Westfield Kotara's Plate Dates, Mr Sister on Sundays, Lizotte's seeks chef

Among them: over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23, visitors to Westfield Kotara are invited to taste a selection of wines with local founder, Greg Silkman of First Creek Wines. First Creek produce a selection of award-winning wines from the Hunter Valley and carefully selected vineyards across NSW.

Several restaurants at Westfield Kotara are participating in the $25 Plate Dates, combining a meal and beverage, that is part of Newcastle Food Month.

Those venues are:

Grill'd Rooftop Kotara Burger with famous herb chips and drink. Every day.

Hanok Korean BBQ Rooftop Kotara Chimaek Korean fried chicken and your choice of beer or soft drink. Monday-Thursday lunch only.

Hongkong Chef Rooftop Kotara Home-made dumplings and pork buns, with choice of soft drink or tea. Monday-Friday.

Kinn Thai Rooftop Kotara Pad Thai with a Singha beer or soft drink. Mon-Sun.

Mad Mex Rooftop Kotara Two delicious burritos or naked burrito bowls and two drinks for $25. Excludes extras such as guac. Mon-Fri lunch and dinner.

San Churro Rooftop Kotara Churros with two hot chocolates. Mon-Sun.

Zeus Street Greek Rooftop Kotara Pita, chips and house wine, beer or soft drink. Mon-Fri 11am-4pm.

Lone Star Rib House and brews has a Kids Eat Free Deal during April school holidays. The special offer entitles one free kids meal for every qualifying main meal purchased. There is a Lone Star restaurant in Maitland.

The very popular Mr Sister coffee shops will be open on Sundays from this week, starting Sunday, April 16, at both locations (Main Road, Speers Point, and East End Village, Newcastle East).

To celebrate the extended hours they are offering 40 per cent on stock (some exclusions apply) on their retail shelves, which includes an array of coffee-making appliances, clothing and usually, coffee, too.

The owner of popular Newcastle dinner club Brian Lizotte announced during the week he was not going to close the business after seeking a buyer for the last seven months. Rather, he is going to amp up the business, booking more live music and hiring a new chef and night-time manager.

The restaurant posted an ad for a head chef on Seek this week, advertising for a head chef with hours Wednesday through Sunday and paying $80,000-$85,000.

Lizotte himself gained fame as a chef to the stars of the music industry.