Tees Life Tees Life issue 3 | Page 50

Dine at

Husband-and-wife team Matthew and Erica Saul have joined forces with Mark Cook to open Vine on the corner of Roman Road and Oxford Road in Linthorpe.

Matthew and Erica are also co-owners of nearby micropub Dr Phil’ s, thriving Baker Street pub The Twisted Lip and takeaway Roast. But they believe their latest venture with Mark can be their biggest success yet. Vine’ s wide range of seafood dishes, along with meat and vegetarian options, are proving a big hit with Tees foodies, with experienced chef Sean Calliste bringing a taste of modern-British, Mediterranean and Asian fusion to the menu.
“ We’ re trying to give Middlesbrough something different,” said Erica.“ It’ s been lacking a seafood restaurant, which is really surprising given how close we are to the coast.
“ We’ re tapping into some fantastic, locallysourced produce, while we’ re confident we’ ve got one of the most amazing chefs around in

VINE

Sean.”
Born in Grenada, chef Sean learned his trade with Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay, while he’ s also been head chef Down Under at Brisbane seafood restaurant Jellyfish.
But Vine isn’ t all about the food. No fewer than 16 craft ales are on tap, while there’ s an extensive wine list and unique speciality cocktails.
And the surroundings have the wow-factor too. The décor of the historic building – once home to a branch of famous Tees retailer Hintons- is a combination of old-world charm and modern elegance. Extensive refurbishment work to transform the former abattoir revealed stunning original features including tiled white bricks and steel beams carrying the famous Dorman Long stamp.
“ Most of the walls were covered with
Teesside’ s first seafood restaurant is giving foodlovers the red carpet treatment on the site of a former flooring store.
plaster board but once we started peeling back the layers, we found there was magic just beneath the surface,” said Erica.
“ We knew it was an old building but we couldn’ t believe our luck so we’ ve tried to retain as many original features as possible.
“ We’ ve left the brickwork and Dorman Long beams exposed as a little nod to our history. It’ s been a long time in coming but we’ re hopeful people will feel it’ s been worth the wait.”
OLD WORLD CHARM MEETS MODERN ELEGANCE IN MIDDLESBROUGH ' S NEWEST AND MOST UNIQUE RESTAURANT.
Specialising in seafood, our chef ' s inspiration is modern-British, Mediterranean and Asian Fusion.
Private Dining Room available via pre-bookings. 16 craft beers on tap, extensive wine list and unique speciality cocktails.
Come to Vine to experience decedent dishes and delightful drinks right in the heart of Linthorpe.
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T: 01642 329861 E: VINE53 @ HOTMAIL. COM