The Journal - I Like Press Issue 5 by I Like Press

Issue 5

LUNCH SPOTS We pick out some of the food traders making us tick at Kirkgate Market.

CHEF Joel Monkman talks foraging, inspiration and Ham & Friends’ new kitchen.

S A M AIREY We chat through his debut album ‘In Darkened Rooms’ which has received glowing reviews and lots of mainstream radio.

ICED COFFEE The sun came out and we went in search of iced coffee based drinks. Leeds is full of them.

0 1 . L U N C H SPOTS K I R K G A T E MARKET 0 2 . C H E F SPOTLIGHT 03.SAM AIREY THE DEBUT 04.ICED COFFEE 05. ALFRESCO IN LEEDS 06. LIF 2017 2

Publisher: I Like Press Editor: Simon Fogal Creative: Oslo Editorial: Phoebe Ryan Louise Jackson Rogers Simon Glacken Harry Ridgway Cover: Shot by Tom Joy at #FindtheForest as part of Leeds Indie Food Printed on FSC mixed source paper.

BÁNH & MEE, K I R KG AT E M A R K E T

KKIIRRKKG A T E G AT E M RK KE E T: T: MA AR O U R OUR FFAVO AVO U R II T UR TE ES S Based as we are at the bottom of Leeds city centre, lunchtimes provide the perfect opportunity to wander this fine city, following our noses to the myriad of different culinary offerings available across the city. Lunch Spots is a new feature planned to document our city’s food scene through one company’s lunch hour wanderings. You’re welcome! A space we’ve recently been drawn back to is Kirkgate Market. Yes, we know, it has stood in the same spot for 160 years, but the 2016 refurbishment project reminded us again about all of the wonderful businesses inside. We also spent a fair amount of time in there helping to erect The Allotment as part of Leeds Indie Food, and found ourselves enjoying the new space. So, to kick off our Lunch Spots feature, each member of the I Like Press team has picked his or her favourite Kirkgate spot for a bite of lunch.

HARRY'S CHOICE - BÁNH & MEE TOFU RICE BOX This month I’ve been popping into Bánh & Mee at every opportunity to get a Tofu Rice Box (without the aubergine… Nothing to do with Bánh & Mee, just can’t stand aubergine…) It’s just about ruined every other lunch for me. Totally delicious and satisfying, the tofu is cooked perfectly with a little bit of a kick from the added sriracha. It’s served with rice and pickled veg which are both done brilliantly. Really filling and still feels a little bit healthy… better than a cheese and onion sandwich and a bag of walkers for about the same price!

LOUISE'S CHOICE – CAFÉ MOOR -

TURKISH DELIGHT'S FA L A F E L W RA P

Nothing beats a plate of moreish falafel and creamy hummus from Café Moor. They serve a generous portion of croquettes, which are crispy on the outside and flavoursome in the middle – simply perfect for dipping in hummus and garlic sauce, and scooping up with Arabic bread. The meal also comes with a side of salad and chips but I always order it without the latter, as they just aren’t needed! The people at the stall are so friendly, the décor is intricate and beautiful and you’re surrounded by the scent of geraniums from Brian’s Florist, next door. There is refreshing mint tea on offer, as well as other homemade drinks, such as watermelon and rosemary-infused water.

F O G A L’ S C H O I C E – FAT A N N I E ' S –

TURKISH DELIGHT

I was first introduced to Fat Annie’s back in 2015 via Leeds Indie Food and was hugely impressed with their hot dog recipe. We have had a few late night events this month and therefore a few sore heads. Nothing beats a hangover better than the Redneck Hotdog and loaded Fries combo. Hot Dog with added maple bacon, Monterey Jack cheese and chipotle mayo - a true delight. I also recommend the Texas Pete too; with added 14 hour cooked brisket beef chilli, it is also extremely inviting.

Turkish Delight might just be the hidden gem of Leeds market. Their unit isn’t flash and there’s a good chance they don’t have a social media presence and while they lack the glamour of many other units within the market their falafel is without doubt some of the best around. The curve ball which they throw though that sets them apart from the rest is that the flat bread your falafel wrap comes in is prepared fresh. Dough is rolled and baked right in front of you within a matter of 30 seconds meaning it’s about as fresh as bread is going to get. This takes your falafel experience to another level.

