Founded by James Sturdy, who draws inspiration from his family’s pie making history which started with his grandfather, Yorkshire Handmade pies describe themselves as making “pies for those who love pies made properly, paying respect to the traditions and history that make the pie such a unique British dish”. Obviously I had to go along and check those credentials out at Spark where they can be found in the first unit to the right as you enter.

Clearly I expected the standard of the core ingredient to be high but it remained to be seen how this would translate into street food where they were to be served with smoked garlic mash, peas and gravy. For the sake of maximum coverage, I made sure to try the Steak & Ale, Cheddar, Smoked Applewood & White Onion and the vegan friendly Portobello Mushroom & Porter all of which promised much based on the smells coming from the unit. All three delivered on their promise with expertly balanced fillings packing in all the flavour you’d hope for based on the advertised ingredients. The Mushroom & Porter didn’t feel in any way compromised to make it vegan friendly, with the filling matching up to the vegetarian and meat based pies comfortably with both depth and nuance to it. Steak and ale showed off plenty of tender meat and a rich gravy while the tang of onion offset the rich cheese in the cheddar and onion pie perfectly. Note as well that the pies utilised a shortcrust pastry base as well as a puff pastry top, the correct construction. The accompanying smoked garlic mash had plenty of garlic punch through it and the gravy topped things off nicely.

This is only going to be available at Spark for the next couple of weeks so be quick if you want to get stuck into some pie action though they’re also available to order for delivery. I’ll be making another visit to Spark shortly and lining up a delivery for later in the year from https://www.yorkshirehandmadepies.co.uk

(Disclaimer – PR visit)

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At Spark, Shori served up a range of small plates, snacks and larger dishes whose complexity betrayed the ambition to open a restaurant. After a detour to run a kitchen in another premises, that ambition has been fulfilled with the opening on Grape Lane by the junction with Coffee Yard. Chef Danny Victory has gone into partnership here with a fellow Spark business owner who can broaden the skill base on which this new venture is built. I can’t remember the last time I visited these premises’ previous occupant but upon entry there’s precious little evidence of the past in the smartly decorated bar and dining spaces, which are minimalist without undue austerity. In fact the interior was rather more well resolved than I had expected in all honesty with it being a new opening; I can’t count how many restaurant launches I’ve been to that smelled of wet paint! I particularly liked the view out of the expansive glass in the dining area which revealed some delightful curved brickwork that I’d not seen before. A striking blackened wooden arch separates the dining and bar area effectively, also acting as a visual centrepiece for Izakaya.

We were served a set menu on the evening I attended which aimed to cover most bases and consisted of a series of small plates representing different areas of the menu. First up were charred peppers dusted in a bitter, dark crumb that demanded a cold Asahi to counter before some Yakitori and Bao buns arrived along with a dipping sauce with an egg yolk floating in the centre. After puncturing with chopsticks to mix together, this formed an unctuous dip for the chicken skewers which were perfectly tender and given a touch of charring to make things that bit more interesting. The bao buns had been bisected rather than folded around the filling as one would usually expect but that had no impact on how perfectly they were executed, the dough having just the right bounce under slight pressure and the lamb filling both characterful and indulgent. A portion of cauliflower had just the right amount of bite left as well as a generous hit of spice to accompany a luxurious beef tataki and a satisfyingly bold green curry. Both these dishes continued to show confident execution and bags of personality while sesame dressed noodles and refreshing cucumber rounded out the meal neatly, the noodles in particular being particularly intriguing with much more complexity from the dressing than typical. I’d not intended dessert after that lot but with a bit of encouragement I caved and ordered a pandan tiramisu that turned out to be a well judged twist on such a well trodden dish.

The leap from a street food or a pop up to permanent premises can be a daunting one and I was prepared to be making allowances for that but Izakaya felt like an impressively complete offering at the early stage of my visit. It’s easy to see this becoming a winning combination of ambience, quality food and drink offering and sense of occasion. There’re some great restaurants around Grape Lane such as Los Moros and Sotano, Izakaya only makes this an even more delicious corner of York.

(Disclaimer – press meal)

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