Food & Drink

Solstice by Kenny Atkinson

Small Michelin-starred tasting-menu restaurant on Side, near the Quayside, from chef Kenny Atkinson.

5-7 Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3JE Visit website

About Solstice by Kenny Atkinson

Solstice opened in the summer of 2022 on Side, the steep curving street that links the Quayside to the Bigg Market end of the city, in premises that had previously traded as the bistro Violets. It is deliberately tiny, with a single short sitting at lunch and dinner and a kitchen that cooks for the whole room at once. Michelin awarded it a star in March 2023, within a year of opening, and it holds one star in the current guide. That gave chef patron Kenny Atkinson two separately starred Newcastle restaurants at the same time, alongside House of Tides a few hundred metres downhill on The Close.

The offer is a seasonal tasting menu of roughly twelve to fifteen servings, with a strong bias towards North East and wider British produce, and the restaurant asks for a deposit per person when booking. Lunch is served on Friday and Saturday, dinner from Wednesday to Saturday, and the restaurant is closed Sunday to Tuesday; last seatings are early by city-centre standards, so check the time carefully when reserving. Allow around two and a half hours. Because the room is so small, tables are released in blocks and tend to be taken well in advance.

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