Si King of Hairy Bikers announces restaurant venture

Celebrity TV chef and Hairy Biker Si King has announced plans to launch a new joint hospitality venture at Sheepfolds Stables in Sunderland. The concept is inspired by the nostalgia of "having a pie and pint before the match" but with a gourmet twist. 

King and his business partner Richard Marsden, managing director of Sheepfolds Stables developer Building Design Northern Ltd, plan to open 'PROPA!' – a restaurant and grab-and-go service serving affordable and hearty British comfort food. 

Located to the left of the courtyard in the existing stable buildings, the venue is expected to open by the end of the year or early 2025, with the first stages of the fit-out already underway. 

PROPA grub

The takeaway facility will offer external seating, an overhead canopy and a firepit. The menu will showcase a range of pies including steak and ale, corned beef, and cheese and onion, also offering sausage casserole, stottie sandwiches, corned beef hash, spam fritters, panackelty (a traditional Mackem dish), brisket puddings and more. 

It will also feature a varied breakfast menu of sourdough specials, egg and bacon stotties, cheese on toast, a Full English and North East potato 'floddies'. Vegan and vegetarian options will also be available. 

"This will be a new yet complementary offering for Sheepfolds Stables and one that we're confident will go down very well with all who visit," says King. "We're taking people back down memory lane, becoming a custodian of nostalgic food, including for those going to the football where a pie and a pint before the game was, and still is, a mist (even with a beef tea – Bovril).

"Our focus is very much on creating and serving wholesome, tasty comfort food using the very best ingredients, and these will be sourced from producers local to the city and region. Some of the dishes we're putting on the menu go back generations and are somewhat native to Sunderland and the North East area, so we're really excited to get started."

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