Wet on Micklegate has landed in the space previously home to Notes which took over from Fish & Forest when that moved onto larger premises. It’s an intimate little space that’s fairly minimalist but still feels welcoming and cosy. Service is friendly and personal to such a degree that I never even set eyes on a wine list before a couple of bottles for me to sample have been selected, both white and refreshing as a precursor to a later switch to Beaujolais in honour of the day of our visit being Beaujolais Day!

Getting into the serious business of food, I decided to abandon any pretext of choice and leave the decision to our server, taking into consideration my dining companion’s vegetarian status. From the eight savoury dishes we ended up with five plates which arrived as one would expect, at a leisurely pace but without dragging on unnecessarily. That said, I enforced a wait until everything was on the table ready to be photographed… the camera eats first obv. A good rarebit balances just on the line between stodge and sharp relief thanks to the combination of beer and mustard but this one brought another of my favourite things to the party – Hendo’s. When a dish arrives with a bottle of Henderson’s Relish just for your table it’s a sign that things will progress well, as indeed they did. The rarebit hit the spot and we were soon in the swing of things tucking into Jerusalem artichoke that had been confited then served with ricotta whose delicate sharpness complemented the soft and earthy artichokes, a vegetable not seen nearly enough.

Beetroot is another favourite of mine but I tried to show restraint in the face of my vegetarian friend who didn’t share my recourse to the meat based dishes, with limited success. Simply presented with a zesty gremolata to help it live its best life, another tremendous showcase of one of my favourite vegetables. Meat dishes came next with lamb sausage coming accompanied by beetroot that, this time, had been given a touch of charring. The lamb was tender and well seasoned while benefitting from a generous spice too but my favourite plate matched one of my favourite vegetables to an unusual meat. Celeriac is a much more flexible vegetable than some give it credit for and presented as a mash here it made a superb backdrop for gamey chunks of ox heart with crispy shallots thrown in for good measure. All this food only attracted a debt of £45 which was superb value, the quantities certainly weren’t skimped on and we even had a few bits leftover to take home for snacking on. Wet is a great addition to a street which is hopefully on the up again now, the wine was memorable and clearly chosen with great care while the food represented superb value and some originality.

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Since its use as a homeware shop, Forage has been the only operator to really get a handle on how this building needs to work, so nothing obvious has changed with the layout; you still enter toward a small and well-stocked bar with restaurant adjacent. After a quick drink in the bar while waiting for my companion, we were seated at a comfortable corner table and given a chance to look over the menu which is constructed of snacks, small plates and larger “cooked over fire” dishes that can be combined into snacking meals to share or laid out as a more conventional a la carte format. Our server evidently knew the menu well and was able to give sensible steer about combinations and quantities, giving us sound advice while we snacked on olives and truffled nuts. We went for three small plates and a couple of the larger dishes with a beef fat flatbread to take advantage of the sauces, on the advice of our server.

Thai green mussels, burrata and scallops led the charge from the kitchen and all hit the promised notes. The mussels had a good lemongrass and chilli kick with a nice scattering of micro herbs for presentation while the smooth burrata was a welcome cooling presence to temper the heat. Scallops are generally a priority for me when available but can fall into familiar territory with ubiquitous presentations of crisped pancetta and peas, so I was delighted to see a different approach here. A sauce deeply fortified with potted shrimp with notes of saffron and fennel contrasted the sweet scallops terrifically well and encouraged mopping up with the flatbread, the ordering of which had turned out to be a very good decision.

A trio of lamb chops arrived next, complemented by feta and seasoned with Baharat spice blend with notes of coriander and cumin. These were well cooked and felt like the indulgence lamb should, as did the onglet steak which was presented appropriately rare and sliced over a peppercorn sauce. Onglet has a deep, rich flavour that’s quite distinctive and is something that should be on more menus. It presents a bit of an risk in that overcooking is even more of a faux pas than most other cuts of steak making it tough and unpleasant. No worries on that front here though with the exterior of the meat having a satisfying caramelisation that didn’t threaten the pink interior. Thankfully we had some more of that beef fat flatbread to tackle the remaining sauce with and finish off our meal.