BÁNH & MEE

GLACKEN'S CHOICE - TURKISH DELIGHT -

#FINDTHEFOREST A S PA R T O F L E E D S INDIE FOOD 2017 8

PHOTOS BY TO M J OY

CHEF SPOTLIGHT - JOEL MONKMAN, HEAD CHEF AT H A M & FRIENDS ON GOING GREEN 10

reen is the colour we all want in our lives, the colour of now. Whether we’re ‘going green’ by being more eco-friendly and environmentally conscious or trying to be healthier by eating our greens, it’s a colour we all associate with health, vitality and nature. One Leeds food haven looking to the shade is Ham & Friends and its head chef, Joel Monkman. We caught up with Joel to talk about “green” - sustainability, provenance and vibrancy, all crucial elements in his enticing summer dishes. If you follow Joel on Instagram (@joelmonkman123), you’ll see a thread filled with freshness. You’ll also notice his interest in foraging. “It’s about taking advantage of what’s on your doorstep at the time,’ Joel says. He has major Fear Of Missing Out – after all, many of these ingredients only come round once a year. “For a long time we missed out on the flavours of the countryside,” he goes on; “it was the “Old School” way to look to France for their produce rather than looking at what’s here – it’s an ignorance and lack of appreciation for what’s around you.” But that is beginning to change. Foraging is coming back into focus, as chefs concentrate on minimising air miles and highlighting the flavours available all around them, right now. “It’s come from the Scandis,” Joel admits. “Where we were looking to France, we’re now looking to Sweden, Norway, Denmark. They’re the forefront of the new wave of cooking.” That dedication to the local means a dedication to “trying to reduce their carbon footprint, and looking after the environment – they’re more aware of that than we are,” Joel suggests, “but we’re slowly getting better. We’re too price-concerned, trying to get the bargains from everywhere.” He isn’t perfect, though. He admits – “it’s only early days. Some of our produce does still come from the continent – there’s more we need to do as well. We try to use British produce but we can’t always get it – it’s a challenge.” Foraging is about low environmental impact, sure, but it’s not piously environment-obsessed – it’s about flavour, too. “It’s also about giving the customer something different, something they might not have had before.” For Joel, foraged ingredients bring a certain freshness, and “the excitement of using something a bit different, trying to create a different dish.” There are so many ingredients out there to be foraged in the UK, from the musky chanterelles lurking in Autumnal woodlands, to wild garlic whose scent overpowers in May’s verdant damp, to the delicate elderflowers perfuming the air overhead on sunny June days, to the dark bilberries jewelling low-slung moorland bushes in August and September. And this is only to scratch the surface – so much of what grows in the UK is edible, but ingredients have fallen from favour due to flavour (as our palettes move further and further away from bitterness) and because they aren’t easy to commercially harvest, and therefore, make money from. “I’m still learning myself,” Joel freely admits, “I don’t know half of what’s out there. It’s a learning curve for me.” These ingredients can throw our focus, too, in a helpful way. Moving away from the classic “meat-and-two-veg” of British cuisine, foraging allows different flavours and ingredients to step into the frame. However, that doesn’t mean Joel has moved away from meat. “It’s really important to respect the main protein. It’s lived a life after all and you have to appreciate that – it’s important to know where it’s come from, and give the animal the respect it’s due.” This is another element of the Scandi trend that has begun to shape the UK food scene – smaller meat portions. “We are traditionally a nation who over-eats meat, without being concerned for the environmental impact – we are running out of meat the way we’re eating it,” Joel states – “it’s alarming. My brother’s a chef over in Sweden and they’re very

And it just tastes better. Caring about our produce has seen an injection of exciting, smaller companies reinventing what we thought we knew. With artisanal bakeries springing up everywhere, we’re realising that mass-produced is not where you get the maximum flavour. “Growing up, everything was about Warburton’s,” Joel says. “It was this new, amazing thing. You realise, as you get older, that it’s shit! With smaller producers, like the sourdough companies that have become popular, people are realising that bread is amazing!” And we do have to look to the smaller producers. Supermarkets are too wary of what the consumer thinks they want, rather than sticking to their guns and giving what the UK produces. The big corporate companies who aren’t bothered about airmiles have a lot to answer for. Smaller greengrocers have been forgotten about – but I think it’s coming back slowly. The newer generation are becoming aware. The mass-, factory-produced goods the country needed to self-sustain in the 50s, post-war, are only just on the way out. Instead of convenience and cheapness, “a certain percentage of the newer generation do want to get back in touch – it’s better, and tastes better – but it’ll take time for more and more people to realise that,” Joel suggests. “Hopefully it’ll swing back to the old ways, but it’ll take time.” It seems like the colour green is more radical than you might expect when it comes to the food scene. It evokes a commitment to provenance, quality, and locality. It also, of course, makes sense aesthetically during (occasionally!) hot spring and summer’s days. “In spring and summer, you want to create dishes that look vibrant and fresh and tasty to eat! You eat with your eyes first, so it wants to look inviting.” “Green is the colour of the season”, Joel states. Looking to the countryside, everything is green in the UK, so it’s emulating that on the plate! I try to avoid fussiness in plating, just aiming for natural and vibrant. Instead of boiling the hell out of something, it’s about light cooking and chilling in iced water, to make all the green pigments come out in the product. You’re going to get more flavour out of something if you treat it with a bit of care and respect. It’s a nice way of putting things on the plate.

