Kenny Atkinson opens the diminutive but decidedly high-end Solstice

Solstice replaces what was for five years Violets – a café with a Bib Gourmand run by Atkinson's wife Abbie. When the Covid-19 pandemic and the social distancing that came with it threw the business plan for Violets into disarray, Abbie and Kenny agreed that rather than give the site up, they should do something different with it.

And there's no doubt about it – Solstice is different. The high-end new restaurant has just six tables, catering to between 12 and 14 people who pre-pay £140 for 18 separate servings. The chefs, in addition to preparing the food in the open kitchen, also take a key role in serving it to diners, explaining each dish and how it is prepared.

Licence to drill

Solstice was many months in the planning. Kenny and Abbie consulted designers in October 2020 after Violets' closure, secured the financing, started speaking with suppliers, brought in Grande Cuisine to design a new kitchen suite – and then Newcastle got put into lockdown because of the tier system. By the time lockdown lifted in May 2021, the lease and fit-out costs and financing all needed to be re-negotiated.

With all of his proverbial ducks once more in a row, Kenny spent two months in the kitchen with his team "drilling the menu" before they even announced that they were opening.

"I wanted the chefs to understand that they are not just going to be chefs any more – they are going to serve the guests and explain the passion behind it," he says.

He estimates that the cost of the new kitchen was around £100,000, but once the rest the cost of the rest of the restaurant – the design, crockery, furniture, and downstairs prep kitchen, among other costs – is included, that rises to £250,000.

"We redesigned the restaurant, ripped out the old kitchen, knocked a few walls down to really open it out and make it visible to the restaurant. We have invested heavily, which was quite a risk when you consider what a financial state the country was in. But we just knew this was something we could create and we believed it was the right thing to do," he says.

Chasing the sun

Kenny and Abbie chose the name Solstice because they wanted to reflect something that was driven by the seasons. "I didn't want to go down the usual route of naming it after a herb or something. We came across Solstice, which reflects celebrating both the summer and winter solstice and it also links to the Scandinavian way of doing things," he explains.

The fact that the name makes a reference to the Latin word for sun (‘sol') also allowed Kenny and Abbie to use gold in the theme for their design, as well as a minimalist palette of blacks, browns and greys.

The second element of the word Solstice is the Latin "sistere", which means "to stand still" and while it may be appropriate in the astronomical context, it is perhaps less relevant to the restaurant. That's because Kenny clearly has no intention of standing still – quite the opposite. Although he says that his main goal is for each guest to leave the restaurant "100% happy" at the end of a meal, he also makes no secret of the fact that he wants to win a Michelin star. Obviously, he already has that at House of Tides, but he says: "The ambition is to try and push for more and to become better in ourselves."

In a glowing review that branded Solstice a "northern delight", The Sunday Times reviewer Marina O'Loughlin nonetheless questioned whether, in today's straitened times, such a high-end offer is "outdated and elitist".

Atkinson, who was for the most part thrilled with O'Loughlin's review, does not agree.

"A tasting menu is the best way we can create a true dining experience. It's the way that I like to eat when I go out. I love to sit back and let the chef cook what they want to cook and just enjoy the journey.

"By only doing 12 covers a night, 80 covers a week, we can also bring in the very best produce. You have to remember that we are charging £140. It's the norm in London but in the North East, it's a bit of a risk. But the price is driven by the covers we are doing, the produce we are buying, and the extra chefs we employ to bring the produce to the table. We have the time to be absolutely perfectionist in what we do."

And Kenny hopes that those chefs will feel rewarded by their work at Solstice. "Speaking from my experience, it is very easy to fall out of love with catering. You get into it because you want to cook nice food to satisfy people and give them a good time, but sometimes you are in the kitchen, the doors are closed and you don't even see the guest. You may hear that the guests were happy, but at Solstice, you can actually see how happy they are. The chefs get to hear from them first -hand: ‘Oh, that dessert was amazing – did you prep that?' They get so much satisfaction out of the job and it makes them feel they are worth their salt."

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Kenny says it wasn't too difficult to find staff for Solstice, with some of the five chefs, including head chef Scott Hodgson, taking the chance to move across from House of Tides. Hodgson's partner Rachel Lenham, also formerly of House of Tides, is restaurant manager.

"Because it is a small operation and we have five chefs in the kitchen, we only need a restaurant manager and sommelier," he says. However, at House of Tides, staffing is proving more of a challenge, particularly front of house. The larger restaurant is still operating on reduced covers because of staffing levels, down to around 30 a night, from 50-60 before the pandemic. "This is to maintain our consistency and help not overstretch the team, until we can restrengthen. Staffing has been tough for hospitality since Covid, so we must slowly rebuild over time," says Kenny.

