SEAFIELD RESTAURANT GIVES EVEN MORE SUPPORT TO LOCAL PRODUCE (June 2007)

Since chef Sam Brown took over the Seafield Restaurant in Seahouses, Northumberland, in 2002 local produce has always had a place on his menu.

But as he has got to know the remarkable variety of seafood, meat, vegetables and dairy products available practically on his doorstep, he has decided to build his 2007 menu around the use of more local, speciality produce.

Apart from his sought-after seafood platter which ranges across a choice of oysters, lobster, crab, langoustine and mussels, he has now added some appetising dishes from the inland parts of north Northumberland.

His new menu includes Piperfield of Lowick ham terrine pressed with parsley and completed with pease pudding; a supreme of halibut with Piperfield’s chorizo sausage; Carter’s of Bamburgh rib-eye beef steak under a molten slab of Stilton and accompanied by fat succulent chips made from Border Estima potatoes.

Sam, an experienced chef who has worked at leading hotels in London and Barbados, is also buying in produce from other local producers, including Swallow Fish (Seahouses), Sunny Hill Eggs (Belford), Oleifera (Bamburgh/Belford), Davy Shiel (Seahouses), Davidson’s Dairy (Chathill), Doddington Dairy (near Wooler), Tritlington Fresh Produce (Tritlington, Morpeth) and the Sutherland family (Beal).

The Seafield is a 200-cover restaurant which now sources most of its produce from within a 20-mile radius of Seahouses.

Welcoming Sam Brown’s even greater commitment to sourcing local food, Sandy Duncan, general manager of Northumbria Larder, the North East Regional Food Group, said: “There is undoubtedly a growing demand for good quality local produce and in a popular seaside resort like Seahouses which attracts thousands of visitors each year, the Seafield Restaurant is in an excellent position to meet the needs of the market place.

“The restaurant’s new policy is bound to make it an even more attractive dining-out spot. Research shows that over 41 per cent of tourists want to know where their food originates and by introducing more fresh, local food to its menu the restaurant will not only increase choice for its customers but also fly the flag for some delicious Northumbrian produce.”

The Seafield Restaurant, 17 Seafield Road, Seahouses, Northumberland,NE 68 7SP. Reservations: 01665 721 999.