The story
Solstice by Kenny Atkinson delivers Modern British cuisine to Newcastle upon Tyne through a tightly orchestrated tasting menu. Kenny shares ownership with his wife Abbie, while head chef Scott Hodgson executes the daily service. Guests pay £175 for a nineteen course progression that leaves no room for selection. Kenny often steps out from the pass to explain each plate directly to the table.
This approach to Modern British cooking leans heavily into regional seafood without ever feeling repetitive. A Lindisfarne oyster arrives poached in its shell, finished with oscietra caviar and walnut oil applied at the table. Roasted langoustine tails rest beside citrus yuzu koshu butter, while steamed pollock wrapped in nori carries a concentrated Craster kipper sauce. Desserts follow a similar restraint, highlighted by a Northumberland heather honey parfait and a dark chocolate ganache spiked with sansho pepper.
The restaurant occupies a split-level room that caps seating at fourteen guests. Subdued tones dominate the walls, punctuated by sunburst light fixtures that echo the venue’s logo. Staff move quietly between courses, reading the room before pouring wine flights from an iPad menu. The Good Food Guide recently awarded this compact setting an Exceptional rating, noting how the controlled environment matches the precision of the plates.
Recognition
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4 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
To ask for £175 per diner upfront sets the bar high for any restaurant, so it’s difficult to enter Kenny and Abbie Atkinson’s new Quayside venture without demanding (at least notionally) ‘prove yourself!’ Slowly, via up to 19 tasting dishes on a no-choice menu, Solstice does exactly that. Scott Hodgson is head chef, though Kenny Atkinson (who gained fame on the Great British Menu ) was orchestrating proceedings in the kitchen when we visited, emerging to explain dishes to his customers. And what dishes they are! Guests are presented with a bare-bones menu on arrival: ‘caviar’, ‘cod roe’ and ‘mackerel’ being the first three items on our line-up (shortly before the winter solstice). Elaborate verbal descriptions are provided at table, and you’re given a detailed account on paper at the end. A meal here is characterised by beautifully presented, complex morsels of artistry, where contrasting textures and tiny bursts of concentrated flavour excite the taste buds. Highlights? Seafood is certainly a star: Lindisfarne oyster, poached in its shell then covered with an oyster and bonito beurre blanc, topped with oscietra caviar set off by drops of walnut oil (applied at the table); langoustine tail roasted in its oil yet still translucent, served with a citrus yuzu koshu butter sauce and fennel flower; steamed pollock, wrapped in nori and stuffed with a fish and mussel mousse, the masterstroke being its intense Craster kipper sauce. Shortfalls? Perhaps a sweet Parker House roll (itself perfect) wasn’t the ideal accompaniment to a main course of venison, which came with a glorious gravy of red verjus and smoked bone marrow. But that’s a minor gripe. Puddings? Northumberland heather honey parfait won the prize. Don’t be daunted by the number of dishes: portions are well-judged and the final four (including chocolate with sansho pepper ganache) are petits fours, served together. The setting for all of this is a split-level room (with limited kitchen views) seating only 14 diners; colours are subdued but note the sunburst wall lights replicating the restaurant’s logo. Staff are young but well-versed in the menu (and charming too). The suitably voluminous wine list is presented on an iPad; flights cost £95, though there’s ample choice by the glass, starting with a palatable Albariño. It’s clear Solstice is setting its sights at a level still higher than its older sibling House of Tides. If it succeeds, and on this evidence it will, it should become the brightest star in the Newcastle firmament.
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