Great news for pizza lovers! Popular Italian eaterie Zizzi is set to open up a Lincoln restaurant in the spring.

The chain, whose motto is ‘You can taste when someone loves what they do’, now has more than 100 restaurants across the country after opening its first just over ten years ago in 1999.

But the new addition to the growing number of restaurants in the city offering Italian cuisine begs the question – do we really need another?

However Zizzi is certainly one of the UK’s most popular chains of Italian restaurants so LoveLincoln.co.uk is certainly looking forward to a visit!

Zizzi offers a wide variety of Italian dishes including Italian bread boards, pasta, pizza, calzone and risotto.

Staff are being recruited for the Lincoln-based restaurant, the site of which is yet to be confirmed, with the position for General Manager already being advertised for.

Keep checking back with LoveLincoln.co.uk for more details!

There have been some exciting changes going on at one of Lincoln’s best known hotels recently.

Following the new management takeover earlier this year The Castle Hotel, which is superbly located between the cathedral and castle walls, will be undergoing a total refurbishment in the New Year.

Knights, the hotel’s award-winning restaurant, has already been given a complete makeover and now boasts a contemporary and delicious menu as well as a new and very talented chef.

Mark Cheseldine recently joined the team, having previously worked at one of Lincolnshire’s most prestigious bistros. Mark, who has been a chef for 20 years, has brought a whole new lease of life to Knights and the results are impressive!

The head chef, who counts Marco Pierre White as his biggest inspiration, has great plans for the restaurant which will now be run as a separate entity to the hotel, and he is clearly passionate about his new venture.

“The restaurant is situated in a fantastic location in uphill Lincoln and is housed in a beautiful old school house,” said Mark.

“The restaurant itself actually occupies the old school hall and we pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service and creating an ambience that complements the food that is being presented.

“Knights biggest selling point however has to be the food itself as we try and source locally wherever possible as long as quality reaches our standards.

“Some of our local partners include Redhill Farm, Maxeys, Stokes Coffee, The Cheese Society and Steep Hill Wines. Supporting the local economy is really important to us, as is reducing food miles.

“We intend to run the restaurant as a separate entity to the hotel. It will be rebranded with a high level of investment going into the fixtures and fittings as well as the service and the food and we intend it to become a destination place to eat for locals as well as the residents staying in the hotel.”

The restaurant has lots going on over the festive period including a glamorous New Year’s Eve party package open to residents and non-residents alike.

The party will commence with a pre-dinner glass of champagne followed by a five-course menu designed by the head chef.

After dinner guests can then try out their luck at the play-for-fun casino which will be set up in the restaurant and upstairs lounge.

There will be a poker lounge, roulette table and wheel of fortune for guests to try their luck at. The hotel is also offering some fabulous prizes for the guest who has the most chips at the end of the night including a weekend break for two with dinner at the hotel and additional goodies for runners up!

However LoveLincoln.co.uk users don’t have to wait until the New Year for the chance to partake in some great offers courtesy of The Castle Hotel.

New owners Saera and Paul would like to offer all subscribers entry into a prize draw to win free tickets to the New Year’s Eve event if they dine at Knights this Saturday or Sunday (18th or 19th December).

To enter the draw quote LoveLincoln.co.uk when reserving a table this weekend or just turn up and quote the same on the door. To reserve a table please call The Castle Hotel on 01522 538801.01522 53880

LoveLincoln.co.uk VIP card users are also entitled to 10% discount off their restaurant bill if they dine in Knights between the 27th and 30th December 2010 inclusive. To redeem the discount please show your VIP card upon payment.

Panto season has officially begun in the city with both the Lincoln Drill Hall and Lincoln Theatre Royal opening their productions this week.

Running until the 16th January the Theatre Royal is putting on Aladdin starring county favourites Cannon and Ball as the Chinese policemen.

Joining the duo are Robin Askwith who has plenty of panto ‘baddie’ experience, Michelle Hardwick from ITV’s The Royal and Lincoln’s Steve Barclay as Widow Twankey.

Lincoln Drill Hall meanwhile is showing Dick Whittington as its panto of choice, telling the story of Dick on an adventure searching for his fortune.

Gavin Street, Marketing Manager for the Lincoln Drill Hall, said: “We’ve had an incredible response to Dick Whittington, particularly given that the story is less well known than say, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.

“But we promise audiences a truly spectacular experience as they follow Dick and his trusty cat of course on a journey from Lincoln to London and Morocco in search of his fortune.

“The panto is packed with laughs, pranks, great songs, audience participation and plenty of opportunities to boo the devilishly devious Queen Rat.

“And if ticket sales and the reaction from the audiences for the first few shows is anything to go by – and I’ve never heard so much noise – then it looks like being a record-breaking run!”

Not to be outdone the Terry O’Toole Theatre in North Hykeham is also getting into the panto spirit with Treasure Island in the New Year starting on 18th January and running until 22nd January.

The show features a 20-strong cast and the audience is being asked to dress up as pirates for a fancy dress competition during a special matinee performance on Saturday 22nd January at 2.30pm.

The Lincoln Drill Hall has an exciting line-up of events and big names coming up after Christmas, guaranteed to keep you entertained.

