Eats

Honest Burgers will open this weekend in Leeds with 500 free meals

Opening Saturday 30 July 2022.

The Hoot The Hoot - 28th July 2022

Honest Burgers is finally set to open its restaurant in Leeds this weekend- and it will celebrate with free burgers and chips.

The restaurant chain already has 40 restaurants scattered across the UK, but has only been running as a pop-up in Leeds (at the Northern Monk brewery) until now.

It's now set to open its 41st site on Cloth Hall Street, just next to the newly-pedestrianised Corn Exchange area.

Credit: Honest Burgers

To celebrate the Leeds opening, Honest are giving the first 500 customers a burger and chips on the head. All you need to do to claim yours is head down to the new restaurant on Cloth Hall Street from 11.30am on Saturday 30 August and be the first to enjoy the great British burger, it really is that simple.

The launch also will mark the start of plenty of Leeds-exclusive specialities, including a soon-to-be-released local burger (those who have visited the Northern Monk pop-up will know exactly how highly anticipated this one is) as well as a collaborative sauce with Leeds-own Thiccc Sauce, and if that's not enough, for the first time ever, HONEST will be serving a cheesy version of their much-loved bacon gravy.

Image: Supplied

Speaking ahead of the launch, Tom Barton, Co-Founder Honest Burgers said: "Leeds has been a long time coming for Honest and we’re very happy to open on Saturday 30thJuly.

"All of our restaurants have close ties with local breweries and producers. In Leeds that means beers from Northern Monk and a local burger (launching in August) featuring beer pickled onions, smoked cheddar and a brand new black garlic chipotle chutney from lockdown star Thiccc Sauce.

"And for the first time ever, we’ll be serving a cheesy version of our cult favourite bacon gravy for all your burger and chip dunking needs."

A fully-vegan burger. Credit: Honest Burgers

The new Honest Burgers will create 20 new jobs for Leeds ahead of its opening on 25 July.

The burger brand is the only one in the UK to craft everything from scratch, including its beef patties (from its own butchery in London), its pickles, all sauces and relishes.

Honest Burgers was founded in Brighton in 2009, by friends Tom Barton and Philip Eeles.

Since then, it's championed local business and works closely with existing breweries and bars to collaborate in each city it opens in.

In Leeds, that meant its partnership with Northern Monk, where it made beer cheese using the brewery's Heathen IPA, and pickled onions with Faith pale ale.

In May this year, Honest Burgers announced Honest Farming, which will see it switch to regeneratively farmed British beef in partnership with farming collective Grassroots, cutting its carbon footprint and the environmental impact of eating beef.

Menu staples range from the classic Honest and Tribute burgers to the fiery Chilli burger which comes loaded with bacon, chilli cheese, Honest hot sauce, shoestring chips, and jalapenos.

The chicken wings are covered in sauce, and finger-licking food. / Image: The Hoot Leeds

Vegetarians have a choice of three vegan burgers, including an Indian-spiced sweetcorn, cauliflower, and chickpea fritter, and the Plant burger, made with a BeyondMeat patty.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Tom Barton, co-founder of Honest Burgers said: "Leeds has been a long time coming for Honest and we’re very happy to open on Monday 25 July.

"All of our restaurants have close ties with local breweries and producers. In Leeds that means beers from Northern Monk and a local burger (launching in August) featuring beer pickled onions, smoked cheddar and a brand new black garlic chipotle chutney from lockdown star Thiccc Sauce.

Read more: Chow Down announces summertime bottomless brunch and new street vendors

"And for the first time ever, we’ll be serving a cheesy version of our cult favourite bacon gravy for all your burger and chip dunking needs."

To celebrate the Leeds opening, Honest are giving the first 500 customers a burger and chips on them.

Simply head down to the new restaurant on Cloth Hall Street from 11.30am on Saturday 23 July and be the first to enjoy the great British burger.

Featured image: The Hoot

Eats

A new cocktail and record bar has opened in the former mills at Farsley

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Pardon Me is a new listening bar that's opened in Farsley

There's another new opening in Farsley - this time an incredibly cool listening bar and cocktail bar.

Tucked away in Sunny Bank Mills, Pardon Me is a bar built around 'music, atmosphere, and detail'.

Bartenders here create well-made cocktails and pour natural wines in front of a wall of vinyl records, while a playlist of hip hop, soul, jazz, funk, deep house, and disco soundtracks your evening.

The stylish space features a considered sound system that's been built around Danley speakers.

Pardon Me has opened with the intention of creating a space where 'sound sits at the centre, and everything else supports it'.

It's been launched by Scott Rapson, who grew up in the Scottish Highlands and fell in love with music around the time of the arrival of hip hop in the early 80s.

He then spent time travelling for raves, and visiting venues like Glasgow’s Sub Club and London’s Plastic People, giving Scott an appreciation for how 'music can shape a room, not just fill it'.

Scott and his partner Laurie have then spent the past three years travelling Europe, visiting listening bars across the continent to shape the foundations of Pardon Me.

Inside Pardon Me in Farsley
Inside Pardon Me in Farsley
Cocktails at Pardon Me
Cocktails at Pardon Me

They say that sound, look, atmosphere, service and style are treated with equal importance.

Whether it's for coffee during the day, or drinks into the evening, they want Pardon Me to be a place to spend time, looking out across Sunny Bank Mills.

Scott says he's built the bar with the support of family and friends, plus Laurie helping to bring the idea to life, already finding a warm welcome within the Farsley community.

Pardon Me is open now at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley.

Read more

Featured image: Supplied

Eats

Posh bakery chain Gail’s is finally coming to Yorkshire

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

Gail's has finally set its sights on Yorkshire for the first time, with a new bakery set to open this year.

It's one of the UK's most famous bakeries, launching in London in the early 1990s to supply restaurants, before opening its first retail site and cafe in Hampstead in 2005.

Gail's founders set out on a mission to bake bread as it used to be baked: by hand, using quality ingredients and time-worn artisanal methods.

While Gail's has expanded aggressively into the north, opening around a dozen bakeries in Greater Manchester and its surrounds, it hasn't made the journey across to Yorkshire just yet.

All that looks set to change, with job ads now listed for roles within a brand-new Yorkshire branch of Gail's.

Based on the job advert, Gail's is heading straight to the spa town of Harrogate - which is a fairly predictable move.

It looks like Gail's is heading for Harrogate
It looks like Gail's is heading for Harrogate
Gail's will make its Yorkshire debut
Gail's will make its Yorkshire debut

When it does open, you'll find loaf choices including classic white and brown sourdough, Gail’s ‘wasteless’ loaves (made using a specially-created recipe designed to incorporate unsold bread crumbs), alongside seeded varieties, baguettes and batons.

Must-tries include Gail’s famous cinnamon buns, still-warm cheese and ham croissants, chocolate chip cookies, and – given the weather we’re having this week – iced coffees, all day long preferably please.

Gail's has now confirmed the opening, with a spokesperson saying: "GAIL’s is excited to confirm it is opening a new bakery in Harrogate later this year. The opening will bring GAIL’s craft baking to the community, including creating a number of craft baking, barista, and management roles.

"We will also be donating surplus baked goods through our Neighbourly partnerships. This is part of our ongoing commitment to giving back to the communities we serve and improving access to quality food and drink on the high-street."

But given the number of fantastic local bakeries all over Yorkshire, the question is, does anyone want Gail's?

Read more: The best bakeries in Leeds serving everything from crusty loaves to flakey croissants

Featured image: The Manc Group

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