WORDS BY P H O E B E R YA N

much focussed on reducing the size of the protein and giving more veg. It’s about cooking a small, beautiful piece of meat well, rather than expecting a load of meat, poorly cooked – when we understand that, we can respect it more and treat it with care. Ultimately the customer will have a better experience.”

JOEL MONKMAN, HAM & FRIENDS

RECIPE Joel Monkman’s Recipe : Cod, peas, asparagus, Serrano ham, wild garlic velouté

INGREDIENTS: 1 F I L L E T O F C O D ( S U S TA I N A B LY S O U R C E D ) 1 ONION 1 /2 L E E K , W H I T E O N LY 1 CLOVE OF GARLIC 1 LITRE OF FISH STOCK 1 S M A L L P O TAT O 6 0 0 G W I L D G A R L I C , PLUS A FEW FLOWERS 200G SPINACH S A LT 10G FRESH PEAS 2 0 G A S PA R AG U S 1 LEMON SERRANO HAM To make: Finely slice the onion, leeks and garlic. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a wide, heavy-based pan, over a medium heat. Add the vegetables with a pinch of salt, and turn down the heat to medium and sweat for about 10 minutes until soft. Chop the potato finely and add to the pan, sweat for a few more minutes then add the fish stock. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Wash the wild garlic and spinach and remove any stalks. Add to the base and cook for a few minutes. Blend this mixture until smooth and pass through a fine sieve. Chill immediately to help it remain a vibrant green colour. Now cook the cod under the grill for 5-6 minutes, until the middle has reached 40 degrees. Rest the cod and take the skin off. Add some confit lemon to the top of the fillet, with some wild garlic flowers. Chop the asparagus into coin-sized pieces and pod the peas. Cook the podded peas and asparagus in a butter emulsion for 2 minutes until tender. Slice some Serrano ham finely and arrange on top of the peas and asparagus. Place the cod on top, and pour the wild garlic velouté around.

WORDS BY P H O E B E R YA N

ALBUM F E AT U R E : SAM AIREY ‘IN DARKENED ROOMS’

ith songs deemed “deep”, “beautiful” and “effortless” by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, you know Sam Airey’s debut album “In Darkened Rooms” is worth a listen. The ‘headphone moment’ on Lauren Laverne’s Radio 6 Music show this week, following a slot on Steve Lamacq. Whilst his writing is very much an isolated activity, Sam’s live show is a veritable party, filled with the collaborative musical skills of his friends. Cathartic, nostalgic and pensive, his music is thought-provoking music fit for the late night and moments of solitude. Mixing his years of living in Leeds with his upbringing in rural Wales, the album is a mixture of these city and country influences, noise and silence, cacophony and purity. Beginning with ‘Camera Lens’, a short intro track, the listener is plunged into the sounds embodied by the term “hiraeth”, a Welsh word without direct translation but which loosely suggests homesickness tinged with grief, and a nostalgic longing for the past – here, perhaps Sam’s own past, looking back to his upbringing on the North West Wales island of Anglesey. Second track ‘Epitaph’ is an unusual feature, a bit more upbeat and full of pace, before we fall back into the quiet thoughtfulness of the rest of the album. ‘In the Morning’, coming up third, is Airey’s favourite track from the album. With poetic inspiration from as far apart as the Romantics and Dylan Thomas, it jumps through ideas, questioning our place in the universe.