It’s fair to say Forage York has been through a bit of upheaval in recent months but equally true they’ve come back fighting and in great form with food and cocktails both in the place they’ve always been. It’s understandable, and inevitable, that much of the public discourse about it has been around that sudden closure, that’s very much in the past though and the future looks delicious again for Forage.

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The new Malmaison Hotel has repurposed the former Aviva Yorkshire House building with great impact, packing in a brace of restaurants and a hotel bar as well as the Sora sky bar which has sprouted from the roof. In a previous life, I was subjected to the interior of this building through attendance at various meetings and training sessions, and while the focus here is firmly on Sora, I can confirm that the remainder of the interior is unrecognisable from its drab insurance days.

Sora Sky Bar is accessed via elevator, thankfully given its altitude, and makes a strong first impression when you’ve made your way past the track & trace admin. The views were always going to be a defining feature here but the first time you make your way out onto the terrace really is a notable moment in your experience of hospitality in York. The Minster will quite rightly find itself as the backdrop to countless selfies but Holgate Windmill, The Railway Museum, The City Walls and Rowntree’s all draw the eye. Notably the White Horse at Kilburn is visible, though I’m sure many who’ve worked in the offices on Holgate Park will recall it being visible from there too, albeit in rather less pleasant surroundings. It goes without saying that there’re solid safety barriers around the perimeter, but these also provided more protection from the wind than I expected and the environment was pleasantly peaceful and detached from street level. I’d not forget the sun screen though on a hot day!

The food menu consists of sushi and small plates with a pan-Asian theme, of which we were directed to order two or three each as a guide, as well as a upmarket range of cocktails and spirits. With the full range of sushi unavailable on our visit we ended up grabbing a few bites of sushi and leaning more heavily into the hot dishes than I had anticipated, which turned out very well! A couple of bites of Salmon Sashimi went down well along with a plate of Tuna Maki but the other plates shone brightly enough to make up for the the cloudy day we’d chosen in the midst of a heatwave. Beetroot carpaccio with lotus root crisps was a fresh and colourful plate with well judged pickling and a scattering of saffron which contrasted nicely with slices of tender beef tataki brought to life by finely sliced crisps of garlic and pickled mooli. Aubergine with miso caramel and whipped tofu was deceptively light with a delightfully well judged sweetness and our final dish of Korean Fried Cauliflower was another hit. There was a good undercurrent of heat through these and more good judgement in the cooking, leaving them firm enough to easily navigate but soft enough to enjoy easily.

Sora is an unqualified success. Its striking interior is finished to an extremely high standard and the food was excellent as well as representing good value in this elevated (figuratively and literally) surroundings. The views from here were always going to sell it and make it news worthy and give the opportunity for shortcuts elsewhere but the scale of ambition in this development is impressive enough to draw the eye away from the unrivalled views of the York, though they obviously win out every time! Every time I arrange to meet a visitor from outside the city on arrival, this will be the default destination to impress them from now on.

Disclaimer – PR visit, no charge made.

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Skosh has earned a place at the top table of hospitality in York thanks to its ever changing selection of sharing plates that are as immaculately presented as they are memorably delicious. To label the food as “fusion” would be insultingly reductionist but there’s little denying the multitude of influences evident amongst the food on offer. Their entrant to the at home market takes the Japanese word for “box” for its title “bokkusu”. The box itself featuring a selection of small plates to make up a meal at home to share amongst two for £50 along with the option to add in any number of extras to make the occasion extra special.

Collection is by pre-arranged slot and as contactless as our expectations have come to expect over the last few months, my order being ready and waiting at the door after I caught up with a couple of fellow lovers of the York food scene who were eagerly awaiting their slots. The meal reflects the Skosh restaurant experience in being made up of a series of small plates to share, neatly including a cheese course as well as a sweet on which to finish.

