Restaurant adds Signature to Eat Drink Sunderland Restaurant Week

Silksworth eatery Signatures has become the latest addition to get on board with Eat Drink Sunderland Restaurant Week, which will see more than 50 venues across the city offer special packages for nine days.

The restaurant, which opened in 2012, will be offering two courses for £10 – with some exclusions – to all customers who download their online Restaurant Week voucher from www.experienceithere.co.uk

Carolyn Sinclair, manager at Signatures, which offers a range of international dishes, said: “Restaurant Week is a great chance for us to showcase our food to new customers.

“We offer beautiful food and we already attract customers from across the city, but this is a chance to grow our audience, and join a long-list of businesses that have signed up to be part of the initiative.”

The week, which will take place between Saturday, September 24, and Sunday, October 2, has already signed up more than 40 restaurants, cafes and eateries to take part.

It is being led by Sunderland Business Improvement District (BID), with support from a number of Sunderland business partners across the city, and is a tried and tested initiative that was first launched in New York in 2010 and has since been adopted by cities across the world.

Restaurant weeks provide an opportunity for venues to attract new customers, as well as providing a chance to show off the complete offer of towns and cities.

During Eat Drink Sunderland Restaurant Week, venues will showcase their unique flavours, offering special two and three course menus for £10 or £15.

The week will also see cafés have their chance to shine, with a £5 daytime offer, encouraging visitors to explore a number of new eateries and rediscover traditional cake shops that have been part of the fabric of Sunderland for many years.

Diners will be able to log on to Sunderland BID’s website during the week to find out about the offers available, and download vouchers, a city centre food and drink map to guide them through the venues on offer, as well as an online copy of Eat Drink Sunderland, a magazine that showcases some of the cafés and eateries both in the city centre and around the city.

Restaurants including Port of Call, Liberty Brown, Café Purple and The Karbon Grill have signed up already.

Gary Hutchinson, commercial director at Sunderland AFC and chairman of Sunderland Business Partnership, which is backing the week, said: “It’s great to see Signatures get behind this initiative and many more places across the city showing their support for what we are sure will be a hugely successful week.

“Sunderland has a fantastic variety of eateries that we can easily take for granted, so this week is about shining a light on those places and creating a platform through which they can reach even more customers and show off all that our great city has to offer.

“We’re looking forward to what we are sure will be a popular week for diners and venues alike and, if the city gets behind this in the way we hope, we would certainly look to repeat it again in the new year.”

Those who eat out during the week are encouraged to share their food pictures and talk about their meal using the hashtag #EatDrinkSunderland in social media posts.

Anyone who posts a positive review on social media and uses the hashtag during the week will be in with a chance of winning a VIP table for four at the city’s newly opened Karbon Grill in the Hilton Garden Inn, tucking in at the exclusive chef’s table.

More information about Restaurant Week can be found at Sunderland BID’s website www.experienceithere.co.uk or by following @SunderlandBID as well as liking the BID’s Facebook page.

Eateries that want to step to the plate and take part in the week should contact Sunderland BID on 0191 562 3130 or [email protected] if they are based in the city centre, or Creo Communications on 0191 562 3134 or [email protected] for other parts of the city.