Northumberland's Pine has been named among the top European restaurants by the Opinionated About Dining (OAD) guide.
On the morning of June 18, the team was elated to find out that they had been included in the annual European restaurant list.
With a ranking of 195 out of 555 restaurants from across Europe, Pine celebrated being the highest placed venue from the region.
They were followed closely by the Black Swan at Oldstead and The Angel at Hetton, ranking at 196 and 198 respectively.
OAD's list was conceived in 2004 by New Yorker Steve Plotnicki, a music business entrepreneur.
Originally, his aim was simply to document his personal dining experiences, but he soon realised many others were equally dissatisfied with the reliability of many dining guides.
Consequently, in 2007, Mr Plotnicki sent an email survey to 175 people, and thus the collaborative dining guide took its form.
Today, input comes from more than 6,000 foodies and destination diners who annually contribute to around 200,000 reviews between them.
Their varied backgrounds include food writers, IT experts, chefs, wholesalers, and even fashion industry stalwarts, all bound by a shared love for food.
With their contributions, OAD lists 2,800 dining spots globally, ranging from street food vendors to the most ambitious restaurants.
Pine's chef-owner, Cal Byerley, and front-of-house manager and co-owner, Sian Byerley, said: "2024 is turning out to be a good year.
"We raised a whopping £82,000 for Cancer Research UK with BiteBack, Vanessa our Head Sommelier has been listed among the top 100 sommeliers in the UK, and Pine was listed at number 12 in the Top 100 UK restaurants at the National Restaurant Awards.
"And now we’ve found out that we’re the top-ranked restaurant in the region in the OAD European dining list is a bit nuts.
"All of these successes are down to every single member of the team and it’s their efforts day in and day out that bring rewards like these and we really can’t thank them all for what they do.’’
For more details about the full Opinionated About Dining European Restaurant List for 2024, visit OAD's official website.
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