Newcastle has worked hard to shed its reputation as a haven for fancy-dress clad hen and stag dos ready to tear up the town. Cocktails and craft beer have been firmly embraced by Quayside venues that are making the most of the change in atmosphere. This month’s MA300 study tour will take a look at the city’s leading venues: the Hop and Cleaver, the Red House, Popolo, the Bridge Tavern, the Market, Alvinos and the Botanist.
Alvinos
Stuffed with comic book artwork and quirky pinball machines, Alvinos focusses on craft beer and quality cocktails using inventive infusions like rose gin, vanilla tequila and walnut cognac. Stretching across three flours, the venue’s roof terrace adds another point of difference.
Manager and part-owner Jon Dyer says a spirit of independence has helped the venue flourish on the increasingly crowded Quayside.
“We’re an independent establishment and we carry the spirit of independence all the way. This means we stock the products we like or we know the customer likes not whatever a head office has just signed a deal on. We can take risks and move faster. We don’t have a big marketing budget for advertising or cheap deals, so we rely on word of mouth and reputation which takes years to build but can sustain a bar for a lot longer.”
Dyer is open about the challenges facing operators who want to set up shop in Newcastle but stresses it’s a place where people are keen to have fun. “There’s intense competition and a very high concentration of licensed premises in the city centre but a lot of them tend to offer the same thing and just compete on price. It also tends to see influxes in population which means trade can vary a lot. There’s a student population that aren’t always here and a lot of weekend visitors.
“However, it is a city that is blessed with a population that take their social lives very seriously so there’s always plenty of people out and intent on enjoying themselves and we do all we can to help them do that.”
Popolo
Quirky cocktails and quality craft beer are also central to the offer at Popolo, which uses seasonal shrubs, fruit, sugar and vinegar mixes and charcoal syrup to create its drinks menu. As well as switching its spirit selection around regularly, Popolo hones its drinks offering by encouraging staff to suggest new and usual beers for the menu.
Manager Adam Stothart sees Newcastle as an opportunity for all operators: “This city has got a lot of people that want to drink and there’s plenty of business to go around. We’re open later and get a lot of custom from other bar workers. Everyone wants the area to be busier, so the bars help each other out if one of us runs out of something. As the quayside has become more successful, we’ve built a loyal customer base.”
Part of building this loyal client base has been knowing who isn’t welcome, which Stothart admits can be a challenge in Newcastle. “It can be a battle against those who are just looking for cheap shots and pints.
It’s difficult to turn those customers away, but there have been times when we’ve had five or six couples in and a group of 30 or 40 in fancy dress at the door. You don’t want to turn them away, but those five or six couples might come in week after week and the big group will come in once as they’re often not from here. It’s about looking after regulars.”
Hop and Cleaver
Branded the most impressive venue in Newcastle, the Hop and Cleaver breaks away from the cocktail and craft beer formu la to focus on smokehouse food and bourbon. An early adopter of the now popular smokehouse trend, the Hop and Cleaver combines pub, restaurant and micro-brewery.
It’s easier to stand out from competitors with the inbuilt advantage of a 17th century Jacobean building, but manager Danielle Knotley says the it’s the focus on high quality service and collection of imported bourbons that keeps consumers coming back.