We had breakfast at the eclectic Roots & Fruits the other day. Sat in the window on mis-matched chairs looking out onto the quiet Grand Arcade, we ordered a standard English breakfast of eggs, toast, mushrooms, beans, hash browns. Nothing fancy, nothing out of the ordinary, but well cooked and served with early Stevie Wonder [...]
La Grillade is a typical French restaurant, just like the places you’d find in any sizable French town. Except it’s in Leeds. That makes it special. The restaurant is housed in the basement of a Victorian terrace, and looks uninspiring from the outside. Down the stairs, it’s a different world, a series of small dining [...]
Some fish and chip shops are really very bad indeed. Some are just mediocre, and fail because of their mediocrity. Some are quite sensational. Others are part of a tradition or a routine, and are important because of that. The Old Keswickian fits into both of the last two categories. A visit to The Old [...]
Eating breakfast in a hotel is a tedious, expensive and predictable business, to be avoided when possible. I discovered The Troubadour about a decade ago whilst wandering round trying to avoid just this problem, and I’ve been back there every now and again ever since. Opened in 1954, The Troubadour is the last remaining of [...]
Normally, the night before my brother does a cookery demonstration, I get a phone call. ‘Have you decided what to cook yet?’ ‘No, I’ll think of something tomorrow.’ ‘But you’re on tomorrow afternoon. Don’t you think you should get something together?’ ‘It’ll be fine. I’ll get something out of the fridge at work and come [...]