Walshaw: Mediterranean restaurant transformed from pub a hit

Olive Restaurant and Wine Bar on Hall Street in Walshaw opened its doors in April after being closed for nine months due to being rebranded from its old venue name, The Victoria.

Owner Mark Kenyon, 59, who has been in the industry for 40 years identified the premises as an ideal spot to open the eaterie.

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He said: “Within a five-mile radius of us there’s probably five or six Italian restaurants so it would’ve been quite easy to go down the Italian route.

“But we felt why not do something a bit more expansive like Mediterranean so we can do different cuisines.

“There was nothing like it in the area like a tapas restaurant so we felt it was a niche and we could focus on the Mediterranean theme.

“That was the primary reason to do something slightly different than just going with the norm and we also didn’t want to turn it back into a pub.”

Some of the dishes at the restaurant (Image: Mark Kenyon) Mark’s daughter Olivia, 24, is also heavily involved with the restaurant and was the inspiration for the name Olive Restaurant as well as it linking in the Mediterranean theme.

Mark credits Olivia for being his biggest motivation and inspiration to start the business.

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Although the restaurant has been open for six months, quite a few people in the area are still unaware it is open due to changes such as phone numbers and ways to contact the restaurant.

Despite this, Mark said that the feedback they have been receiving on the rebrand has been really positive.

He said: “It’s been a journey, we literally turned the place on its head.

“It was a pub with a pool table with a jukebox and we changed the whole concept.

“I know we’ve lost initially locals who would come in for a drink and we were focusing more on the food and the wine bar.

“That was the plan and what we’ve stuck to and the feedback we’ve been getting has been really positive.”

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The restaurant has created a relaxed, informal atmosphere.

Customers are able to visit for just a coffee or a drink and they take a lot of walk-ins alongside bookings.

The venue also caters for private functions including meetings and funerals.

Its largest function booking so far, which was a few weeks ago, has been for 150 people.

The restaurant is going from strength to strength with 200 people already being booked in for the Christmas menu.