I'm saddened to report that the popular Jesmond Jazzerie and restaurant The Cherry Tree, is to close. They are accepting reservations and providing normal service until Saturday the 14th of October 2017. Their agents Knight Frank are presently inviting applications from parties interested in acquiring the property and it is understood that they have received interest from several parties. Anyone interested should contact Rebecca Maddison at Knight Frank tel. 0191 594 5006.
Owner, Peter Wardle, issued the following statement: "My staff and I have managed the restaurant for nearly eight years. There have been many, many great times and it has been our privilege to serve patrons from Newcastle, the North East and from around the world. Among the highlights has been hosting parties celebrating weddings, christenings, birthdays, 21st's, and various business meetings. One of the most unusual was a party for a couple celebrating paying off their mortgage! I am sure many families will have very happy memories of their gatherings at the restaurant."
Peter goes on to say:"A unique feature of the restaurant was presenting live music - traditionally solo artists at weekends and bands on Wednesday evenings. There have been many wonderful evenings with packed houses entertained by very talented musicians and vocalists. We have engaged performers from around the UK and more distant parts including New York and Washington DC."
(This I can attest to having witnessed some amazing performances in a unique atmosphere.)
Finally, Peter gave a personal thank you to all the customers who have supported him through the years and expressed the hope that The Cherry Tree would open again fairly soon.
(A hope I wholeheartedly go along with.)
He concluded with: My very best wishes to you all, stay well, stay safe.
Lance
He concluded with: My very best wishes to you all, stay well, stay safe.
Peter Wardle
Thank you, Peter, for your kind hospitality and the wonderful food and the jazz we both love.Lance
5 comments :
how sad to see this close. It was always my hope to have joined in at one of those evenings, as Lance described the food and ambience so well. It seemed that the music & dining out experience were a winning combination.
so sad to hear but can understand Peters problem-
he was always a supporter of jazz & a very generous host. Thank you for your marvellous efforts & all the very best from Bill & Anne Harper
Yes, Peter put his money where his mouth is...
Re above comment - no pun intended!
Having lived in Jesmond for many years we were well used to the inverse relationship between the quantity of restaurants and their quality: from the expensively average to the pretty mediocre and enough pizza joints to pave the road from Newcastle to Rome twice over with margheritas and marinaras. Therefore we couldn’t believe our luck when Peter Wardle opened The Cherry Tree restaurant just around the corner with an incredible initial offer of two courses of excellent food for £10 and free jazz. And it quickly became clear that Peter was a committed jazz fan so this wasn’t just a restaurant with jazz, this was a jazz club. He engaged all the best local musicians and singers, often in a variety of different creative combinations. In fact it was almost the ‘regular’ haunt of the North-East saxophone great, the elusive Lewis Watson, who I saw there at least three times. Later, as it became established, there were fine jazz artists from across the country and even further afield. One of the great things about the jazz nights at The Cherry Tree was that it managed to cater for both jazz fans and regular diners, so that on most occasions both could enjoy their evenings in peaceful harmony.
Having tried eating in numerous jazz clubs in different countries over the years, Ronnie Scott’s joke about his own club’s food when recommending it to his audiences was that “50,000 flies can’t be wrong!” and in our experience this often turned out not to be so far off the mark. However the Cherry Tree was the exception, always providing excellent food at reasonable prices to go with the music.
So much appreciation to Peter Wardle for providing such a great combination of food and music and, of course, a big shout out to the chefs and staff who helped to make the place work so well, particularly the delightful Lavinia from Trieste who always gave us a great welcome.
We’re sad that the Cherry Tree is gone but is was great while it lasted!
JC
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