An Evening Worth Turning Up For: Ian McAndrew

The Chefs’ Stage: Newcastle, June 2026

Not because I don’t enjoy cooking for people, obviously. That’s still the point of all of it. But the format matters. Sit me in front of a camera crew or ask me to do something with a caption and a ring light, and you’ll get a very unhappy Yorkshireman. Put me in a kitchen with a decent brief and the right people behind me, and it’s a different story entirely.

The Chefs’ Stage at The Green Room in Newcastle is the right kind of evening. Intimate. No nonsense. The food does the talking, which is how it should be.

The menu is the sort of thing I enjoy cooking: a seared scallop with cauliflower in several textures (it’s a more interesting vegetable than people give it credit for, and the timing has to be right or the whole thing falls apart), a chicken and lobster sausage (technically demanding and properly satisfying when it works), and a cannon of lamb with asparagus, which is exactly what June in Britain should taste like. We’re running a carrot sorbet as a palate reset in the middle because it works and because carrots in late spring have a sweetness people tend to forget about.

The dessert is a vanilla parfait with fennel and lemon meringues, raspberries, and honeycomb. Not overly complicated, not trying to be clever. Balanced.

We’ll start with house made breads and a selection of artisan butters, because that’s how a meal ought to begin. Before the courses arrive, you should already know whether the kitchen cares.

The evening is at The Green Room at the Theatre Royal, 100 Grey Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Arrival is at 6.30pm on Friday the 19th of June. It’s an intimate sitting, so the numbers are limited, and I’d say book sooner rather than later if you’re thinking about it.

Tickets are at: Theatre Royal

I’ll also be bringing copies of my autobiography, Just Call Me Chef, on the night. If you’ve been meaning to get hold of one, it’s a reasonable opportunity. I’ll sign it if you ask nicely.

I’m looking forward to it. Which is not something I say lightly.