I'm proud to have represented Sunderland on one of the UK's biggest cookery shows

Ryan McVay, who owns The Calabash Tree in Sheepfolds Stables, is the first Sunderland restaurateur to fly the flag for the city’s increasingly-diverse culinary scene on Great British Menu.

He competed in the North East and Yorkshire heat of the BBC show, with chefs given the brief of creating dishes themed around a film with a connection to the area.

Ryan, from Washington, drew inspiration from South Shields-born Gladiator director Ridley Scott for his starter of red lentil and pearl barley dal and from North Yorkshire-born East is East actor Jimi Mistry for his fish dish of cured and confit mackerel with hash chips and a callaloo twist.

His episode was aired on March 24 as he competed against three other North East and North Yorkshire chefs - Cal Byerley of Pine, Jamie Keeble of Mýse and Weike Zhao of Wood Hall Hotel - as they made dishes judged by veteran chef Paul Ainsworth.

Although Ryan didn’t make it through to the next round, he told the Echo that the experience was a great step forward for the former firefighter who turned to cooking after a service-related injury.

“Being filmed was something totally out of my comfort zone,” he said. “But the crew and other chefs were brilliant, it was a great experience to be in the kitchen with them, seeing how they work and learning from them.

“It was a real challenge to come up with dishes inspired by films with a North East / North Yorkshire link while also staying true to my style of Caribbean cooking, but it was also good fun.

“I had good feedback and learnt a lot, so it’s helped my confidence and I think I would do it again, given the chance.”

He added: “I’m gutted I didn’t go further, but I’ve had so much support from Sunderland and customers who’ve watched the show.”

Ryan grew up enjoying the rich and varied flavours of the Caribbean islands of Trinidad & Tobago where his mum was born.

Coupled with the fact his dad is a former catering lecturer of more than 30 years at Sunderland College, it sparked a love affair with cooking the spices and dishes of Trinidad and Tobago which he turned into his Calabash Tree business.

Named after a tree that’s indigenous to the West Indies, the Calabash Tree took root when Ryan visited Newcastle’s Boiler Shop in 2015 for a street food event and noticed that the melting pot of flavours from the dual Caribbean island were missing.

In 2024, he opened his first restaurant at Sheepfolds Stables and Calabash Tree bookings have been flooding in since his BBC appearance.

“I’m looking forward to a busy summer,” he said. “I feel really passionate about the food of Trinidad & Tobago, but also the wider Caribbean. There’s a bit of stigma about it always being hot, but there’s a difference between spice and heat.

“It’s still a very under-represented style of food in the area - and I really want to change that.”