THE ALBUM CONTINUES THROUGH M AT E R I A L O L D A N D N E W, P I C K I N G UP INFLUENCES FROM SIXTIES FOLK IN ‘ E N D L E S S S E A’ , T H R O U G H P E R H A P S A I R E Y ’ S B E S TKNOWN SONG ‘THE B L A C KO U T ’, S PA R S I T Y I N ‘ L A C U N A’ A N D A H I N T OF COUNTRY IN ‘WYTHE AV E N U E ’. FINISHING U P W I T H ‘ N A N T U C K E T ’, A S LOW-B U I L D E R O F A T R A C K T H AT G R O W S T O A CLIMAX OF CLASHING G U I TA R S AND DRUMS FOR THE OUTRO, THIS ALBUM SHOWS BREADTH OF INFLUENCE AND SOUND, TIED TOGETHER BY A “HIRAETH” THREAD RUNNING THROUGH, A TONE PULLING ALL THE SONGS TOGETHER INTO A PENSIVE, COHESIVE AND E N J OYA B L E L I S T E N . 15

s soon as the sun is shining and the temperature hits the mid-20s, I need an iced coffee in my hand – a latte, to be precise. It’s that process of pouring hot coffee over ice and adding cold milk that symbolises the all-important transition in seasons; iced coffee means it’s summer! There’s something rather sexy about an iced coffee; as well as the revitalising caffeine kick, it’s on the rocks and sometimes there’s an over-sized straw. In fact, according to statistics from the Allegra World Coffee Portal, the ‘overall value’ of iced and blended coffee in UK coffee shops increased by 18% in 2016 – results that were announced at this year’s UK Coffee Week (1016 April 2017) proving that iced coffee is becoming the drink of choice for many people. There are plenty of places in Leeds to get your iced coffee fix. Laynes Espresso offer a refreshing iced latte (with the perfect balance between sweet milkiness and bitter espresso) as well as an iced espresso tonic, which is – you guessed it – iced coffee with tonic water (gin and tonic fans, take note!) Two more iced coffee haunts are Pump n Grind and Kapow! – with the latter recently adding an adventurous iced matcha latte with almond milk to their menu (and planning ahead for winter, Kapow! also have a happy hour on all hot drinks between 10-11am and 2-3pm – genius!) Some of us iced coffee lovers have extended our obsession with cold-based caffeine drinks to a new level. Cold brew is now a staple in most coffee shops around Leeds and 200 Degrees have their own branded version. Cold brew is bitter with fruity notes and it’s slightly watery, unless you add a splash of milk. You can head over to Mrs Atha’s for Fitch Brew Co Ethiopian single estate cold brew in a can or Hyde Park Book Club for bottles of cold brew from Maude Coffee (a local roastery where you can pop in each Wednesday from 9-5pm and watch them at work!)

over to places like Kapow!, Maude Coffee, 200 Degrees and even The East Village in Hyde Park, where they have it on tap. It’s cold brew coffee infused with nitrogen and, as it comes from a keg, it forms a frothy head when poured. It’s often described as creamy and much tastier than you would imagine and the Allegra World Coffee Portal ‘expects to see 17% compound annual growth’ in cold brew and nitro coffee ‘in the next five years’. There are so many different and exciting versions of cold coffee drinks, it’s no wonder that Baileys (a guilty pleasure of mine) are working on a range of iced drinks with Grind Coffee in London to celebrate the launch of NEW Baileys Iced Coffee Latte Premix cans. Their campaign requires customers to whisper the secret password ‘Don’t mind if I Baileys’ into their barista’s ear (I told you iced coffee was sexy) to obtain permission to have an exclusive Baileys Iced Coffee Latte drink. These drinks are so secret, they don’t even appear on the menu but Grind have been using social media to entice customers and encourage them to ‘unlock the order’. The drinks include the Ice Cream Splat (featuring whipped cream, a cone and the obligatory flake) and even Candice Brown (Great British Bake Off Winner 2016) has been involved and created the latest one – a Baileys Mint Brownie Iced Latte. This campaign perfectly captures the desirability of iced coffee, as well as a barista’s love for creativity. So, what else is on the horizon for iced coffee this summer? Manchester’s Faith & Sons have recently announced the launch of their Cold Press Organic Coffee Gin, which will be available at Selfridges from 4 July onwards, and I am so excited to discover which iced drinks North Star will be offering us when their Coffee Shop & General Store opens at Leeds Dock in early July. Until then, when the sun is out, you’ll always find me on the lookout for my favourite iced drink!

