Kindred Is Darlington's Cosy New Home of Italian-Style Cooking

Organic wines and hearty Italian nosh has come to Cleveland Street.
Tom Clift
May 16, 2016

Darlington's gone and got itself a cosy new neighbourhood restaurant and we can't wait to give it a try. Located on Cleveland Street, Kindred is the brainchild of chef Matt Pollock, who spent more than a year renovating the 45-seat space before starting service late last week. If the food is halfway as good as it sounds, it'll have been time well spent.

"The food is based in Italian, but it's not strictly Italian," says restaurant manager Jen Burley. The resulting menu is small but appealing. Starters such as warm country terrine with onion relish, green lentil and black garlic, and smoked chicken liver parfait served on sourdough with peach chutney, precede heartier mains like ricotta and chard ravioli with pangrattato, and braised lamb with pappardelle and green olives. Just make sure you leave room for chocolate tart with poached quince and crème fraiche, or fig and walnut sourdough pudding with banana gelato and caramel.

We focus on #homemade products. Striving to make everything #inhouse and #ethical

A photo posted by Kindred 🌿 (@kindred_restaurant) on

Another tick is that everything, from the pasta to the bread to the cultured butter, is made on site, while produce is sourced from local suppliers. The wine list, meanwhile, is "about 95 per cent organic, bio or natural," and is bolstered by a selection of spirits overleaf.

Kindred can be found at 137 Cleveland Street, Darlington. They're open from 5pm Tuesday through Sunday. For more information visit Kindred's website.

Published on May 16, 2016 by Tom Clift
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