Kiln started in 2017, in what used to be a broken old garage in Ouseburn. We built it ourselves — brick dust, cold hands, borrowed tools. There wasn’t much of a plan beyond making something we actually believed in: good food, proper coffee, and a place that felt alive.

It began as a pottery studio that served coffee on the side. The ceramics came first — fire, form, patience — and the food grew out of that same rhythm. Over time, the two became inseparable. We cooked over flame, served on our own plates, and slowly built a small team of people who cared as much as we did.

We’ve never been fancy, just particular. The menu takes cues from the Middle East but lives here, shaped by the North East — by cold mornings, local suppliers, and long days spent getting it right.

For the first six years, we visited every table, every day. That’s how we learned what people loved about Kiln — the warmth, the music, the feeling that someone had thought about every detail without trying too hard. It’s still that place. The food’s sharper now, the drinks stronger, but the heart’s the same: kindness, effort, and a bit of fire.

Kiln’s grown into something bigger — two rooms, a bar, a pottery — but it’s still a place built by hand. We make things we’re proud of, look after the people who come through the door, and keep trying to do it a little better than the day before.