Claire Dodd, ‘Iced and blended coffee sales grow by 18%’, Imbibe.com <http://imbibe.com/newsarticles/hot-drinks/coffee/iced-blended-coffee-sales-grow-18/> [accessed 23 June 2017]

WORDS BY LOUISE JACKSON ROGERS

The next step after cold brew is nitro cold brew coffee – head

SUMMER IS HERE

PICTURED: ( L E F T ) I C E D L AT T E , K A P O W ! (RIGHT ) FITCH BREW CO, COLD BREW COFFEE

Directory L AY N E S ESPRESSO

16 New Station St, Leeds LS1 5DL

KAPOW! 44 THE CALLS, LEEDS LS2 7EW

Pump n Grind 52 Brudenell Rd, Leeds LS6 1BD

Hyde Park Book Club 27-29 Headingley Ln, Leeds LS6 1BL

200 DEGREES 5 B Q , 3 1 B O N D S T, LEEDS LS1

Maude Coffee 83, 82 Railway St, Leeds LS9 8HB

The East Village 47-49 Brudenell Grove, Leeds LS6 1HR

GRIND VA R I O U S LO C AT I O N S : SHOREDITCH, SOHO, HOLBORN, COVENT G A R D E N , R OYA L EXCHANGE, WHITECHAPEL, E X M O U T H M A R K E T, LONDON BRIDGE

N O R T H S TA R U N I T 3 3, T H E B O U L E VA R D, LEEDS DOCK, LEEDS LS10 1PZ

M R S AT H A' S CENTRAL RD, LEEDS LS1 6DE 19

NORSE PRESENTS: T H E S PA E X C H A N G E

PHOTOS BY TO M J OY

WH HE ER RE E W TO HE EA AD D T O H W H E N WHEN T H E S U N THE SUN H I T S – HITS – O U T S I D E OUTSIDE E A T I N G E AT I N G II N L E E D S N LEEDS 22

few years ago, we were hard pressed to find anywhere in Leeds city centre to enjoy the moments of sunshine that our English summer occasionally affords! Fast track to now, and we’re faced with a plethora of options. Leeds has become a cosmopolitan city where people bask in the sun, enjoying a tipple or eating, in the fleeting English sunshine. Mirroring our European counterparts, we want to dine al fresco and enjoy those rays whenever opportunity calls. Even if the thermometer doesn’t actually match our wardrobe choices (classically British as it is to strip off to shorts and sandals as soon as the snows thaw), Leeds now has a great number of venues in which you can really maximise your opportunity to pretend our geographic co-ordinates are more ‘South of France’ than ‘level with Norway’.

S O U T H O F T H E S TAT I O N

CIT Y CENTRE CASUAL

The newest addition to the Leeds outdoor eating scene is Water Lane Boathouse. A sibling to Belgrave Canteen and Music Hall and Headrow House, you know it’s going to offer great craft beers and drinks as well as know its food niche (artisanal pizza, as well as homemade sourdough sandwiches and salad bowls, in case you were wondering). Down on the canal side, there couldn’t be a more European-feeling environment for you to celebrate those sunny moments, surrounded by residents of Granary Wharf lazing on the grass, and even occasionally dabbling a foot in the canal itself.

Headrow House and the Belgrave are, of course, celebrated Leeds haunts. The roof terraces on both of these city centre buildings are the place to be, beer, G&T or glass of wine in hand, on a hungover sunny Sunday. Belgrave offers the infamous burger joint Patty Smith as well as excellent by-the-slice pizzaiolas Dough Boys to fill your belly, as well as the abundance of pop-up food stalls which visit the Belgrave monthly, for their Belgrave Feast events. Headrow House, meanwhile, is famous for 2017 Michelin-recommended restaurant Ox Club downstairs, featuring amazing evening dishes from their solid fuel grill, as well as bumper brunches on Saturdays and Sundays. Opt for “Box Club” – steak, chips, salsa verde and béarnaise sauce in a takeaway box – and head for Kennedy Meadows, their highest roof terrace, to eat in the sun.

The courtyard-vibe around the Granary Wharf development, at the station’s new South exit, means it’s always a popular sun trap, with many restaurants having small, roped-off table areas into which punters spill, drinks in hand. To channel those European summer vibes, head to Livin’ Italy for an Aperol spritz and to take advantage of the authentic Italian menu they provide.

At ground level at the corner of Trinity Leeds shopping centre is Basque kitchen and bar Pintura. Although it doesn’t offer a great view, the surrounding buildings provide a great windbreak, making a little suntrap in which to enjoy a spot of lunch, Spanish style, in a midday pause from shopping. The little courtyard space offers outside dining (with heat lamps for when we’ve been a little over-optimistic about temperatures!) for you to enjoy pintxos and tapas-style Spanish dishes.

