Member Article

New Northumberland restaurant spicing up the North East’s culinary scene

A new Northumberland restaurant officially opened its doors last week for a special launch event at its premises in Ponteland.

Haveli, which means ‘traditional mansion house with historical and architectural significance’, welcomed hundreds of VIPs including Dame Margaret Barbour and Steve Harper.

Owned by property magnate and entrepreneur Sunil Mehra, the upmarket restaurant - on Broadway in the Darras Hall estate - which specialises in Indian cuisine, has invested heavily into its development as part of a multimillion pound roll out planned for speciality restaurants over the next few years.

Former Newcastle United ’keeper Steve Harper attended the launch night

Hailing from Ponteland, Mr Mehra said: “With a personal passion for great restaurants and food, we wanted to create a top restaurant in the North East that could compare to the very best on offer in capital cities around the world.

“Haveli has been created out of this passion to deliver the complete dining experience. It’s not so much an Indian restaurant but a restaurant which serves Indian food. The cuisine is very different from the typical offering that diners experience at most ‘Indian’ restaurants. Our chefs offer a modern approach to dining which is deep seated in tradition. The cuisine is inspired by the past but delivers in the present.

“The restaurant has been carefully designed by our architect Amrit Naru to reflect this ethos. Although most materials were sourced locally, some key items were imported from India. Amrit has created a stylish yet comfortable venue for diners to experience the high standard of food our chefs have to offer.”

The expert team of chefs is headed up by Imamuddin Khan who cultivated his craft at some of the top culinary excellence power houses in India. Previously sous chef at the acclaimed Cinnamon Club in London, Mr Khan said: “We aim to change North East diners’ perception of Indian food as they know it and establish a trademark for a modern Indian dining experience.

“Indian cuisine is influenced by many forces, religions and races and each region has its own cooking style. It is this rich tapestry that gives Indian food its unique place in culinary history and we want to showcase that in Newcastle.”

During his tenure in London, Imamuddin Khan stretched the boundaries of Indian cuisine and co-authored the bestselling culinary book ‘The Curry – Classic and Contemporary’ by celebrity Chef Vivek Singh.

He added: “We have invested a lot of time sourcing and building a top team of talented chefs who have recreated their own take on traditional recipes, inspiring many of the ideas for our menu.”

Based at the heart of the Darras Hall executive estate, the new restaurant features cosy areas for intimate dining experiences and business lunches, as well as brighter, wider areas for families and groups. It also incorporates a first floor private dining room which has an integrated state-of-the-art AV system which is available for corporate presentations and private dining.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .