By FB Vivant- Portfolio North’s Secret Diner
Brentwood Avenue in Jesmond has earned a string of investments in the last couple of years. The most recent starlet to move in is ‘Sweaty Betty’, a celebrity favourite athleisure brand with a mission to empower women.
It is an apt compatriot to a busy row of boutiques featuring interiors, art, beauty, dance and fashion. Set in a prominent student area of West Jesmond, the boutiques of Brentwood Avenue attract a mix of Newcastle’s trend-setters, those who love to buy local, and stylish students.
Brentwood Avenue sits just over the Metro lines from the rest of Jesmond where you will find Acorn Road, which has recently attracted a number of new eateries and shops, and the infamous Osborne Road. Whilst Jesmond has earned its stripes as ‘student central’, it is also a really nice place to spend an afternoon browsing. Of course, no self-respecting shopping trip would be complete without a pitstop, and so among the collection of said boutiques is a handful of cafés, bars and restaurants. Chief among them, perhaps, is Long Friday, a startlingly great place to while away an evening.
A brainchild of proprietor, writer and committed cook, Anna Hedworth, Long Friday is a sister venue to Cook House in the Ouseburn. It’s a bright, buzzy and stylish neighbourhood bar with warm terracotta walls, an open and well stocked bar, and the coolest cactus-led decor.
Whilst the food is tremendous – more on that in a moment – it is the drinks that captured our attention. The cocktails are imaginative and often use locally sourced ingredients to life them to another level, the list of wines is extensive and available by the glass (always a winner), and the beers represent the best of our region.
The cocktail list includes twists on firm favourites including a cherry doused mezcal Old Fashioned, spicy Margaritas with chilli and honey, and an intriguing white Negroni. For those who may choose to drive, there is also a good selection of homemade soft drinks. The list includes lemonade and a variety of Kombucha.
The food is second to none, served as snacks and small plates, with prices ranging from around £4 – £10. The set-up means that Long Friday works equally well for an after work drink as it does for a celebratory meal. In the last year, we have popped in for a post-shopping cocktail and a pile of seaweed spiced nuts, and we have booked in for a special birthday night out, taking in as many small plates as we could possibly manage.
For seafood lovers, the langoustines in spicy hazelnut butter are outstanding, as are the crispy crab and dill wantons, and the mussels in smoked venison nduja.
The vegetarian dishes too are exceptional – burrata with pickled radicchio and mixed seeds was our top pick, though we also fought over the crispy sage leaves in Wylam beer batter. The truffle and pepper popcorn also took a quick hit when it reached the table.
For those who prefer a cut of meat, there is a good selection including duck, minute steak, lamb ribs, pork belly and Ox heart – Each carefully elaborated with homemade butters, pickles and salsas which seem to form the hallmark of the extraordinary food from both Cook House and Long Friday.
There is something about Long Friday that makes it easy to pass the time, but it’s also a place that can help diners to push outside of their culinary comfort zones, but absolutely without being so challenging as to limit enjoyment.
If you make it to Long Friday and haven’t yet been to Cook House, you really should consider booking a table for your next outing. Founded in the same approach to using best quality local ingredients and limiting waste, the dishes at Cook House are warm, comforting and topped with homemade crumbs, pickles, seed mixes and herbs. It’s a great place for a brunch, for a BBQ lunch on the terrace in warmer weather, or a cosy evening with just the best food.
