you how we queued for ninety minutes for this.
Again, perfection is subjective but this is often touted as how carbonara should be, and well, it was just bloody beautiful. I had lots and lots of incredible pasta dishes in Rome, but this for me was the pinnacle, and everything you want from eating in the home of a particular dish, from chaotic service to the disjointed familiarity and ‘wow, never had it like that before’ness of it all.
5. Pie and mash at The Broad Chare
Suitably marinated in about fifty Aperol Spritzes, right off the plane, I was seeking the comfort food of Home. The Broad Chare it is.
It never lets you down, and off the back of a ton of pasta and pizza, we fancied something like mince and dumplings to ease back into home and work. But when there’s a pie that looks as good as that? I mean, c’mon. You’ll not get a better pie in Newcastle.
6. Tackling my own pasta
From taking Zucchini’s fun pasta-making class, making pasta become much more of a frequent, rapid, and just normal part of cooking, sometimes on a weeknight, and always for the challenge and for fun.
There have been pasta disasters, from stuck together tagliatelle, to misshapen spaghetti, everything in between. But when it all comes together, straw yellow shoelaces from Burford brown eggs just make me happy. The resulting carbonara wasn’t a patch on the Roman version above, but there was a smug satisfaction to be had all the same.
7. Poulet frites at Ophelia
Back-to-back entries for Ophelia, and refined simplicity has been the name of the game.
I’ve got a lot of beef with chicken. It’s done just flat out wrong 95%+ of the time in restaurants up and down the country. Maybe even more than that. But here, just for a couple of fleeting weeks, The ‘Poulet Frites’ menu cooked chicken right for the first time I’ve had it in ages.
Obviously a bittersweet one as Ophelia closed its doors for the final time in Q4, but it confidently made its place in Newcastle restaurant history. Show me somewhere that has done, or will do it half as good as this.
8. Duck frites for two at the Hjem x Fenwick pop-up
Surprise dish from Fenwick of all places, but then they did have a very special guest.
Bringing Hjem to Fenwick made a lot of sense, and though the pockets required were deep, the execution was as intentional and spot on as you’d expect. As with the chicken above, this is deceptively simple — things that are often done badly: fries, duck breast, salad, hollandaise. They came together as more than the sum of their parts, and were a joy to eat from start to very end.
9. San Sebastian tortilla and tomatoes with oil, salt and vinegar
Donostia is another that I’ve wanted to visit for god knows how long, and just the day after tea at Solstice, we landed on our feet here (tough, I know).
It could have been a dozen dishes from this remarkable place, from txuleta, Basque cheesecake, txangurro, a thousand pintxos or gildas, but these are the two that stay in memory. Fresh tomatoes always mark the happiest time of the year for me, and these, with good olive oil, zippy vinegar, and tons of salt were the perfect example of how you don’t really understand something until you’ve had it in its purest form.
The tortilla — well, they invented it here and the version at Bar Sport — where only two are made per day and we snagged the last portion — won’t ever likely be beaten. Dos Taxakoli por favor.
10. Pea & celery at Solstice
Solstice is about as close as it gets to two-star effort in Newcastle, and though it could have been any number of dishes from the twenty or so on the tasting menu, I’ve gone for this one.
Celebrating the humble pea and celery, the dish took these overlooked ingredients to new levels, which is exactly what you want at this level. Equally as surprising as it was delicious, it was a joy to see the humble pea given as much care and attention as the lamb later. Exactly what you want when you’re spending phenmonal amounts like this — Michelin standard from start to finish.
11. Hand-dived scallops, confit chicken wing, caramelised onion purée at Riley’s Fish Shop
First visit to Riley’s off-beach outlet was a strong one.
The shack is tried and tested for sitting on the beach and having some fresh fish, but they’ve got a bit more of a carte blanche here. This particular dish, with rich and salty chicken stock, crunchy wings, and sweet and hard fried scallops, was simply, a delightful starter that I wanted to eat again immediately afterwards.
Bonus round: The best things I drank in 2024
Pints of Guinness at The Devonshire, Soho: I’m sure this will make many people’s most memorable. None of that splitting the G bollocks, just fresh pints of black. Couldn’t get a dining reservation 😢
Fiver Negronis at Cafe Mercy: What’s not to love? Not the best Negroni I’ve ever had but a damn good one, and at a fiver a pop, it’s challenging not to have another one. And another. Welcome to Grey Street.
Pints at Donzoko Taproom: in my favourite watering hole opening of this year, pints of German lager from Ouseburn, with a couple of bags of scampi fries, and optional slices from Gingerinos next door, you’re sorted. Beer’s always good as well…
Have a great remainder of 2024, and like I always do, I promise to post more on here in the new year x
See also: the best things I ate in 2023
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