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Join us at Bede's World this festive season and sample one of the delicious Christmas meals served in the attractive restaurant, set in Jarrow Hall, an elegant Georgian Grade-II listed building. The unique setting and festive atmosphere offers the ideal location to get together with family, friends and colleagues to start your Christmas Celebrations.
This year's festive celebrations sees the introduction of a stunning new evening menu, which is guaranteed to leave you spoilt for choice. Served on the 15th, 20th & 21st December, the menu offers traditional Christmas favourites such as Roast Turkey will all the trimmings, as well as culinary delights including Sirloin Steak with black pudding and Bede Ale sauce and Guinea Fowl Supreme, with pork, caramelised orange and ginger stuffing. If that's not enough, what better way to finish your meal, than to have the choice of six mouth-watering desserts? The desserts include the ever-popular Christmas pudding, as well as other favourites, such as Crème brulee, profiteroles and chocolate mousse.
However, if you are looking for an alternative to evening festivities, they are also offering a sumptuous 2-course Christmas lunch, which is available from 1st - 20th December.
Culture Club members can enjoy 10% discount off the evening meal menu. To avoid disappointment, advanced booking is required for the festive evening menu (and is also advised for the Christmas lunch menu). To make a booking or enquire about dates, please contact Bede's World on 0191 489 2106 and quote Culture Club offer.
In true festive style we have teamed up with Bede’s World to give one lucky Culture Club member the chance to win a Christmas meal for 4 people.
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Tavistock Brasserie is the latest venture from North East bar and hotel company, Tavistock Leisure Ltd.
Tavistock currently owns properties across the region but has now fulfilled a dream to open up on Tyneside, taking over the former Casa site at 57-60 Sandhill, Quayside. The renovation has taken four months to complete at a cost of £1.8m.
The result is an elegant and sumptuously designed restaurant and bar. The venue has clearly defined areas such as a lounge den with a stage and a baby grand piano – once owned by Jools Holland. Other areas include the main bar which blends into the restaurant/bistro seamlessly, and a basement ante room. The whole venue oozes luxury, style and sophistication.
The menu offers something for everyone with starters such as spicy fillet of beef salad, serrano ham and fresh peaches or scottish smoked salmon. Amongst the main courses are pan-fried calves liver with crispy bacon and a red onion jus, seared breast of duck with girottine cherries or fillet of monkfish wrapped in parma ham and served with a curried mussel and coriander broth. Desserts include orange and ginger crème brulee with biscotti and chocolate pancakes filled with caramelized bananas and ice cream.
To celebrate the opening of Tavistock, Culture Club members are being offered a great 2 for 1 deal on Tavistock’s set Christmas Lunch Menu, starting today and running until Friday December 22nd.
Tavistock Restaurant Bar and Grill, Watergate Building, 57-60 Sandhill, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3RG Tel 0191 222 0164
Christmas is a time for giving and The Journal Culture Club are happy to announce they have teamed up with the nice people at Blackwood Distillers to offer you £2 off any of their selection of premium spirits at Fenwick’sWine & Spirits shop until January 31, 2006.
Blackwood Distillers have gained an excellent reputation for producing innovative and unique spirits since their inception in 2002 and have released 6 new exciting products onto the market. Based in Shetland, Blackwood Distillersare one of the few truly independent spirit companies currently operating with a desire to create products that really reflect the provenance of Shetland.
A strikingly beautiful set of islands, Shetland is found sandwiched between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean (over 12 hrs from Aberdeen by boat) and is at the mercy of mother nature as the fierce sea and winds beat down upon the cliffs populated by the local lovable puffins. It is here that the botanicals are hand picked each year to bring you Blackwood Distillers Vintage Gin, a gold medal winning (World Spirits Award 2006) small batch distilled gin. Containing Meadow Sweet, Sea Pink and Wild Water Mint these local botanicals create a complex and well balanced gin which should appeal to all you gin aficionados out there looking for a modern twist on a classic style.
For the serious gin drinker you can also indulge in the 60% Limited Edition Gin that comes individually numbered and contains a set of Shetland botanical seeds! At the higher abv the 60% creates a strong citrus fresh sensation on the palate and mixes beautifully in cocktails, tonic water or even over crushed ice.