With only one dish to worry about heating, it was a simple task to get everything plated up, not requiring any particular skill. There’re a couple of things that I’ve ordered on every trip to Skosh, their house sourdough with butter and “gunpowder spice” being one of them and included here. Sadly the “hens egg” doesn’t make the journey to the home environment; I’m guessing its intricate layering and unique ceramic serving vessel making it impractical for transit.

The first mouthfuls to draw our eye were puris: crispy spheres that we had to stuff with smoked haddock & potato before dressing with yoghurt. One of the crucial things with these “at home” experiences is the sense that it’s easily recognisable as coming from the associated restaurant, something in abundance from these first bites and continued by the bbq pork collar we tackled next to make sure it was dealt with before losing its heat. With each bite of this, we really started to have the sense of a “meal with Skosh”, the sesame and hoisin with which it had been dressed giving flair and depth.

A plate of poached, cured sea trout with a wild garlic dressing took care of the fish element confidently, being so delicately poached that it took a notable sleight of hand to extract it from its packet without flaking apart. It’s a tricky thing to pick a (relative) winner from a set of dishes like this but perhaps my favourite was the delicately dressed portion of chilled noodles with a decent crunch of peanut and typically well balanced citrus punching yuzu dressing.

Summer Field cheese from Botton Creamery is always a winner and it’s hardly a surprise to see top quality, well esteemed local produce on a Skosh menu. All it needed to really shout its undoubted quality was a carrot pickle and some crackers, predictably present and correct to make up a cheese course. The sweet element that finished off the meal was a portion of strawberry bhapa doi with cardomom meringues that were another characteristically well balanced dish.

Of all the “at home” meals I’ve enjoyed throughout the lockdown, bokkusu from Skosh is certainly one of the most well resolved and feels closest to the experience of eating in the restaurant it comes from. I’m not in the least surprised that the food was fantastic and that Neil and the team have clearly taken extreme care to transplant the Skosh experience to the home setting. The only thing I missed was that signature egg to start, but this experience just makes me all the more resolved to get back and try one as soon as I can.

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I started my day by hopping on the train to Manchester, a journey I’m familiar with thanks to Manchester Airport being on the same line and one that only takes an hour and a half. Thankfully the train was not as crammed as can be, so I was able to crack on with some work throughout the journey while trying to whittle down my list of places to visit.

When I asked on social media for recommendations to explore Manchester, I hadn’t been prepared for quite how inundated I’d be. The suggestions flooded in and seemed to all be worthy of a check out. A little bit of my decision making was forced by my visiting on a Monday when some places were shut so I crossed a few off my list and was arriving before I knew it.

Arrival at Manchester Piccadilly is now marked by a beautiful sculpture that depicts blinded soldiers in the First World War and was commissioned by Blind Veterans UK. There was another sculpture around the corner from the station that I wanted to check out so I continued that theme to see the memorial to Alan Turing, who of course had strong associations with the city.

By now I was in serious need of caffeine and stumbled across the diminutive and charming Nibble who were perfectly placed to oblige. Suitably refuelled, I made my way onwards to another Manchester institution. Afflecks is a labyrinthine mix of niche retailers that cater for all manner of tastes. I spotted plentiful clothes, lots of vinyl, a tattooist, card games, posters and a shop specialising in Manchester themed memorabilia.

Next up was lunch, something I’d failed to decide upon having been overwhelmed by the quality and breadth of the offering. My decision was made when I happened upon Cottonopolis and checked out the menu. This was strongly recommended by the world of social media and didn’t disappoint. The menu is made of small plates divided into sections roughly aligning with raw, fried, griddled and steamed with some snacks and sides thrown in.

The welcome was warm and I was made entirely comfortable dining alone with sensible advice given on the menu, from which I chose 3 dishes to make up a light lunch. Yellowfin tuna nigiri arrived first with four pieces neatly presented, which proved hugely satisfying with well seasoned rice and delightful slices of tuna. The seafood theme continued with crab tempura served with togarashi and kimchi mayo. The batter was thankfully light and further given character by the kimchi. I hoped that the final dish to arrive would be the star and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m an absolute sucker for steak tartare so had to get my hands on the Wagyu beef tartare. This one was everything I hoped for, served with quail egg and a honey and mustard miso that gave it a healthy kick. I grabbed a few more suggestions from the server, parted with around thirty quid and made my way onwards.

