It’s a very cold morning in the North East of England and foolishly I decided it’s a great time to go foraging for wild garlic. Up a hill. In the middle of Swaledale. 9am and 1ºC outside, what the fuck was I thinking? Well I was thinking of dinner, as I usually am. I have no one to blame but myself. #NoRegrets! 

Now I’m back in FoodieTartHQ raring to go. FoodieTart Thursdays are new so… welcome! Coming to terms with my mental health is something I’ve been struggling with fr sometime and I realised doing something day after day that I’m not passionate about was killing me. So I’m going to be here, or Instagram, or Twitter, every Thursday talking about food, maybe cooking something, maybe talking to someone else in the industry. (She says as if she’s already one of them)

Today I sat down to talk to Nick Grieves, Chef and Owner of The Patricia in Jesmond. 

Based in Jesmond, near Newcastle The Patricia boasts a seasonally changing menu or british food with a modern European influence and what has been said on Instagram as one of the best Sunday Lunches in the area. 

Throughout January and February The Patricia has hosted the “Chefs Table with a difference” at raising money for Mind, awareness for adult loneliness and spreading the message that it’s OK not to be OK. 

The idea was simple you book a table for 1 and a member of the kitchen will join you. It’s a place to talk to someone about anything and a chance to realise that whatever may be going on in your head, someone else may be going through it or has been through it and you can feel heard, judgement free, not feel alone and eat some top quality food.

The prospect of booking a table for one can be daunting, I for one am still new to the whole dining alone thing, and The Patricia has had a fair share of cancellations. 

“Some people are really struggling and just couldn’t bring themselves to walk in the door but they have an invitation to come in if they are struggling. We have one woman who was so nervous but she’s coming in next week to join us.” said Nick when asked how the reception has been.

The cause is something close to Nick and has been for sometime. “About 2 years ago I was going through probably the worst time of my life in terms of anxiety and depression. As with most of us we don’t realise how much we’re affecting our lives and those around us, it wasn’t until one night when my arm was tingling and all the signs pointed to a heart attack. Tests and ECGs were done an I was referred to a therapist for about 8 months. I’m not a professional and can’t speak for anyone else or there methods but if you are struggling, speaking to a professional helped me massively.” 

This isn’t the first time Nick has raised money for mind, sadly one of Nick’s friends sadly took her own life, as did Anthony Bourdain around the same time. The ‘Negroni for Tony’ was set up with all proceeds from this going to Mind too. 

On the attention received for the Chef’s Table with a difference, it’s bittersweet. “Obviously I’m grateful for the press, we’ve had the BBC here etc, but the fact someone willing to help someone in need rather than tear them down is newsworthy is unfortunate. As a chef we put ourselves out there with the end result being someone else’s happiness and being part of this industry is a good platform to reach a number of people. So far with the chefs table and our Just Giving page we’ve raised over £1,000 for mind and that’s pretty cool.”

Although the chef’s table ended in February, Nicks just giving page is still open so if you’d like to donate to Mind please follow the link below.

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/nick-grieves

If you do need need any information or advice you can check out www.mind.org.uk or if you just want to talk to someone my (virtual) door is always open and you can get in touch using any of the links at the bottom of the page.

XXX