Michelin Guide delight for Ponteland restaurant

A Ponteland business that only started being a restaurant in May has already been selected for the prestigious Michelin Guide.
From left, Ryan Carr, Stephen Pitfield and Danny Land.From left, Ryan Carr, Stephen Pitfield and Danny Land.
From left, Ryan Carr, Stephen Pitfield and Danny Land.

Eleven is run by three friends – chefs Danny Land and Ryan Carr, and front of house manager Stephen Pitfield.

They were due to work in a new restaurant, but they found themselves without a job when the coronavirus pandemic hit last year.

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After getting their heads together, they felt the best way forward would be to set-up something themselves as a trio. And following a search for suitable locations, they decided to start a business in what used to be the Post Box cafe bistro.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, it started as a takeaway service last December and it was May 19 when it began as a restaurant.

Soon afterwards, a member of the Michelin Guide team came along unannounced and they were so impressed that Eleven was recently added to its website.

Danny said: “We wanted to be a neighbourhood restaurant rather than in a city. What also ticked the boxes was the size of the building being ideal for our needs and Ponteland being a nice area.

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“We’ve been working hard to raise awareness of the restaurant and it’s going well so far. We now have a decent number of regulars from the village and Darras Hall.

“Being part of the Michelin Guide will hopefully give us a further boost – especially in spreading the word about Eleven further afield.”

He added: “We’re all about providing a different approach to fine dining. We want to show that good food doesn’t need to be eaten in a stuffy and formal environment.

“It can, in fact, be fun and in a relaxing and informal setting.

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“The food is very much produce-driven and we are proud to work with the very best producers and suppliers in the UK.

“Being situated in beautiful Northumberland, we are incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so much incredible produce growing in abundance and a lot of it regularly features on our menus.”

A wine bar runs alongside the restaurant and it operates on a walk-in basis only.

For more information about Eleven, including its dinner set menu, go to elevenponteland.co.uk – it is named Eleven because the building is 11 Main Street.