Fisherman's Lodge restaurant has been sold

Sep 8 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

Mark Worley, licence negotiator with Christie and Co, of Newcastle, said: “We had a buyer lined up for months, but when this deal fell through we were asked to find another buyer and contacted Mr O’Kane. The deal was concluded within two weeks.”

The premises is owned by Newcastle City Council and the new owners will continue to pay the rent on the property.

Mr O’Kane, who has taken over the head chef duties, outlined his vision for the Fisherman’s Lodge. “At the moment some of the prices are more than double what we are aiming for.

“For example soup costs £14 at and it will be more in the region of £6. We will be looking at doing Sunday lunches for around £15, as well as Saturday brunches and early bird evening deals.

“There will also be scope to develop the wedding market and we will be looking at hosting fashion shows and cookery demonstrations.”

He added: “We want to make this a great restaurant again. The service is second to none and the setting is second to none and we are in the process of making the whole offering second to none once more.”

Previous owner Tom Maxfield helped build Sage into a FTSE 100 company before leaving to launch hotel and restaurant business Tom’s Companies. He told The Journal earlier this year: “I bought the Fisherman’s Lodge on a whim without any experience of the restaurant trade.

“I’m that kind of impulsive individual. We’ve owned it for nine years now, and that’s pretty much my level of attention, my threshold.”