Increasing interest

There's no doubt that life as a restaurateur at the moment is tough and chief among the challenges is, of course, rising costs. Utilities in particular are hitting where it hurts. "Normally, our utility bill for House of Tides is about £30,000 a year on average. This year, we hit £30,000 in June," says Kenny. Payments on the financing for Solstice are also rising thanks to increasing interest rates.

"There are talks of an energy cap. That is great but most people will already have entered expensive new contracts by the time that comes into force," says Kenny. And he is clear about what action he would like to see from the government: "The only way businesses are going to survive this is if they bring VAT back down. Potentially that could save a lot of money to help with running costs and staff. But until we get more clarity, we just try to work out month on month what we can do."

Both Solstice and House of Tides operate on a four-day week, with House of Tides open Wednesday to Saturday and Solstice open Tuesday to Friday, which Kenny says should make some savings. He adds: "Being closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday [at Solstice] means I get to spend weekends with my children. The chefs also have time off at the weekend to spend with their friends and family. On Monday, I spend the time with Abbie, and then on Tuesday we are back into a week of prepping."

Despite the challenges, Kenny is positive not just about the outlook for his restaurants but also for the wider food scene in Newcastle and the North East. "When we opened House of Tides, there were no fine dining restaurants in Newcastle and everyone said tasting menus wouldn't work here. But I knew there was a market because no-one had done it before.

I knew from my days at Seaham Hall and Rockliffe Hall that people would travel to Newcastle for a birthday, a celebration or just really good food. Locally now we have Hjem, where I truly believe they are cooking at two-star level.

"Then you have Cal [Byerley] at Pine who used to be at Jesmond Dene House and Rogan & Co and had the confidence to open his own restaurant. Another 40 minutes up the road you have the Raby Hunt at Darlington.

Suddenly people are a lot more interested in the food in this area. And the bonus for my chefs is they can go to Pine or Hjem on their days off. We are all friends but there is healthy competition there too, and it pushes us all to keep on our toes. And it means chefs and front of house staff can move around and build a CV without having to leave Newcastle, like I did when I was a young chef."

When he comes to the outlook for his own restaurants, he concludes: "From a business point of view, it is going to be tough. But House of Tides is developing and getting stronger, and Solstice is a restaurant that is going to keep growing and getting better. It is important to show the industry that while it may be doom and gloom with utility bills and rising food costs, we have to have something positive to shout about in order to keep the industry growing. New restaurants like Solstice coming to the North East add positivity."

Kenny Atkinson on pre-payment

It was a no-show from a table of six at House of Tides that finally convinced Kenny that his restaurants' policies had to change: "I found out that they had booked at three other restaurants that evening, so I decided to charge a cancellation fee. But all they do is cancel the card before you can charge them. As a business, that isn't fair on us." As a result, House of Tides charges a £50 per head deposit for bookings (Kenny doesn't feel customers there would stomach pre-paying the full amount).

At Solstice, Kenny has decided to ask guests to pre-pay the full amount of £140 per head for food. "It means we have regular revenue coming through and allows us to forecast our purchasing. It's also a good way for customers to break up the bill.

When you pay up front, you are only paying for drinks on the night. "We are getting deposits for December in now, so we know we are heading for a busy time. I think people have to treat this as an event. We are not just cooking your tea – we are there to wow you and create and experience. It has to be treated like you are going to a concert or an event."

Kenny Atkinson on Solstice's menu

Kenny doesn't want his food to be pigeon-holed at Solstice. "As a chef you want to dive into new ingredients, try new techniques and flavours. The menu at House of Tides is clean and classical. It works well but a lot of chefs are now getting into different styles of cooking – look at people like Gareth Ward [at Ynyshir] and how his food has changed and developed. At Solstice, I want to be more intricate, with smaller tasting plates that use more different techniques and ingredients.

"If you look at the dishes we do, there is a lot of Asian influence but with classical cookery at the forefront. For example, our lamb main course is basically lamb slowly roasted on the saddle then taken off the bone, served with Parker House bread that has been flavoured in lamb fat and rosemary, with a simple purée of spiced pepper and a beautiful lamb sauce. The whole idea is to elevate the main ingredient as that has to be the star of the dish.

"Another example is the pigeon dish. We salt-age the Anjou pigeon ourselves, roast it on the crown, glaze it with a date gastrique and season it with pink peppercorns from Madagascar, which has a lovely element of rose and gives the pigeon quite a Middle Eastern flavour. But then next to that you have pan-fried foie gras with caramelised artichoke and yeast purée, date purée, and a load of black truffle on top. So you are getting luxury but a different flavour. It's based on classical cooking but with little ingredients that just allow us to be that bit more free."