To make sure I grabbed some culture before I made the return trip East, I headed up to the People’s History Museum. This extensive collection lays out the history of the development of democracy in Britain and proved as fascinating as I’d hoped with plenty of hands-on exhibits and well told stories that gave life to our country’s history, particularly pertinent given the present goings-on in Parliament.

By now the need to think of getting back to the station was becoming relevant, if not pressing, so I made my way over to Hatch. This is a box park similar to Spark:York so I was keen to take in the differences and similarities. A Monday afternoon isn’t the best time to let a venue such as this shine but there were still a healthy few serving a good bunch of happy punters enjoying the sun. I’d initially thought it looked a little on the empty side, but this is the result of new units having been put up for an imminent expansion. It was the perfect spot to finish the day with a superb coffee from Takk.

By happy coincidence, a friend was working in Manchester that day, so I was able to finish off my chance to explore Manchester with a quick drink at one of the bars in the station before resting (well, working) on the train home. I’ve plans to explore Manchester a couple more times this year and now have a great resource of places to try out. It was great fun becoming reacquainted!

The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.

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Tartare, brioche

The Rattle Owl has spent the last couple of years establishing itself as one of the best fine dining restaurants in York and has recently extended its lunch offering into the bang on trend market for small plates with a deal that offers 3 small plates for £12.50. In all honesty, that’s a very small amount of money to eat in a dining space as relaxed as one finds in The Rattle Owl, so you’d accept a few compromises in the food, but everything is up to the impressive standards one would expect from somewhere with this reputation. The small plate menu runs to six savoury dishes so, with two of us dining, it was simple enough to order one of each and check them all out.

Service was friendly and brisk enough to satisfy the need to arrive and leave within a precious lunch hour, first delivering trout tartare and ham and leek terrine. The next pair to arrive were celeriac veloute and stone bass before a final pairing of tofu croquette and poussin breast competed the sextet. It was a relief to see the kitchen’s muscles flexing across these dishes and find them all good representations of the standard you can expect from an evening meal here, regardless of the bargain price. The highlights were the celeriac veloute, that found further depths of flavour from French blue cheese, and the beautifully cooked stone bass that would have been even better had it come with the beetroot which instead came with the tofu croquette. 

As my years advance, I find myself retreating into surprise at just how pricey things are these days, but £12.50 for a light lunch in a restaurant as good as this doesn’t trigger any of those curmudgeonly instincts. It might be a few quid more than the work canteen (should you be lucky enough to have one) but even if you need to redress the spending balance elsewhere, you won’t need to cut out many indulgences to enjoy this periodically and encourage yourself to return for an evening meal at a more leisurely pace.

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Crab Bourek 

This new home on Grape Lane is a good sized space spread over two floors with an outside area thrown in for good measure. There’s been plenty of work gone into the site to reflect its transition to new ownership, and it’s now a smart, comfortable and pleasingly informal place to eat.  A few soft surfaces would have helped soften background noise on the busy opening night when we attended. The menu includes those Merguez sausages that helped earn the reputation on Shambles Food Court amongst a range of main courses and small plates that would serve well for starters or sharing across a group. We opted for one main and a selection of small plates including falafel, sausages and whipped feta to work as a main course after starters featuring crab and halloumi.

The combination of small plates and mains meant that we could mix and match across the table with those who fancied a more traditional ordering of starters and mains.​ The halloumi starter came with chermoula that packed plenty of coriander, garlic and lemon to go with the generous helping of cheese. The crab bourek was absolutely superb, featuring a generous amount of crab meat with a delicate spicing that never threatened to overwhelm the crab. The meat was packed into a pastry parcel whose crunch complete the dish wonderfully. I could happily gain a lot of weight eating these.

