Stirks Italian Steakhouse opens inside Belmont pub near Durham City

The Belmont, now incorporating Stirks Italian Steakhouse, reopened this week after months of planning and a number of false starts caused by the Covid pandemic.

The Northern Echo had a first-look at the venue near Durham City and spoke to the familiar face behind what is one of the area's latest eateries to open.

Read more: Take a look inside Durham City's newest venue: The Butcher's Deli

Hoping to offer something for everyone, the pub has been transformed to include a bar, with ales from across the globe, and a restaurant promising food "made with care."

Pub manager Alex Tunstall, who joined the pub in Belmont in July last year Pictures: JIM SCOTT 

Achieving a cosmopolitan yet contemporary look, The Belmont has been completely refurbished inside and out with some of its traditional features preserved.

With capacity to seat 100 in the bar, and 70 in its restaurant once social distancing measures are relaxed, the venue is also set to see a beer garden in coming weeks.

A total of 20 full and part-time jobs have also been created in the relaunch, with the pub spearheaded by manager, Alex Tunstall.

Mr Tunstall said the bar stocks a range of ales from across the globe, something done in a bid to appeal to everyone

The brainchild of Sunderland-man John Stirk, who last month unveiled The Butcher's Deli on Saddler Street, more than £250,000 has been spent on the overhaul.

Mr Stirk, who owns the Broadway Pub Co, told The Echo he had been "extremely proud" to see his project come to fruition, while admitting it had been his "biggest" yet.

He made the comments as he revealed the venue had only managed to trade for around three months out of the fifteen he had owned the site.

The pub's design has been likened to a 'city centre' venue, while bosses say they have introduced a series of picture-perfect spaces

Mr Stirk said: "We'd originally planned to open on March 23 last year, but that was the night Boris shut the pubs down – we'd had the restaurant ready, the stock and the food.

"We'd only been in the pub for six or seven weeks and didn't even get the chance to do anything to it – the walls came crashing down."

The restaurant area will be able to seat 70 people once social distancing measures are relaxed in coming months 

Deciding to open for a brief period of time over the last summer period as a 'pop-up' steakhouse before closing for the major refurb, the now overhauled pub was again unable to reopen on two further occasions.

Mr Stirk said: "We did a pop-up restaurant in summer, it was a really successful project from July to September, up until we closed for the refurb.

"We had planned to reopen in October, but then we had the second national lockdown - we were then ready to open in December, but then Boris announced more restrictions."

A huge floral feature has been installed in the centre of the newly-refitted restaurant area 

But after unveiling the refurbished premises to the public for the first time on Monday, Mr Stirk said months of uncertainty had paid off as he described a sense of pride.

He said: "The reaction was amazing on Monday, really positive - all the comments were just amazing, all the social media comments were food.

"The food element of things was absolutely perfect, and I have to say we have got an amazing kitchen team."

A selection of dishes which have now been added the the menu at the steakhouse 

"We created 20 jobs during the pandemic - it's been an interesting project, but the reaction of the customers on Monday said it all for me.

"To be able to open two independent businesses during the pandemic is a great thing and I'm really proud of it."

Vowing to consign the effects of lockdown restrictions to history, Mr Stirk remained confident that the delayed relaunch would prove a future success.

He added: "This is absolutely the road to recovery and we will recover, and we will do what we need to do then we will kick on."

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