Sweet Treats at the Theatre Royal

In between sampling some of Newcastle's finest restaurants for Restaurant Week, I also managed to slip in an early birthday present at the Theatre Royal this week. The Scottish Ballet were bringing their topsy-turvy fairytale world of Hansel and Gretel to town and I couldn't wait!

I've enjoyed going to the ballet ever since I was little, and that's all thanks to my Nanna, who insisted my older sister and I had to experience it at least once. I remember my first glimpse of a prima ballerina in The Nutcracker - utterly enthralled by the way she moved her body and tip-toed across the stage underneath a sky of gently falling snowflakes. My eyes darted from left to right following her sparkly tutu as it caught the light and I tapped my feet excitedly to the music from the orchestra; it was like I was under a spell. Although I didn't understand much about the story or the complex moves, the costumes, the set and the music kept me entertained.

So from that year on it became a tradition that Nanna and I would go see the ballet every Christmas and I saw them all as I got older - Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, A Midsummer's Night's Dream... dressed in my best ballerina-style outfit and usually sat on my nanna's knee because I was too small to see over the person in front. So this year when she saw that Hansel and Gretel was coming to the Theatre Royal a few weeks before my birthday, Nanna surprised me with tickets.

Although I'll be 23 this birthday, old habits die hard and I still can't resist wearing my own ballerina-inspired outfit to the ballet. Since I'm definitely too old to pull off a Barbie pink tutu (oh the good old days), I payed homage to those perfect sparkly costumes with a little sparkly skirt of my own.

Settling down into our seats with some sweets and a programe, we waited for the magic to begin...

ACT 1

The story started with a gaggle of school children following their enchanting new teacher around during lessons, to which she rewarded them with an endless supply of lollipops. Suddenly, the children began to disappear one by one until there was only Hansel and Gretel left. Brother and sister decide to sneak away from their parents during the night and go in search of their missing friends.

Before long they run into an ominous looking gang called The Ravens who seem to be accompanying their old school teacher. Rewarded with a lollipop, Hansel and Gretel continue on their way into the deep, dark forest... The Ravens follow Hansel and Gretel into the woods where a beautiful woman (who looks suspiciously like their old schoolteacher) makes her dramatic entrance from the sky and bewitches them into a deep sleep.

 Whilst Hansel and Gretel are under their sleepy spell, a series of vivid dreams occur on stage in which Hansel and Gretel are reunited with their parents and attend a magical feast.

Tables, chairs, chandeliers and food floods the stage while the bewitching lady/schoolteacher dances amongst cakes, pies and OTHER sweet treats on a table laid before Hansel and Gretel. This was definitely my favourite scene, it was so reminiscent of Disney's Beauty and the Beast when the food and furniture come to life before Belle's eyes.

ACT 2

After a short interval we returned to our seats. The set looked incredible as the curtain swept back to reveal an enchanted forest of gumdrops, lollipops and sweets.

Suddenly I felt eight years old again, completely taken aback by this magical world in front of me - the dancers' incredible costumes caught my eye reminding me of dainty pink french fancies, while the music pulled me deeper into this fairytale world, rising to a crescendo as Hansel and Gretel discovered the wicked witch and her gingerbread house.

After finding himself locked in a tiny cage, Hansel must rely on Gretel to steal the key from the evil sleeping witch before plunging her in the hot oven. As Hansel and Gretel jumped for joy the audience couldn't help but laugh at the witch who kept banging dramatically on the oven door.

The performance was certainly a topsy-turvy affair, I thought it had a very Tim Burton vibe about it which I loved. Anyone who has ever seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will understand the strange beauty that Tim Burton brings to his stories. I liked the way Hansel and Gretel's heroic and innocent nature was juxtaposed by the grotesque witch and their chain smoking mother and drunk father who come on at the beginning.