Highlights of the acts appearing at the venue in 2011 include comedians Milton Jones, Russell Kane and Mark Steel who between them, have appeared on programmes such as Mock the Week, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Have I Got News For You, QI and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Fresh from her surprise popularity on Strictly Come Dancing, TV celebrity, former politician and novelist Anne Widecome will make an appearance in An Audience with Anne Widdecome in which she’ll answer questions and share anecdotes in conversation with political commentator, publisher and broadcaster Iain Dale.

Hull Truck Theatre Company will return to the Drill Hall on 1st April with D H Lawrence’s classic tale of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and for all those 80s kids a Back to the Future: 80s Party Night promises “five hours of quality non-stop music (and plenty of cheese!)”.

Gavin Street, Marketing Manager for the Lincoln Drill Hall, said: “For this coming spring we’ve pulled together a top-quality and incredibly diverse programme of events featuring some of the very best theatre, comedy, music and dance around.

“It’s always tough to pick highlights but personally I’d choose comedians John Shuttleworth, Milton Jones, Russell Kane and Mike Harding, the stunning theatre productions from Paperbirds, Green Eyed Zero and Shooting Fish, and the incredible music of Moishe’s Bagel, Fairport Convention, Show of Hands, Maggie Bell and sinfonia ViVA.

“I also shouldn’t forget to mention our own jam-packed annual Easter Children’s Festival (particularly as I’m a dad!) and fascinating audiences with Peter Shilton and Ann Widdecombe. So, something for everyone – maybe not, but not far off!”

Here at LoveLincoln.co.uk we can’t wait for the exciting variety of shows coming to Lincoln in the New Year. There’s lots to look forward to!

Keep an eye on our event listings in the coming weeks for more information!

A new city art gallery which opened last week is offering young artists in Lincoln the chance to showcase their talent.

Set up by Laura Whitehead, who graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2008 with a degree in Fine Art, In Vitro is situated in The Mall on Lincoln’s High Street.

The gallery will feature work from budding young artists and designers such as sculptures, paintings, photography, ceramics, metalwork and jewellery.

Laura received help with funding from The Prince’s Trust, which provides mentoring and financial support to young people looking to start their own business.

The gallery officially opened with a launch party last week.

“The launch party was a great success,” said Laura. “We had loads of people in and I was really pleased.
“After I graduated I started looking for places in Lincoln to get a job that involved my degree or a place to exhibit my work and there was nothing out there.

“I was really keen to stay in the city and although there are plenty of traditional galleries in Lincoln there was nothing like what I wanted so I decided to do something about it.”

In Vitro will showcase work from a wide variety of artists including students, graduates and established local and international artists and designers.

Artists interested in exhibiting at In Vitro can get in touch via email to iam@moofy.me.uk

The Cloud Bar in uphill Lincoln is celebrating after it scooped two national awards.

The bar, situated in St Paul’s Lane, won the Speciality Food Pub of the Year prize in the Publican Food & Drink Awards in London’s Park Lane.

Head chef Sergio Garcia was also in the running for Chef of the Year 2010.

The award comes just weeks after The Cloud Bar’s owners, Lincolnshire pub operator Kurnia, were named Most Responsible Pub Company at the Responsible Drinks Retailing (RDR) Awards 2010.

The Cloud Bar won its food accolade for its Spanish-themed cuisine. Customer favourites include home-cooked paella and a variety of tapas including olives, Spanish omlette and cured ham wrapped around Lincolnshire sausage.

The bar overcame competition for the award from the Hemingford Arms in Islington, the Ardleigh & Dragon in Hornchurch, Essex and The Nelson Tavern in Christchurch, Dorset.

“‘I felt both honoured and proud when they announced The Cloud Bar as the overall winners of the award and even more proud that we have a great team at the bar who made this possible,” said Michael Kheng, Director of Kurnia Group.

“The Cloud Bar opened in 2007 intending to be the first purely tapas bar in Lincoln. Our aim was to offer premium food in laid back, relaxed surroundings that one can only really get in the Mediterranean.

“Under the leadership of Sergio, who is an experienced Spanish tapas chef, the kitchen has gone from strength to strength. We cook affordable tapas, coupled with a slightly more traditional menu for our older, more traditional customers.

“It’s been a great month for the company and for the county. It is not often that Lincolnshire brings home a national award but to have brought two home in a month is a great boost to us and the county.”

It’s official – Lincoln’s famous Christmas Market has been cancelled.

Organisers at City of Lincoln Council announced today (Wednesday) that heavy snow has caused the cancellation of the event for the first time in its 28-year history.

The annual event is one of the largest in Europe and is estimated to generate £10 million in revenue for the city.

The news comes as a blow for traders and hoteliers who are already coming to terms with the effects of a deep recession.

Organisers said that forecasts of more heavy snow overnight on Wednesday and through to the weekend meant cancelling the market was the only option.

“It is with extreme regret that we have taken the decision to cancel the Lincoln Christmas Market this year,” said Rob Bradley of City of Lincoln Council.

“It has taken extreme weather conditions to do this, the first time it’s happened in the history of the market.

“Safety is our absolute priority at the Lincoln Christmas Market. Police advice is for people not to travel at all unless it is absolutely necessary, so we don’t want to encourage visitors and stallholders to travel to come along and risk getting stuck on the roads, or worse.

“The decision to cancel the event was a unanimous decision of all partners on the market’s safety advisory group.

“With more snow predicted for the coming days, we have taken this decision as early as possible, so people can rearrange their plans. I apologise to all those visitors and stallholders who are disappointed, but with the weather as it is, there wasn’t another option.”