The Jesmond restaurant Newcastle United star Bruno Guimarães trusted to treat Brazil manager Tite for dinner

Staff at an award-winning Jesmond restaurant were delighted when Newcastle United star Bruno Guimarães brought Brazil manager Tite to dine last week.

RIO Brazilian Steakhouse on Osborne Road has won awards for its quality experience and has quickly become a favourite of the Magpies midfielder, who has visited the meat-lover's haven before. Shortly after he arrived on Tyneside, RIO Co-Founder and Managing Director Rodrigo Duarte sent a personal message to Bruno through NewcastleWorld.

Rodrigo said: "I am super excited to see Newcastle welcome fellow Brazilian Bruno Guimarães to the club - it brings a Brazilian Buzz to The Toon in more ways than one! With RIO headed up by Brazilian gaucho chefs and the meats being served up in our churassco way, real Feijoada and Pao de Queijo cheese breads there’s really no other taste like home in Newcastle that can compare!

“We are looking forward to seeing what he can do for the team and if there’s any time he wants to come for a meal on us we would be delighted to give him a real warm RIO welcome.”

It didn't take Bruno long to take RIO up on the offer and he clearly enjoyed his visit enough to trust the restaurant to take care of Brazil international manager Tite when he was in Newcastle. The 61-year-old visited the North East at the end of last week ahead of watching Eddie Howe's side beat Aston Villa at St. James' Park on Saturday - with a keen eye on Bruno and fellow Brazilian Joelinton no doubt.

Bruno didn't get himself on the scoresheet, but still turned in an impressive performance as Newcastle romped to a 4-0 victory over the Villains. Joelinton did find the back of the net in front of Tite with a 59th-minute goal to make it 3-0. Check out Jordan Cronin's full player ratings from the game here.

Whilst some may still consider Jesmond as little more than a student hub, the suburb of Newcastle has become much more in recent years. Newcastle stars including Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin are known to live within the well-to-do streets of the Golden Triangle and the area boasts some of the North East's best restaurants.

RIO Jesmond was recently awarded the TripAdvisor Traveller's Choice Award for Everyday Eats. The prize commended the restaurant for its near flawless reviews on the popular site.

Shortly after receiving the award, NewcastleWorld took a trip to the Jesmond restaurant to meet the team and find out the secrets behind mastering the perfect review and how the Tijuca Urban Forest in Brazil has been brought to Osborne Road.

Rodrigo said: "When you give passion, hard work and dedication it comes back. Still today, in 2021, the most powerful market you can have is word of mouth. Every single review is checked by a person in the business, investigated and answered back. Some restaurants only respond to bad, some only to good, but we do them all. We take it very seriously."