Also available at Fenwick’s are JAGO’s and JAGO’s Love (a strawberry version of the original. Created by drinks guru Tom Jago (creator of Baileys) JAGO’s is another product highlighting Blackwood Distillers commitment to producing innovative provident drinks. Using fresh cream from a happy herd of cows from Ayrshire (Scotland) and blended with fresh vanilla and Blackwood Nordic Vodka, JAGO’s can be enjoyed over ice, drizzled over your hot Christmas desserts or perhaps in a liqueur coffee or hot chocolate!
Created and directed by women, Blackwood Distillers also produce the world’s most glamorous vodka with the launch of DIVA. Aesthetically stunning, each gem stone filtered bottle of DIVA contains a column of Swarovski gems and makes the perfect gift for yourself or the diva in your life! DIVA is now in it’s third season following DIVA Debut and DIVA Loves You and is known as DIVA Showgirl which is full of deep purple and reds and radiates luxury and indulgence.
Blackwood Distillers will be sampling all their products in store on Monday 18th December from lunch time onwards if you would like to try any of the above items.
For more information on any of the products please feel to visit us on www.blackwoodsgin.com or www.divavodka.com or alternatively www.blackwooddistillers.com
Have a merry Christmas!
Our recent Blue Planet competition was so popular we’ve managed to cook up this fantastic festive treat for 10 Culture Club members and their guests. Lucky members will be treated to supper at new restaurant, Strada on December 29, followed by a visit to the Metro Radio Arena to see Blue Planet Live.
Located in the brand new development on Old Eldon Square Blackett Street, new restaurant Strada offers diners a contemporary and stylish setting in which to enjoy a break from shopping or exploring the city or indeed a pre-theatre supper.
Made using only the finest fresh ingredients, notable dishes include southern Italian risotto with seafood, whole seabass roasted on the bone stuffed with thyme and fennel served with lemon and roasted cubetti potatoes; and pan roasted fillet of beef with a creamy shallot and green peppercorn sauce.
Integral to the unique Strada offering is their pizza - each theatrically spun by hand. Strada serves purely regional Italian wines as well as beers and spirits. In addition every table receives complimentary bottled purified water.
Strada is open daily from 12 noon - 11pm and 12noon -10.30pm on Sunday. Call 0191 261 6070 or visit www.strada.co.uk for further details.
The Blue Planet Live! Is an innovative concert based on the multi-award winning BBC series.
Captivating swathes of stunning sequences from David Attenborough's series will be synchronised with George Fenton's emotional and outstanding musical score. The Oscar-nominated composer will conduct a 76-piece orchestra beneath one of the biggest screens ever used in the UK!
One of the BBC Natural History Unit's most popular series, The Blue Planet was created in 2001, winning countless awards. Its successor Planet Earth, produced by the same team, can currently be seen on BBC channels.
Tickets normally cost £26.50 (£19.50 concessions) plus booking fee and are available by calling (0871) 230-2610 (24 hours) or Picadilly box office (0161) 832 1111. For more information visit
www.theblueplanetlive.com
Red Box Gallery is pleased to offer 10% off for Culture Club members for two weeks from December 11 to 22, 2006. If you are looking for a really special and original gift this Christmas, why not come along and have a look?
‘Sea’, paintings and drawings by Virginia Bodman and Robert Soden is showing at Red Box Gallery until January 12, 2007
This current show at Red Box Gallery is as dramatic and varied as its title might suggest. The main gallery provides a spectacular opportunity for four huge canvases by Virginia Bodman to be shown together, while elsewhere Robert Soden’s coastal watercolours and prints are shown against a more intimate backdrop.
Robert Soden describes himself as “a painter of contemporary themes in the tradition of Cotman, Girton and Turner”. He works entirely out of doors. Close study of the coastal subjects included in this exhibition allows Soden to observe the weather at it’s most volatile. Bob Johnson, the Tyne Tees weatherman said, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Robert Soden has done something; he has captured the colours and the landscapes of our Great British weather”. The paintings in this exhibition allow us to enjoy the magnificent skies that can be seen off the coasts of the North East, Suffolk, Somerset and East Sussex.
Virginia Bodman’s work responds to the physicality and presence of the sea. Three of the four works on show at the Red Box Gallery are based on charcoal rubbings, that she made directly onto canvas, from wave formations left by the receding sea on the beaches at Spittal, near Berwick-on-Tweed and The Bents, Sunderland. These rubbings or traces are later developed in the studio where the raw marks suggest ways forward, gradually evolving into new and sometimes exotic forms. In the work ‘Seapieces’ she introduces elements of painting including coloured panels and painted images of seaweed and fruit. In the painting ‘Beach’ keepsakes from a day spent by the sea are closely observed and, through the use of luminous colour, are given new spatial contexts.
