Get to Know... St Vincent

St Vincent opened on Broad Chare on 2018 and had a successful first two years, as you’d expect from what was then the latest addition to Terry Laybourne’s 21 Group. When lockdown hit, St Vincent closed along with everyone else but surprisingly didn’t re-emerge as the world opened up again, only unbolting its doors in March of this year, thankfully with everything that made it such a great place to eat and drink, including much of the same team.

Image: Matthew Clarkson of St Vincent

Everyone is clearly delighted to have St Vincent back on the scene - the restaurant / wine bar has a strong reputation as a cosy hangout, big on flavours and conviviality and an excellent neighbour for Live Theatre next door. We caught up with restaurant manager Matthew Clarkson to find out what happened and what we should expect now St Vincent is back.

“We were forced to close the doors on St. Vincent a couple of days prior to lockdown in March 2020,” Matt explains. “I remember, as the team left that night, we all said ‘see you in a couple of weeks’. Three years later, pretty much to the day, we eventually managed to re-open St. Vincent. It certainly wasn’t through lack of trying that it took us so long to re-open. The hospitality industry took a real kicking during the pandemic and - paired with fall-out from Brexit - we are still feeling the effects. A lot of staff left the industry, making recruitment incredibly difficult and there was a great deal of all-round uncertainty. We decided in about October things weren’t going to change quickly, so we picked the date, 9th March 2023, that St. Vincent would re-open.”

After the long closure, St Vincent has returned almost identical to its former self (“we didn’t want to change a thing -  we’ve just turned the music up and dimmed the lights down.”). Matt sums up the St Vincent ethos easily: “We’re a place where an hour spins into several without anyone noticing. It’s really as simple as saying, ‘you just feel good and have fun while you’re there’.”

St Vincent’s reputation for fine food carefully matched by great wine is impeccable, so we asked Matt to summarise what it offers. “Our wines are at the heart of what we do. Reassuringly old-school but not always familiar. They’re mainly from small, independent producers we love.

Many are organic with a minimal intervention approach. There’s a healthy range of ‘big classics’ too. Plenty by the glass with a regularly changing selection so you can be as adventurous as you like without breaking the bank. We’re not just about wine - we offer vintage cocktails, vermouths and amaros, as well as craft beers and ciders.

We’ve expanded our food offer by introducing a weekly changing menu of seasonal plates of Franco / Italian-inspired snacks, cheese / charcuterie and small and large plates. Keep an eye out for our specials boards too, which feature sharing dishes, for example a 1 kg Tuscan T-Bone Steak and Whole Basque Style John Dory.”

Terry Laybourne’s original concept was based on his travels in Europe. “We’ve all been to restaurants and bars on holiday we wished were back home,” Matt expands. “St. Vincent is exactly that. A place you can escape to, it’s a place we all like to hang out and it’s a place that makes us feel good to be in.”

Matt is clearly thrilled that St Vincent is back but is not resting on its laurels. “It’s amazing to be open again but we’re always looking for ways to learn, develop and enhance the guest experience. In the coming months we will be hosting winemaker suppers, collaborations, wine tastings and even launching a 21 Hospitality private member’s wine club. We’re also introducing a happy hour at the bar, showcasing fantastic, independently produced wines and some of our favourite cocktails and vermouths. It’s important to us that St. Vincent is a place to hang out at the bar with friends, as well as somewhere to gather around a table with plates a plenty full of big, bold flavours.”

There has definitely been a St Vincent-shaped gap in the Newcastle bar and restaurant scene for the last couple of years and it’s great that this Quayside gem has finally reopened its doors.

St Vincent is open Tuesday to Friday from 4pm till late (the restaurant is open from 5.30 to 9) and on Saturday it’s from 11.30am till late (the restaurant is open from 12pm - 3pm and 5.30pm - 10pm). Their much-loved early evening menu is back too, from Tuesday to Thursday between 5:30pm and 6:30pm, and offering two courses for £22 or three for £26.