A new street food-style supper club is bringing pina colada fried chicken (and actual Pina Coladas) to Leeds for the night.
The brainchild of Leeds chef Robert Hallas, the exciting new drinking and dining event at Temple Arches combines food and booze with some brilliant-sounding results.
Called crEATe, next week's event will showcase a playful four-course taster menu with Rob of Bastards Bistro cooking all his dishes in booze before pairing them with an alcoholic drink.
“My initial concept was ‘food cooked with booze’ so dishes would be cooked with some kind of alcohol and it would be paired with an alcoholic drink," he told Leeds List.
Bastards Bistro
“We’ve got Pina Colada fried chicken, that’ll be served with a Pina Colada cocktail - and a few more surprises.
Alongside the pina colada fried chicken, diners will also get to try Hallas's spin on the pot noodle and a unique take of a greasy spoon full English breakfast (which, spoiler alert, will look nothing like the real thing but promises to carry "all the flavours").
There'll also be live art from a graffiti artist with 3D mapping and music from local DJs.
“You’ll basically get a 360-degree view of the cooking, live art and watching the DJs play,” Hallas said.
Hallas has only been cheffing for three years, having previously worked in bars and nightclubs.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMRRzrLn4DK/
Bastards Bistro first launched in 2019 but things really kicked off for him in lockdown when he started his own takeaway business - hiring in furloughed friends to help and borrowing a cafe’s kitchen to sling kebabs, pizzas, scotch eggs and deep-fried lasagne balls.
Now his friends have gone back to work, he's hired two new members of staff to work alongside him at Bastards Bistro - which has just officially taken over the kitchen downstairs at The Hedonist Bar on a permanent basis.
Tickets for crEATe start at £50pp, with an additional £20 for a drinks flight. It will take place at Temple Arches from 5pm on Wednesday, 26th May. You can get yours here.
To keep up to date with more of Rob's projects, follow him on Instagram.
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Leeds pizza shop hailed ‘exceptional’ and ‘best in the UK’ by major reviewer
A Leeds pizza takeaway has received a glowing review from popular review duo.
Edges Pizza opened up their first permanent spot in Leeds back in June this year, after making a name for themselves slinging out pizzas at multiple pop-ups across the city.
Owners Grace and Edge from Harrogate opened Edges Pizza two years ago, taking inspiration from trips to New York over the years.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Their pizzas are a love letter to the class New York slice, think thin and crispy rather than chewy and floppy. But above all else, think absolutely delicious.
And now, they've caught the attention of a major review page, with Bite Twice Food Reviews (a page with almost 300k followers) paying Edges a visit.
The food review duo of Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany popped up in Holbeck beneath the arches to get their hands on a pizza, and the outcome is brilliant.
In the video, Bite Twice said that the pizza is 'f**cking exceptional' and up there with 'one of the best pizzas in the UK'.
Before even taking a bite, they said: "On aesthetic, I don't think anywhere in the UK is doing pizza like this".
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Then after the first bite, they go on to say: "There are very few pizzas in the UK that create this, I’m a little bit blown away".
As Londoners themselves, they go on to say that Edges is 'easily hitting with the best that we’ve got down south'.
And if that's not high praise enough, they sign off the video saying: "Leeds has got an absolute gem. I give this a stamp so hard my foot went through the pizza. Edges. Don Level."
Yorkshire-set Christmas film by Leeds director starring Richard E. Grant set to hit UK cinemas next month
Clementine Hall
A brand-new Christmas film is hitting cinemas nationwide next month - and it’s a proper Leeds success story.
Jack Spring directed his first feature film at just 19 years old and has spent the last decade carving out a career in independent film, as well as co-founding Leeds-based production company Shush Films.
His first movie, Destination: Dewsbury, was shot just down the road in - you guessed it - Dewsbury. And after moving to Leeds from Grimsby, Jack became determined to build his business from the city, putting down roots and growing his production company here.
Image: Supplied
Now, after years of working on independent projects, Jack has taken his biggest leap yet with a brand-new Christmas film, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint.
Set in Yorkshire, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint follows Aubrey Flint, a reclusive model soldier painter with a lifelong hatred of Christmas, who is sentenced to community service at Willow Lodge - a retirement home on the brink of closure.
Roped into helping with a chaotic production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Aubrey clashes with its interesting set of residents...
And the cast is about as star-studded as it gets, featuring Richard E. Grant, John Bradley, Celia Imrie, Adjoa Andoh, Sophia Di Martino, Adrian Rawlins and Kiell Smith-Bynoe.
Image: Supplied
The heartwarming festive comedy will hit cinemas nationwide on Friday 6 November - a huge milestone for a Leeds-based director and production company, taking a homegrown Yorkshire story to audiences across the country.
You just can't beat a proper wholesome British Christmas film, so you can best believe we'll be watching in the cinema, popcorn in hand.
Georgina Pellant -
20th May 2021 
