Wheathill sets a new tone for Bangor

A spot on Gray’s Hill, overlooking Bangor’s picturesque marina, which had been vacant for several years, is back in business as a restaurant thanks to the ambitious efforts of a local couple…

Between them, Cameron and Amee Carter, the husband and wife team behind Bangor’s newest eatery – the unassuming Wheathill Restaurant – can boast some truly impressive industry credentials.

Cameron, who heads things up in the kitchen at the new venue, has worked alongside some of the local trade’s most influential faces, including Jason More, the late Robbie Millar, Ian Orr from Brown’s in Derry and The Boathouse’s Joery Castel.

He’s well matched by wife, Amee, who has worked front-of-house in venues across the country, including the former Governor Rocks in Donaghadee, The Salty Dog in Bangor and Derry’s Brown’s in Town.

The pair opened their first joint venture in Bangor on December 19, just in time to catch the tail-end of the Christmas rush. Many readers will recognise the location on Gray’s Hill as the former site of Stephen Jeffers’ restaurant, Jeffers by the Marina, which shut up shop in 2012.

Recently praised by Telegraph food critic, Joris Minne, for the quality of its food, The Wheathill’s interior is a triumph of minimalism. Designed by Amee herself, the only art on the walls here is a framed copy of The Raven map from the 1600s which shows the area of Bangor that was once known as The Wheathill and a piece by local artist Stephen Forbes.

At a push, this cosy little venue can accommodate upwards of 80 diners on a Saturday evening, but speaking to LCN recently, Amee said that they aimed to keep the maximum number closer to 60:

“We don’t want people to feel rushed or overwhelmed,” she added.

And she went on:

“We want this to be seen as a more casual and sociable dining atmosphere, but with the same level of food and service that you may find in a fine dining restaurant.

“We try to make things that little bit more exciting for our guests, this is somewhere that is new and different, there’s nowhere else like it in Bangor and we feel that it wouldn’t look out of place in Belfast or any other city.”

Amee also revealed that since opening in December, business at The Wheathill has been better than they expected:

“We didn’t actually get our hands on the keys until November 8 and so we only had four to five weeks to get the place the way we wanted it,” she added. “We were able to redecorate and refurbish the place just in time and it turned out above and beyond the expectations that Cameron and I had for it.

“We’re doing simple food but we’re doing it right. At first glance our dishes appear very simple, but there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye. We think gaining success is about attention to detail and about consistency and we hope that people notice and appreciate this.”

The Wheathill, which boasts great views of The Marina from almost every seat, also offers a full cocktail menu. Everything is mixed from scratch using fresh ingredients by the venue’s bar tender, Ryan Law, who previously worked at The Salty Dog.

Cocktails are increasingly an indispensable part of any food and beverage offering and Amee says that The Wheathill’s cocktail repertoire is proving very popular with customers:

“We recently came up with our own cocktail – a rhubarb and ginger fizz based on the accidental purchase of several bottles of Edinburgh gin,” she explained. “Now, it’s the most popular drink on the list and we’re going through two or three bottles of Edinburgh gin every week!

“The dearest bottle of wine on our main list is £25, so it’s certainly affordable and people are coming in for three courses, they’re having a bottle or wine, or two bottles, and they are spending money.”

All the wine on The Wheathill’s list is supplied By Neill Wines of Groomsport.

As for the future, Amee says that the priority will be maintaining the standards that she and Cameron have set for themselves at the restaurant and ensuring that the offering remains consistent:

“We don’t have any plans for expansion at this stage,” she added. “One business is enough at present, I think. We may well do something in the future and something like that would be great, but for the moment, we are focused on getting this venture up and running and building a good reputation for ourselves.”