Here then are two complimentary points of view. Robert shows us the grandeur of the bigger picture albeit on a small scale and Virginia, whose initial contact with the sea is more intimate, presents us with dramatic, enveloping forms developed from the energy and potential of the natural world.
Red Box Gallery is located at St Nicholas Chare, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 1RJ and is open from 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Thursday. Access is via Red Box intercom at gated entrance to the left of the Old Post Office building, opposite the West door of St Nicholas Cathedral. For more information please call 0191 245 7121 or email sarah.furniss@redboxgallery.com
Red Box Gallery is part of the Own Art Scheme. For more information please visit www.artscouncil.org.uk/ownart
On Thursdays December 7, 14 and 21, 2006 the Biscuit Factory art Gallery will stay open until 10p.m. In their beautiful building, surrounded by cutting edge art, you are sure to find that special present. Whether you look for a painting, a print, a sculpture, ceramics, glass, or a piece of jewellery, you know that you will have found a unique present. Information on the artist will make your present even more special. Prices start from £5 and they also run a very popular gift voucher scheme.
Everyone who attends one of the late shopping nights gets a glass of mulled wine, and if you buy something you can take advantage of the free gift wrapping service.
Culture Club members will also receive 5% discount on ceramics, glass and jewellery on the night and a voucher that entitles you to a free cup of coffee or tea with any food purchase in Byker Vista Cafe.
Shop your socks off and sizzle your senses for 5 days in Morocco’s famous pink city with Real World Journeys. What better way to kick off Christmas?
Marrakech is definitely the place to shop! You will see woodcarvers at work, meet artisans crafting a feast of fabulous footwear, find fantastic fashion accessories, belts, bags and travel trunks, jewellery you’ll dribble over, lanterns in leather, scintillating ceramics, perfumed secrets from the Sahara - we could go on and you will certainly want to! We’ll also show you how to bargain, too, and give you a bit of help with the language.
Combine this intoxicating colourful mix with great food, an optional sightseeing programme and included visits to Marrakech’s famous 14th century Koranic learning school and the beautiful Ouled Bousbaa carpet workshop near Marrakech - and you have the makings of an unforgettable 5 days. You may also end up with some very special Christmas presents for your family, friends – oh, and possibly for you. All you need is an empty suitcase.
The trip takes place from Saturday December 2nd to Wednesday Dcember 6th and includes:
Return scheduled flights (departures from Gatwick), all UK and overseas airport taxes, transfers between airport and hotel, services of a Real World Journeys British staff member, four nights B & B accommodation, first night dinner, visit to Ben Youssef Medersa and a day visit to Kacem’s Carpet Workshop.
The trip normally costs £399 but Culture Club members can save £20 each and book for only £379 per person.
Fancy a break from the hustle and bustle or pre Christmas shopping? Sit down with a good book in good company and a glass of something good. This month the Journal Culture Club Book Group with Amelia Joicey is reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This book was chosen as the Penguin/Orange Reading Group Book of the Year 2006.
Information below is taken from is provided by bookgroup.info.
Synopsis:
Winter, 1975: Afghanistan — a country hidden in the corner of Asia, ruled over by a fading monarchy on the verge of an internal coup. But in Kabul, twelve-year-old Amir has his own concerns. He is desperate to win the annual kite-fighting tournament to prove to his father that he has the makings of a man. Amir’s friend Hassan is a low-caste Muslim and the son of a crippled servant but nevertheless the two boys play together and defend each other against the neighbourhood’s bullies. However, during the tournament, Amir takes advantage of Hassan’s guileless devotion and commits a terrible act of betrayal which is to shatter their lives and define their future.
Amir finds that he can never escape the far-reaching consequences of his actions. Unfolding against Afghanistan’s destructive history, from the fall of the monarchy to the terrifying oppression of the Taliban, The Kite Runner is the breathtaking story of fathers and sons, friendship and redemption, and, most horrifyingly, the casualties of fate.
Reviews:
‘A devastating, masterful and painfully honest story of a life crippled by an act of childhood cowardice and cruelty ... although The Kite Runner is told with simplicity and poise, it is a novel of great hidden intricacy and wisdom, like a timeless Eastern tale. It speaks the most harrowing truth about the power of evil, personal and political, and intoxicates, like a high-flying kite, with the power of hope’ — Daily Telegraph
'As Hosseini’s narrative gathers pace, his sparkling descriptions of people, places and emotions never dry up. Hosseini is a truly gifted teller of tales — he knows that his story is an old one, but he also knows that it’s a good one, and he’s not afraid to pull every string in your heart to make it sing' — The Times
‘Written with the intimate, inside knowledge of Afghan society the handling of the father-son relationship ... rings true with tenderness and truth. But it is Hassan's silent, sacrificial love that will bring the lump to your throat’ — Daily Mail
See http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/1413 for more information or to buy.
