Sky's the limit for inventive addition
There has been the odd vegetarian restaurant in Newcastle over the years, holding aloft every stereotype and cliché you could muster about the food -alfalfa bean sprouts anyone? - and their clientele. Most have forlornly limped along until finally being usurped by restaurants offering a good vegetarian option, whether good, bad or indifferent. That is, until the opening in 2002 of Sky Apple Café.
Until recently, it bore the moniker of Blue Apple Café, before a catering company of the same name in Bedfordshire took umbrage. However, despite remnants of it's ill-fated heritage still in evidence (namely the huge blue apple in the front window), the ceiling is all reminiscent of a slinky summer day, dappled by fluffy clouds and an enormous chandelier, so the new name fits perfectly. The owners have only recently flung the doors open to an evening crowd, with booze strictly on a bring-your-own basis, which, even with the £1 corkage per person, works out far cheaper than shelling out for some inferior plonk at inflated prices.
.....Visiting the restaurant with a committed meat eater and a vegetarian proved interesting. Ironically, the veggie struggled with the menu - his hatred of the majority of vegetables being a slight sticking point. We started with a phenomenal toad in the hole - a little on the doughy side, but with the luxurious filling of roasted artichoke, fennel and snippets of sweet carrot and peppers. Beautifully presented, the drizzle of onion gravy ensured that the dish wasn't too dry and the addition of a horseradish cream made it go with a swing.
My mushroom strudel was again superb. Two wraps of filo pastry encased earthy wild mushrooms and the odd walnut, which had been cooked with butter and white wine. A rich, red wine sauce gave the meal the gravitas it deserved. My friends Chinese-style noodles, stir fried with heaps of ginger and garlic, lifting assorted veggies from courgettes to bamboo shoots, dappled with cashew nuts for added texture and finished with a tangy citrus and five spice sauce, were perfect. The veggie eventually agreed to try the spinach tart with oven dried tomato and goats cheese and, although he admitted it was good, he wasn't keen on the chilli creme fraiche, which was too sweet and slightly overpowering.
The fab puddings were 70's throwbacks and as kitsch as the surroundings: passion fruit pavlova, apple and almond crumble and spicy upside-down cake, complete with glacé cherries and chunks of pineapple.
The kitchen, headed by Andy Young (former head chef at Blah Blah Blah in Shepherds Bush and the Gate in Hammersmith), is assured and inventive - yet it seems the menu is as much for him as it is the diners, lifting it head and shoulders above the norm. Don't be fooled by the friendly and fairly blasé attitude the café quite rightly exudes. This is a tight operation providing some of the best food- vegetarian or otherwise - i've had in a long time.
Bev Stephenson
21/01/2004
Here's an apple as big as the sky
Please don't accuse me of being sexist or teenager-ist, but there is a tendency in adolescent girls to convert, for a while, to vegetarianism.
It often follows a realisation that all those Sunday roasts were once gambolling, rooting or pecking away until they ended up on the family dinner table.
These novice vegans ascend to the moral high ground, looking loftily down as we continue to gnaw and chew our way through whole herds and flocks, and they delight in quorn bakes and lentil lasagne.
Obviously, this is a sweeping generalisation and more a reflection of what happened in our household than a universal trend. But during those soya bean years, my meaty dinners always looked a whole lot better than my daughter's nut roasts. It put me off vegetarian food so, imagine my joy when my companion said she had found a wonderful little veggie café for us to visit for a healthy lunch.
As you know, it's difficult to dissuade her when she's on a roll so I tagged along - we all have to do these things now and then.
Sky apple café in Heaton, Newcastle, doesn't look much from the outside, but inside the quirky, cloudscape walls juxtaposed with a grandiose chandelier, established it's light hearted character and put the start of smile on my face.
An eclectic mix of kitchen chairs, scrubbed tables, with vases of fresh tulips, were packed into this cosy space. The waitresses breezed around, delivering delicious salads and steaming bowls of hearty soup. Loads of people were already enjoying their lunches. I am informed this is where you come to escape the sandwich-at-the-computer- keyboard experience that's become the dismal excuse for lunch hour these days.
SAC provides a proper interval in the working day - a place for friends to meet, with or without children, for families to have a daytime chat and colleagues to avoid the hustle.
The menu has lots to choose from, ranging from light meals, such as jacket potatoes and toasted ciabattas, some with cheekily named Fakin' bacon and cheatin' ham, to the more substantial end with chilli non carne and various Mexican dishes involving refried beans, tortillas and nachos. I decided Caribbean curry with pinapple fritters and a glass of Seville orange jigger would do me, while my companion went for Hummous burrito and apple juice.
The order was sent to the kitchen, seemingly situated in the cellar, preceded by a muted bellow of "Hello, chef", then "One hummous, one curry!". A few minutes later the waitress swept round the corner with two huge plates piled high. The curry consisted of chunky slices of courgette, aubergine, carrot, peppers and bananas all glossed with an aromatic, coconutty, creamy, spicy sauce that was bursting with the fresh flavours of lemon grass and coriander. I've rarely tasted anything so good that didn't have a chunk of meat somewhere. If you wanted a fiercer burn for your maoney, the chef laid down a challenge of half a seeded chilli on the basmati rice. I considered but thought the better of it....
....Meanwhile my companion was tucking into her hummous burrito with gusto. The oven roasted, caramelised vegetables and creamy hummous were wrapped in a flour tortilla dressed with a technicolour splash of salsa and cheddar. If this wasn't enough, there was a selection of salads, each tastier than the last. My favourite - yes I claimed reviewers rights - was the carrot, orange and black mustard seed. So much taste and imagination, and so much of it.
I was too full for dessert, but then saw Belgian waffles with walnut ice cream and maple syrup. My companion chose apricot, orange and ginger crumble with custard. We felt like naughty children. We knew we shouldn't but we did it anyway. The waffle/walnut/maple combination worked wonderfully well: too well. and I finished the lot. It would have been bad manners to leave any when the chef had gone to the bother of making virtually everything himself and so well.
The crumble defeated my companion - well, the last third did. There was a distinct easing of belts as we paid the bill of £22.80 and headed for the car.
It's experiences like this that redefine the term "vegetarian" for me. I'd happily go again but, learning from this experience, next time i'll share the pudding.
Geoff Laws
03/06/2005