We chose the chicken and saffron tagine from the selection of mains and found it another well judged dish, though I’d have preferred to see it served in a traditional tagine. The chicken and potatoes were generous and leant depth by the confit lemon also on the plate while the saffron had infused the potatoes, giving them a characteristic yellow tinge. Presentation aside, this was another winning combination and sat happily with the smaller plates we’d chosen. Star amongst these was the quartet of Merguez sausages that have lost no depth of flavour or tenderness on their way from Shambles Food Court. Whipped feta and falafel rounded out our selection with plenty of character and flavour, adding up to a satisfying meal. We ended the meal with a pot of fresh mint tea and an Orange Blossom & Cinnamon Basbousa cake that came with toasted almonds and orange mascarpone. As my years advance, it seems unlikely that I’ll suddenly develop a sweet tooth but I was very happy to share this one!

There may be plenty of love for Los Moros and Tarik in York, but ultimately this new restaurant will need to earn its own success, and thankfully it’s off to a good start. The location feels right and the food is distinctive, delicious and reasonably priced (our selection attracted a bill of £52.50). One can only see the affection for Los Moros growing as it continues to grow into this new space. I’m looking forward to repeat visits.

​Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal. Opinions are impartial.

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Rumours of the location for The Black Swan’s sister restaurant circulated for some time and the location remained a closely guarded secret until a few people put two and two together to figure out that the recently closed Bay Horse on Marygate would eventually be the home of Roots. This is a building that has been under-utilised for too long so it’s a great pleasure to see it given the renovation it deserves. I was keen to get in and try the food as quickly as possible so more than happy to attend the Roots York launch and see what all the fuss was about.

It’s fair to say that in the early days after any restaurant opening, one always sees a few loose ends that the pressures of time have left hanging. There were a few minor details lacking on the night I attended, but nothing worth getting excited about. These guys know that the hard work involved in running a restaurant certainly doesn’t end with the doors opening so these will be taken care of by now. The upstairs of the building is a bar area now offering cocktails and drinks to enjoy before dinner which make use of herbs from the wonderfully well stocked garden in Oldstead. This is exactly what I did before heading downstairs to the dining room for the main event at the Roots York launch.

Tommy’s cookbook, Roots, redefines the seasons into three (The Hunger Gap, Time of Abundance and Preserving Season) and that approach will inform the menu at Roots throughout the year. The menu offers small plates which, while divisive amongst critics, still remain popular with the public. I can happily see my way through a small plate menu as much as a la carte but if you’d rather skip the decision making there’s also a “Roots Feast Menu” available for £55 a head which is intended to allow the whole table to get a curated cross section of the current season’s experience.

The food started, rather unsurprisingly, with bread and butter that came with seed crackers to give textural variety before the main event began. Regardless of the restaurant, I’m always wary of filling upon bread and butter while wanting to enjoy a multi-course meal so after double checking expectations were met, I throttled back and waited for the next course, which turned out to be kale in sheep’s yoghurt with pickled walnuts and cured egg yolk. It was a pleasure to start the small plates with such a light and refreshing few mouthfuls, the sharpness of the yoghurt never threatening the flavour of the leaves. Things got more substantial with the next course of fermented turnip bao buns with lamb. Delightfully soft bao buns wrapped themselves around finger sized morsels of lamb to give a well rounded few mouthfuls before the next dish arrived.

Garden pea falafels with carrots and pork fat were one of the stars of the evening. The shavings of melting pork fat struck upon a winning combination with the fresh carrots that also graced the plate. By this point, the table was well into the swing of things and ready for more so after a short pause we gratefully accepted cured trout with Oldstead piccalilli. The contrast between the fish and piccalilli, presented as a sauce underpinning the dish, worked beautifully and continued the accurate balancing act of flavours we’d enjoyed so far. Next to arrive was a headliner: craupaudine beetroot cooked in beef fat. This has become a signature at The Black Swan so it’s a real treat to find on the menu here. The beetroot spends upwards of five hours being slowly cooked in beef fat then is served with linseed crackers, smoked cod’s roe and beetroot discs. The texture and flavour that this cooking process imbues this variety of beetroot with is distinctive, rewarding and compelling, even more so with the cod’s roe. It’d be a brave move to ever strike this one from the menu.