DATE: Weds 6th Dec
LOCATION: The Salsa Club, 89, Westgate Rd, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 4AE. Tel: 0191 2211022
TIME: 6pm to 7.30pm
COST: £3.50 to include a drink and snack. Payable on the night.
BOOK ACQUISITION: Readers are expected to source their own copy of the book. Newcastle and Gateshead libraries both have multiple copies. Most major retailers have special offers on this novel.
IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND BUT DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT …
Most public libraries in Tyne Wear run a variety of reading groups, call in to find out what’s available near you.
Alternatively there are several online reading groups run by publishers and individuals, a search engine will list the majority. Try http://www.bookgroup.info/041205/index.ph
Following last year’s record-breaking production of BABES IN THE WOOD, The Newcastle Pantomime Company is back by popular demand at The Journal Tyne Theatre promising a panto that is bigger, better and funnier than ever before! This year, it is the turn of Dick Whittington – but will he find that the streets of Newcastle are paved with gold?
The Newcastle Pantomime Company showcases the very best of comic talent in the North East, led by actor and comedian Brendan Healy, colourful comic duo Maxie & Mitch and singer and comedienne Stephanie Constable.
Brendan and the team promise yet again to amuse thousands of pantogoers with their hilarious antics. This year they have more amazing tricks up their sleeves and with walk on appearances by mystery celebrities this promises to be home grown panto at its very best!
As an early Christmas present we are offering Culture Club members the opportunity to attend the Pantomime on Friday 8th December at 7pm - free of charge! And after the show you will have drinks with the cast and have a tour backstage at The Journal Tyne Theatre to see what happens behind the scenes!
Leslie Bricusse's spectacular Christmas extravaganza SCROOGE – THE MUSICAL comes to the Sunderland Empire on Tuesday 5 December and Culture Club members can get into the festive spirit with a Christmas cracking 2 for 1 ticket offer to see this magical show in its opening week!
Following a sell-out season in the West End at London’s most famous theatre, SCROOGE THE MUSICAL returns bigger and better than ever. Produced by Bill Kenwright and the creative team behind blockbuster musicals including Blood Brothers, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Whistle Down the Wind and Jesus Christ Superstar, SCROOGE is a heart-warming family musical based on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol.’ Featuring spectacular sets and costumes, specially created illusions by magician Paul Kieve, responsible for the magical effects in the Harry Potter films and packed with memorable songs and classic characters, SCROOGE is the ideal Christmas treat! Scrooge runs until Saturday January 13, 2006.
Starring TV favourite Michael Barrymore and Hi-De-Hi star Barry Howard, don't miss Ebenezer, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, and a whole host of timeless Dickensian characters in this magical, award-winning international smash-hit musical!
Culture Club members can see SCROOGE THE MUSICAL at the Sunderland Empire with a fantastic 2 for 1 ticket offer, on performances from Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 December (Tickets £9.50-£35.00).
Amidst the silence of the dusty books, something magical is about to happen…
This December, award winning dance company balletLORENT invite you into a labyrinth of secret dreams and fears, with the premiere of their new production, Angelmoth.
A fantasy for all ages, Angelmoth is the fairytale story of Pippanouska and the regular customers who visit the library that she works in. They each undergo breathtaking transformations as they encounter the Angelmoth, an ethereal butterfly-like creature who leads them on a fantastical journey of escapism and wonder.
Angelmoth will be performed in DanceCity's dance lab between the 13th and 16th of December and promises to be an unforgettably magical performance for all ages. Angelmoth offers itself as a unique alternative to other theatrical options over the winter period and is a great opportunity for a spellbinding family event.
Costumes for Angelmoth will be designed and created by couture designer and long-term balletLORENT collaborator Paul Shriek. In addition, Liv Lorent has teamed up with award winning set designer Phil Eddolls and composer Andy Ross to create a mesmerizing theatrical experience. Be prepared to be swept away into a world of fantasy.
balletLORENT are giving Culture Club members the chance to get one free child’s ticket with the purchase of every adult ticket to attend the opening night premiere of Angelmoth on December 13th.
 
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