There was definitely a Tim Burton/Alice in Wonderland vibe to the set too - from the oversized sweets that hung from the rafters, the gnarled, almost skeletal outline of trees that were constantly in the background and even the almost grotesque scene of sweets and cakes piled high as the evil witch danced among them taunting Hansel and Gretel. We both had a brilliant time, and I found myself wanting to become a ballerina all over again. Although I have the grace of an elephant I've missed my calling to become a prima ballerina, I have signed up to a ballet class for beginners! If you can't pretend to be a ballerina and dance around your house then when can you eh?

Did anybody else see the show? I'd love to know what you thought of it! 

Please Note: I do not own the copyright to any of the images of the actual performance, these have been taken from the Scottish Ballet website for the purposes of illustrating this blog post and copyright belongs to The Scottish Ballet/Andy Ross/Christina Riley. 

Welcome To Sausageville

As the first round of Restaurant Week 2014 dawned, it was clear that this year brought plenty of choices of where to spend your hard-earned cash. Having spent most of my mine in LA however, this meant I had to be extra scrupulous and choose wisely (damn it).

Although there are plenty of 'established' restaurants we'd like to try, the girls and I agreed that we wanted to try somewhere new, help boost a new, local business y'know, so it was decided that we would try wonderfully-named Sausage Emporium.

How better to banish those January blues than with your best friends, a bottle of wine and a plate of sausage and mash?

Despite it's simple sausage-only concept, I was pleased to see that the menu is so much more than 'sausage and mash'. With starters such as pulled pork with avocado and lime salsa, twice baked cheese souffle and oxtail wraps, there was plenty to keep us interested.

My pulled pork starter was more than generous in size and I thought the chipotle chilli ketchup on the side added some extra zing. Having helped myself to a bit of everyone else's starter too, I can confirm the twice baked cheese souffle was a light and fluffy cheesy delight, as was the 'gamey' tasting oxtail wrap.

Let there be wine!

The Sausage Emporium lives under Arch 6 of Westgate Road just a short walk from Central Station, so it's super easy to get to. The decor inside was cool and casual - we felt like we were sitting in a trendy tube station where we were sitting which was fun. The restaurant has two floors, an open kitchen and cosy booths downstairs, while upstairs houses a kitsch-inspired collection of mismatched, multi-coloured tables and chairs.

Happily, even the most discerning sausage-lover had plenty to choose from for their mains. We all tried to order something different: the sizzling thai sausage stuffed with lime, coriander and coconut, a traditional pork in cider sausage with creamy mash option and a veggie sausage of beetroot, lentil and mushroom served with crushed garlic new potatoes, spring onion and cabbage.

Ashamedly I didn't take any photos of our mains because I was completely distracted by this little cutie...

Hannah is the restaurant's five year old mascot and she just wanders round looking adorable while you eat, occasionally popping back downstairs to her basket to snooze. Naturally I was in love. 

Our main meals were really good, the sausages were fat and juicy, the mash creamy and delicious. My only niggle was the gravy. Although served in a cute little teapot topped with a crochet tea cosy, I would have liked it to have been thicker and meatier. 

If you're unfamiliar with the Restaurant Week rules then basically you can choose from two courses for £10, or three for £15. The better critics among us (ahem, Michelle and I) were the only ones who went for three courses, everyone else was too full to manage more. I was really looking forward to a decadent chocolate melt in the middle souffle, but sadly the other diners had beaten me to it, so I opted for the palate-cleansing lemon posset instead, while Michelle ordered a gargantuan slice of blueberry cheesecake.

It was half 10 by the time we said goodbye to Hannah the sausage dog, drained the last of our wine and headed out into the blustery January wind. We thoroughly enjoyed our night of sausage innuendos, good food and lots of laughs - thank you Sausage Emporium for your lovely food, laidback atmosphere and for letting me befriend your little dog. We'll be back!

**In case you didn't know, Restaurant Week has been extended for another week! So get yourselves down to the Sausage Emporium and tell me what you think at @chloeditorial