This week I was invited to the press launch of the second ever Leeds Indie Food Festival.
Held in one of the event rooms at Leeds’ ever-so-trendy Headrow House, the queue went all the way down the stairs. At this point, it was already clear to me that this year’s Festival was going to be even bigger and better than last year.
A night at the Tetley, breakfast at Mrs Atha’s, Fat Rascals at Betty’s and sea bass at Le Box Bistro. On top of all that, I helped organise a blogger night at Smoke BBQ in Leeds.
Needless to say, February has been a very busy foodie month for me.
Not many people know about Black Swan’s restaurant on Call Lane in Leeds. Tucked away at the top of the stairs above the well-stocked (and for that matter, well known) bar, its dark walls, graffiti and mismatched furniture give it the feel of an exclusive supper club. You could call it Leeds’ best-kept secret.
But if more people knew about it, I’d never get a table… and what a travesty that would be.
I can’t quite remember the first time I tried beef pho.
It may have been at a street food hangout in Sydney’s CBD. (Before living in Sydney, I don’t think I’d ever tried Vietnamese food, let alone sampled this hearty beef noodle broth.)
Either way, over the years I have developed an obsession (quite a healthy one I think) with this delicious Vietnamese breakfast staple; clear fragrant broth, thin steak or brisket, filling noodles and piles of fresh herbs.
What better way to see in 2016 than with the smell of fresh bread wafting through the kitchen?
For many people, the Boxing Day feed consists of a beautiful pink roast ham in the centre of the table or some cobbled together leftovers. For me, it’s fast becoming a tradition that I make a curry banquet using recipes from Rick Stein’s fabulous India cookbook.
Set on the ground floor of Leeds’ newest events space, Headrow House, when I first walked through the door of Ox Club, I could have sworn I had just entered one of Copenhagen’s coolest joints.
Wooden floors, Scandi furniture, white metro tiled walls. Even the chefs look uber cool with their beards and hipster hair cuts.
Do you remember when sleek bars and restaurants were in fashion, with their chrome fixtures and fittings, funky coloured lighting and perfectly painted walls?
Bundobust is the polar opposite of what was in vogue in the noughties. It is in fact the epitome of what is cool in 2015.
Eek! Apologies for the recent lack of foodie musings. I have begun a new venture as a freelance journalist, PR and content marketing consultant and I am doing a bit of university lecturing on the side. Needless to say, I have been a busy bee!
But I’m back, and I’m here to talk about the fabulous new Leeds restaurant Bill’s.
I think I might have an unhealthy obsession with dumplings.
It could be something to do with having living in Sydney, where Sunday visits to the likes of Din Tai Fung and Marigold for yum cha seemed almost like a pilgrimage.
So when I was invited to a blogger event at Leeds’ Bar Soba to learn how to make AND eat these little gems, I think you know what my response was.
The Aubergine Kitchen 