With the “meatroot” done it was time for another famous dish, this time the Great British Menu winning “Turbot, Strawberries & Cream”. This is the second time I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy this dish and my happy memories were validated by the relaxed pleasure it gave to the group. By this point, we were drawing to the end of the savoury courses with only two to go. The penultimate was one that I’ve actually made a decent fist of myself with help from the Roots recipe book. That said, I think it’s reasonable to say the Roots team pulled it off better than I did! Ox cheek is always a delight when cooked correctly, as here, and it marries to cauliflower wonderfully well. Last up was a relatively conventional plate of skirt steak with what was described as “hash brown chips”. The char on the steak was satisfying and did the meat justice while the “chips” felt suitably indulgent.

Our two dessert courses were white chocolate, Douglas fir & lemon verbena and Mary Banks’ apple cake with creme fraiche and Oldstead honey. A few mouthfuls of these ended the feast entirely appropriately, feeling indulgent and well balanced. My preference was for the Douglas fir and lemon verbena thanks to the deft lightness of touch applied to it.

Roots has made a successful entrance to the York food scene judging by the amount of social media engagement I’ve seen and reports I’ve heard about the reservations already taken. There are a few risks associated with this venture: I worry that people will come expecting the full Black Swan experience and be disappointed. That’s not a criticism of the offering here, but there’s no denying that the Feast menu at Roots comes in around half the price of the Black Swan tasting menu. To be frank, both offer good value for the experience you get in but the guys perhaps run the risk of being a victim of their own success, having set the bar so, so high at Oldstead. Fifty odd pounds a head is very reasonable for a meal as enjoyable and broad as this and the emphasis on seasonality only offers more reasons to return. I’ve already booked my next visit and I’m confident it won’t be my last. It’s safe to say the Roots York launch was a success.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for my attendance. Opinions are impartial.​

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The new beer hall hosting Born to Lose burgers is a natural expansion for Brew York which is housed in a former gym in the same complex as the original brewery and tap room. It’s a great addition to York and offers a lively space to meet up in which has got plenty of atmosphere, but isn’t distractingly raucous. The Born to Lose kitchen sits at right angles to the bar with menus suspended above letting you know what options you have to choose from. The core of the menu is burgers that feature house ground thin patties and all the refined trimmings you’d expect from the guys behind Street Cleaver. Along with burgers there’re a variety of small plates on offer and (when we went) the option to order a platter to suit a table of 3-4 people. Please bear in mind that the menu here is likely to be a moving target as the guys develop different dishes, so don’t be surprised if something specific mentioned here has been replaced.

Unsurprisingly, Born to Lose burgers are beautifully refined. I had wondered what twist would inform the burger recipes, but they’re actually quite conventional, not needing contrived embellishments, to hit the standards I expected here. The house burger is named in tribute to Anthony Bourdain, a gesture that would be inappropriate if the standard wasn’t right. The burger sauce, pickle, shredded leaf and cheese bring all the texture and indulgence you want from a burger, making this just the messy feast you’d hope. The Reuben adds salt beef to the brace of thin burger patties along with sauerkraut and different dressings, making it a very generous couple of handfuls that threatens to sate your appetite before you get to any of small plates.

To go with our burgers, we grabbed some kimchi mac cheese, padron peppers, Japanese chicken, salt beef and pigs head “Crubeen” donut. Along with salads and garnishes on the tray all this was presented on, everything was just as delicious as it was intriguing. Kimchi mac cheese is a Street Cleaver classic that remains difficult to get enough of and the tray of extras encouraged everyone around the table to get their hands covered in food, ensuring we ignored our phones and interacted with one another throughout our meal. Pigs head donuts had a real punch of flavour and the padron peppers were adept at cutting through the richer meat elements. It’s hard to pick highlights in a meal like this; Japanese chicken was equally fantastic and the salt beef demanded another trip to the bar for more beer.