City Centre Casual WAT E R L A N E B O AT H O U S E BY TO M J OY

Due to open soon right on the top of the Trinity shopping centre, the Potting Shed promises three new bars – The Potting Shed, Orchard and Secret Garden. With room for 600 people and a menu served from an open kitchen and a cocktail list of 40 options, we’ll be giving it a go.

CITY CENTRE FORMAL

CHEAP AND CHEERFUL

At the more formal end of the scale sits Trinity Leeds’ two D&D restaurants, Angelica’s and Crafthouse. Both offer a fine dining experience, whilst providing panoramic views across central Leeds from the roof of the modern glass dome of Trinity Leeds shopping centre. Surrounded by people dressed to the nines, this is a great spot for people watching and looking down on shoppers below.

Towards the universities, the most popular outdoor spot for eating is unequivocally Dry Dock. Though far from a fine dining experience, this pub is perfectly located for the universities, and for finding a patch of grass not far from the city centre on which to enjoy a bite to eat. Located in a beached ship, people spill out from the top deck onto the surrounding grassy banks with massive burgers and great British stodge to accompany their pints on a sunny afternoon.

The Alchemist, also in the Trinity centre, offers similar skyline views, but with a more affordable menu filled with options such as brunches, burgers, small plates and sandwiches. For even more formal options, consider Harvey Nichols’ fourth floor café, whose restaurant-length balcony offers a little suntrap on a sunny day. Sit in front of the windows to make the most of the sunlight without facing any of that unavoidable British chill!

Out towards Burley through student land you’ll find Brudenell Social Club. Always an excellent option for music, you can also hit the working men’s club-style Brudenell up for a cheeky pint in the sun. #EatNorth is brand new on the scene at North Brewing Co with the first one a scorcher. The car park is transformed, with picnic benches, cornhole games, sofas, and laid back beats with some of the best street food around, each week featuring brand new traders. Leeds certainly knows how to make the most of every moment of sun we are afforded, and the city centre has never been so well endowed when it comes to spots in which to catch a few rays whilst enjoying a bite to eat. Wherever you find yourself in the city on a sunny day, whether right in the city centre or moving towards the outskirts, don those summer shorts, shades and t-shirts and get ready to loosen your belt to enjoy some great Leeds eats.

Cheap & cheerful PHOTO BY LUCY FORRESTER

Newly opened Issho, on top of the Victoria Gate shopping centre will definitely be worth a try, for some new views across the city skyline.

LEEDS INDIE FOOD 2017

PHOTOS BY TO M J OY

LEEDS INDIE FOOD THREE YEARS STRONG W O R D S B Y P H O E B E R YA N

BACK FOR ITS THIRD YEAR, THE LEEDS INDIE F O O D F E S T I VA L HIT THE CITY AGAIN THIS M A Y, W I T H M O R E THAN A HUNDRED E V E N T S DIVIDED INTO C A T E G O R I E S E A T, D R I N K A N D DO. 28

nother successful year, we saw food and drinks businesses committing to the festival, whether on a small or larger scale. Whilst cafes like Pump n Grind held a latte art throwdown and Scandi café Stories of Roundhay Road held a cocktail evening, other businesses like Harrogate’s Norse committed to three full services. In the city’s iconic Corn Exchange, Norse offered a menu of their famous Nordic-inspired small plates, alongside champagne connoisseurs Champagne Concept and Harrogate gin distillers Whittaker’s. This marked a move towards more formal events which we saw this year. Although the festival still sees lots of opportunity to showcase pop-ups and relatively new businesses doing takeovers and supper clubs, the formal side of the Leeds scene has not been neglected, echoing the interest in a move towards more fine dining options in the city. Surely somewhat due to the success of Ox Club, this phenomenon has seen the Leeds independent scene really diversify and become the rich mix of fine and casual, pop-up and permanent that it is today. Other highlights included the charitable events supporting food for Syrian refugees, and the Real Junk Food Project, in its mission to minimise food waste. With more than 20,000 punters enjoying the varied delights of the events, as well as making the most of passport perks and festival treats at participating Leeds food and drink outlets, the third year has continued the success of the first two festivals. Long may it last!

PHOTOS BY TO M J OY

I LIKE PRESS FAC E B O O K.CO M/I L I K E P R E S S T WIT TER.COM/ILIKEPRESS I N S TA G R A M .C O M / I L I K E P R E S S DESIGN BY OSLO.AGENCY