Focus Dinner with Terry Laybourne, My Life in Hospitality

For a restaurateur who’s a reluctant businessman Terry Laybourne is also a rare breed in having stayed at the top of his game for 25 years.

Driven by a desire to do something different, his impact has gone way beyond running first his own restaurant and now 21 Hospitality Group – he has also changed entire perceptions of the North East culinary scene.

The Group – Café 21 and Caffe Vivo on Newcastle Quayside, Café 21 in Fenwicks, Jesmond Dene House Hotel restaurant, and Bistro 21 in Durham – has become embedded in the eating out landscape of the region, while Terry himself is heralded as the grand master.

He brought the first Michelin star to the North East, in 1992, was awarded the MBE in 1999 for his contribution to the restaurant industry and given a lifetime achievement accolade in the 2007 Northern Hospitality Awards.

Yet he has never rested on his laurels. The same spirit and intuition that led him to open 21 Queen Street, in Newcastle, in 1988, has served him well as the business has continued to adapt, expand and innovate. It’s little wonder that his restaurants are often named among the favourites of high profile figures in the North East.

Though modest about his own achievements, Terry is a huge advocate of local producers featuring many local sourced ingredients in his menus, and an inspiration to countless young chefs.

His own career began in earnest not by accident, but because of an accident. It was while recuperating from major injuries sustained when a car pulled out in front of his motorbike, that the then apprentice chef learned cookery theory in depth. His career took him to the Channel Islands, Germany and Switzerland before he came home and began feeding the region.

An appetising story over a fabulous dinner – naturally – and in great company, this promises to be a very tasty event. Don’t be late, and book now.