I miss being able to grab a bowl of ramen at Spark, but this is a worthy alternative. I’m not sure I’ve ever been disappointed by Mark Hill’s food and Born to Lose certainly doesn’t break that trend. The breadth of the menu is surprising for what’s labelled a burger kitchen and everything on it was superb. If anything, there’s been a greater sense of refinement to the food on each subsequent visit. I can’t wait to see what else Born to Lose serve up. At the moment, I’m admiring the menu for “Alternative Sunday Lunch” which I’m about to book, featuring roast pork shoulder with black garlic, chilli beef brisket, miso cauliflower cheese and nam chim bone marrow amongst other things. These guys may be born to lose, but the rest of us seem to be winning as a result.

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V&V is a short walk from Leeds station on New Briggate, its door nestling on a corner ready to reveal a flight of stairs up to the dining area. It’s a smart and comfortable place to eat that’s very much part of the Leeds food scene in its own right. I’ve not seen pictures of what the Feed Leeds space in Pudsey will be like, but this was entirely appropriate for the evening’s preview menu. I had worked up a good deal of anticipation for the menu, so was eager to see what would be making an appearance from Jono’s repertoire and when I got my hands on it, I was pleased to see it include signature dishes of “cheeseburger spring roll” and “Hangover Cone”.

Before we got our chance to go at the first dish, we heard from both Jono and Luke Hawthorne, the man behind V&V who’s worked to give Jono free rein in the Feed Leeds kitchen. The guys touched on their ambitions for the new spot and desire to make sure they provide a positive place to work, free of the atmosphere in many kitchens that can prove detrimental to staff’s mental health. In particular they talked about having a pragmatic sourcing policy: being happy to go to supermarkets for produce if that’s where the best example is to be found. As a consumer, I can admire this approach though there may be some local suppliers who would prefer to see those larger players off the field.

With the niceties out of the way, it was time to get going with the evening’s tasting. First up came a trio of bites that included one of the most divisive things I’ve eaten in some time. Chicken liver parfait rice krispie bun with bitter chocolate is certainly distinctive and a conversation starter, but unlikely to be a best seller in many crowds. I’m pretty confident I enjoyed it, though there will always be a nagging doubt. Still, what’s life without being challenged occasionally? The second bite was a crisped piece of salt and vinegar fish skin that changed texture delightfully in the mouth as it slowly rehydrated. But the star of this round had to be that cheeseburger spring roll. This was just as silly as it sounds, I think using gherkin to evoke cheeseburger. If these were available as bar snacks in my local, I’d be chewing through them regularly.

As we moved onto the next plate, things were a touch more conventional with a crab toast which used a bisque butter to add great depth of flavour. This was topped with a salad packing lots of nasturtium leaf to bring things together before we got into a meat course which packed a huge umami hit with dry aged beef sirloin. Draped across the beef were slices of pickled kohlrabi that had a delicately balanced sharpness to go up against that powerful beef. To go with this, we had some roast potatoes which hid under ribbons of uniformly cut lettuce, contrasting well with the heat of the nduja and indulgent fat emulsion with the dish. The beef was cooked perfectly and all the elements worked together beautifully.

The final dish returned to the unconventional: the “hangover cone”. This was introduced as everything on a plate that one might crave when hungover, so presented a striking combination of ingredients that it’s safe to say you’re unlikely to see together anywhere else. Ice cream, pretzels, ready salted crisps, brownie, bacon and raspberries all sat under the cone and thankfully didn’t require a hangover to enjoy. This one was all about unexpected pairings and, judging by the smiles and giggles, was well received across the room.

The dishes that made up our evening bode well for Feed Leeds when it opens its doors in Pudsey; a fun mix of the unconventional and well executed which will live in my memory for a long time. It’s going to be great fun watching the guys develop and grow together now that Jono has the support he’s deserved for some time. I could murder a cheeseburger spring roll right now…

Disclaimer: No charge was made for my attendance. Opinions are impartial.

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