Hidden bar gears up to open in Seaham after major transformation works

It’s been seven years in the making, but Hidden On The Harbour will finally pull its first pints this week.

Owner Michael Downey got the keys to the former Wishing Well unit in North Terrace back in 2017 and soon undertook major works including installing a kitchen, adding a second bar and doubling the size of the venue by enclosing a former beer garden at the rear.

Although the businessman had planned to take his time with the project to get it just right, further delays were caused by the pandemic.

But now the totally transformed site is ready to welcome its first customers from 9.30am on Friday, August 4 – just in time for Seaham Food Festival which brings thousands of visitors to the town.

It’s a sister site to Hidden in Green Terrace, Sunderland, but it has a completely different theme, which fuses gothic features, with flower walls, feature wall paper and a snug area which features living room features, such as a fireplace and grandfather clock, up high just below the ceiling.

Joe Gullis, entertainments manager at the leisure group, said they’re looking forward to finally joining Seaham’s hospitality offering.

"Seaham is massive at the moment and there’s some great independents along the front,” he said. “Michael has long wanted to create a destination venue here and when he finally got the opportunity he jumped at the chance.

"Michael wanted to step away from what it was before, so it was always the intention of having a period of closure, but as the project evolved and stud walls were moved time and time again, that period went on.

"It’s a long thin bar and we really wanted to make the space work.”

He added: “Seaham has so much to offer and it’s getting bigger, as well as all the new housing in Ryhope. So there’s a need for more bars down the front. The more the merrier, as it helps to create a route for people.”

The new venue will be offering food throughout the day, including British classic dishes, fajitas, grazing boards, pizza and more.

There will be a wide range of drinks across the two bars, including draught options such as Madri, Atlantic Pale Ale, Staropramen and more, as well as cocktails on tap and freshly-made options. The daytime offering will also include illy coffees.

There’s also London Essence tonic on tap, using a specialist machine which infuses the freshly distilled botanicals at the point of pour, and a similar option for cider with a Thatchers Fusion machine which infuses a micro measure of the selected fruit flavour into a pint of Thatchers to create a freshly-mixed cider.

The venue has created 20 new jobs for the town and recruitment is still ongoing for kitchen staff.

Hidden is the latest new venue to open in Seaham, with Bells recently transforming the old Barclay’s Bank to create a new fish and chip restaurant and takeaway.

Meanwhile, a new bar is being created called Londonderry’s in the old The Londonderry Arms Inn building.

*Hidden on the Harbour will be open 9.30am to 11.30pm Monday to Thursday, 9.30am to 1am Friday and Saturday and 11.30am to 11.30pm on Sundays.