The story
Cook House is the restaurant where we imagined we’d like to hang out. Casual dining, focused on food, but most of all hospitable and convivial. That sentence, from the restaurant’s own story, captures the spirit of Anna Hedworth’s Newcastle spot. Located on Foundry Lane in the Ouseburn Valley, it has grown from a recipe blog and supper club into a destination that earned a Michelin Recommended award in 2026. The cuisine is Modern British, seasonal and unfussy, with a brunch menu that draws just as much a following as the evening service.
Cook House began life in two converted shipping containers overlooking the Ouseburn river. Anna, self-taught and formerly an architect, opened the doors on a simple, open space where guests were in the kitchen and the experience was warm. That first incarnation earned a spot in the Good Food Guide in 2016 as one of the top 25 new entries, and the restaurant has been in the guide every year since. In late 2018 the container doors closed, and one month later Cook House reopened bigger and better on Foundry Lane – two floors, a dining terrace, a garden, and the kitchen still at the heart of the room.
The restaurant’s DIY philosophy runs deep. The team grows chocolate mint for ice cream, makes house soft drinks, misos, waste wine vinegars, garums, jams, ferments and pickles. The garden behind the restaurant supplies seasonal treats, and foraging in the Ouseburn Valley brings elderflowers, blackberries, nettles and more onto the menu. This hands-on approach shapes the regularly changing dishes – from the homemade kombucha and shrubs used in cocktails to the kimchi and pickles that accompany the charcuterie. The cooking is imaginative and modern, but anchored in local produce and ethical practice.
Chef/proprietor Anna Hedworth leads a tight team in the kitchen and on the floor. The aim is to make guests feel at home, relaxed, well fed, and wanting to come back. The praise from critics has been consistent: the Financial Times named it Restaurant of the Year in 2019, Marina O’Loughlin described the setting as alluring, and Diana Henry called the food “imaginative, modern and ‘on trend’ without being rootless or discordant.” The 2026 Michelin Recommended award confirms what regulars already know – Cook House is a genuine local gem, serving Modern British brunch and dinner with soul.
Recognition
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Details
History
Firmly bedded in at Foundry Lane Studios (a series of spaces for creatives and artists), chef and food writer Anna Hedworth’s Cook House continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Spread over two floors, the premises now includes a deli and dining terrace, plus a little garden which supplies herbs for their growing list of soft drinks; there are also plans to keep bees on the roof. It also ticks all the ‘community’ boxes when it comes to local support, education and events. Anna has drafted in a team of chefs to run the kitchen (and the BBQ), while the expanded menu is a rolling roster of ‘outrageously good’ dishes inspired by British produce and the world larder. Any modern eatery worth its smoked salt must have kimchi on its menu (preferably made in-house) and this place is no exception. Otherwise, breakfast/brunch at the weekend means house granola, hash browns with hot aïoli, green harissa fried eggs on toast and other trendy nibbles, while lunch and dinner could usher a roster of creative ideas ranging from parsnip mousse with curried granola, pickled parsnip and some crispy chicken skin for texture to whole smoked mackerel with smoked salsify, lime yoghurt and orange hot sauce. There are also sticky, treacly slow-roast short ribs with cheesy polenta and plum ketchup for sharing, plus some tempting desserts including dark chocolate mousse with blackberries and honeycomb or toasted barley ice cream with miso caramel. World beers, kombucha and spritzes suit the on-trend minimalist setting, and there are plenty of intriguing, fashionable wines too.
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