A TASTE of the exotic will arrive in Darlington this autumn when the first African restaurant opens in the town.

Zimbabwe-born Dean Blumears and his mother are due to open their new restaurant, Landela, which will serve food from Mozambique.

Mr Blumears, who has been in the restaurant trade for nine years, came to this country with his wife, Lindsay, and their two children, three years ago, settling in Darlington, where his wife's parents live.

He said: "It's different because it's Mozambican and it's the only restaurant in Darlington from an African country. We hope that's going to be the draw in the beginning and that people will come back because of the service and hospitality."

Owing to its colonial history, Mozambican cuisine contains flavours from around the world as well as a strong Portuguese influence, with sea food used extensively, probably because of the country's long stretch of coastline.

The restaurant's speciality will be piri piri chicken - chicken marinated in a special chilli pepper sauce then grilled - with the menu also featuring prawns, lobster and Portuguese-style sardines, as well as peppered steak and traditional English roast on Sundays.

Customers will also be able to try an authentic Malawi shandy - a non-alcoholic drink enjoyed by African fishermen.

Although the menu has a flavour of the sub-tropics, the chef employed will be local and will have the opportunity to learn new skills.

"We want to employ someone from the North-East," said Mr Blumears. "The guy training the new chef worked for my mum for 14 years, he's part of the family, but he has settled in London. He's coming up for a month to train the new chef."

In total, the restaurant will employ a full-time staff of about six plus casual labour on weekends.

The restaurant is being decorated to match the food, with many pieces from Darlington shop Drum, which sells curios from Africa.

Landela will open this autumn in the former Oldfield's restaurant beside the ring road in Kendrew Street.

It will be open lunchtimes and evenings, Tuesdays to Saturdays, lunchtimes only on Sundays, but will close on Mondays.