Willi’s Coffee House is not far from the centre of Jesmond and about fifteen minutes walk from the centre of Newcastle.

Willi’s is a great coffee shop: wooden, shabby, comfortable and warm. It isn’t huge. It offers take out and eat in options and is a bit pricy as coffee shops go – but worth every penny.
Willi’s does a great selection of fresh salads and sandwiches, jacket potatoes and homemade soup. It also does breakfasts all day, and delivers platters and buffets. There is a children’s menu which includes things like pizza, pasta, chips and cheese on toast

Bouchon Bistrot in the market town of Hexham, in Northumberland, was voted the best local french restaurant in the UK on Channels 4’s the F word.

Inside the grade II listed building, Bouchon boasts a wooden bar, beautiful padded door, red carpets and fancy curtains. It’s a very comfortable place to sit. There are three floors. I have been twice with lyra and sat downstairs – which is small and cosy, and on the first floor – which feels posher. One of the rooms has a black padded ceiling and there are some great French pictures on the walls

My husband and I have been to The Snowy Owl many times as it is so close to where we live. It’s part of the Vintage Inns chain, so is done out in a vintage inn style – dark walls, dark wooden furniture, chairs that don’t match and real fires in the winter. The pub is split up into sections by big stonewalls and fire places and railings, so what may have been a huge open space is divided up into more cosy areas. The pub itself is right on the edge of Cramlington with views across the country side – it’s like being in the middle of nowhere without having to travel that far