North Leeds Food Festival has revealed it will be returning to the city this summer, filling Roundhay Park with a host of food stalls featuring some of the best eats in West Yorkshire.
Whilst full details of the 2021 food lineup are yet to be fully revealed, based on 2019's roster - which welcomed top Yorkshire chefs from venues like The Foundry, Harewood Food & Drink Project, Rudding Park, Theravadu - this is not an event to be missed.
Some information about traders has been teased out online, with pictures of delicious gooey brownies, cakes, cheesecakes, flapjacks, sweets, cinnamon buns beginning to surface.
There have also been mentions of special sweet traders serving freshly made crepes, traditional Mexican churros and authentic Hong Kong desserts like bubble waffles with ice cream.
An authentic Hong Kong dessert, bubble waffles with ice cream / Image: North Leeds Food Festival
This year, the festival will be held across two weekends in August (7-8th) and September (11-12th). There'll be hot street food stalls for you to grab a tasty bite, and retail stalls to pick up hard-to-get local ingredients to use in your cooking at home.
There'll be live chef demos, hosted in association with Zest Charity & Leeds Cookery School, and plenty of independent bars serving up some of the freshest beers, wines, and cocktails Leeds has to offer.
Attendees in Roundhay Park sitting around enjoying the food festival / Image: North Leeds Food Festival
On top of all this, there'll be a traditional fun fair and inflatables for the little ones to play on, live entertainment and music from jazz and soul artist Malaika.
Artwork from Leeds Art University students will be displayed throughout the festival, and there'll also be a dedicated 'wellness' section with wellbeing stalls, independent cosmetic brands and yoga talks.
Further entertainment across the weekend will come from magicians Matthew J and Magic Matt, plus a free kids quiz and 'fact hunt'.
A bartender pours a glass of prosecco behind the bar at the food festival / Image: North Leeds Food Festival http://Attendees in Roundhay Park sitting around enjoying the food festival
Day tickets are priced at £4.98 for adults, and those bought for 2020's event are still valid for this year's North Leeds Food Festival. Tickets for under 16s are just £1.50 and under 5s go free.
To grab yours and find out more, visit the website here.
Eats
Salon Madre – a new tequila bar and pool hall is opening in Leeds this month
Manchester's favourite Mexican bar is about to become your newest nightlife destination in Leeds.
It's been a long time coming, but Salon Madre is officially ready to open in Leeds.
Although we may have to wait a little bit longer for Madre, the day-to-night eatery that has made waves over in Manchester and Liverpool, Salon Madre, its lively tequila bar and pool hall sibling, is officially opening on Friday 20 February.
Salon Madre, which will be located just around the corner from Madre at 114 Wellington Street, is where the party really gets started.
Image: The Manc Group
Expect tequila-fuelled nights, pool tables, lively DJs and Lucha Libre on the big screens.
There will also be plenty of tacos being flung out the kitchen to keep you going until the early hours.
If you’ve ever visited one of their venues in Manchester or Liverpool, you’ll know it’s an absolute riot and we can’t wait to welcome them to the city.
Images: The Manc Group
Co-founder Sam Grainger, inspired by countless trips to Mexico, says: “Mexico is alive with passionate artisans and cooks, mastering everything from street tacos to regional delicacies. It’s a world where traditions blend and evolve and we’ve built that ethos into the heart of both Madre and Salon Madre.”
Madre Leeds will open soon and you can even grab yourself a free margarita by signing up to their newsletter here.
We’ll keep you up to date with their opening times but for now, we'll see you at Salon Madre for a boogie, margarita and game of pool next week.
Award-winning Leeds restaurant announces shock closure just months after opening
Clementine Hall
Emba in Leeds will be closing its doors with the owner blaming rising costs and pressure on the hospitality sector.
Back in April last year, one of Leeds' top restaurants The Owl closed its doors.
Run by renowned Chef Liz Cottam, The Owl was reimagine into Emba - a trendy restaurant tat bridged 'the gap between cosy bar and vibrant dining room'.
To open Emba, Cottam opened a Crowdfunder where supporters would be awarded with prizes such as VIP dinners and merch depending on how much they donated.
But sadly just months after opening, Emba is to close permanently.
Cottam confirmed the sad news with a statement shared with customers over the weekend, saying she was completely "heartbroken".
She said: “This is no longer the right time to own independent restaurants like Emba,” she said. “Under the current conditions they cannot survive and the recent budget confirmed what so many of us already knew: no meaningful help is coming for hospitality.
"The experience of being here and the harsh financial reality of running a business here no longer stack up.
"Being award winning, popular, admired and loved no longer means profitable and as an industry if we’re honest most of us have not truly been okay since Covid."
She signed off the statement promising to return to the restaurant world, she said: “What I do know is this, I am not done. I will keep cooking, keep creating and keep finding ways to do the thing I love.”
Georgina Pellant -
2nd July 2021 
