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
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."
The 42-year-old Kirkgate Market stall serving freshly shucked oysters for £1.90 a pop
Clementine Hall
Tucked away in Leeds Kirkgate Market you'll find a wonderful seafood stall selling freshly shucked oysters for £1.90 each.
It's places like these that remind us why we love Leeds so much.
Established in 1880, Hayes Seafood is widely regarded as the oldest trader within the historic Kirkgate Market.
For the past 42 years, it has been run by Cliff and Michelle, the loveliest couple who welcome every customer with open arms.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The menu here is small but perfectly formed, focusing on fresh, ready-to-eat seafood that you can enjoy with a squeeze of lemon and a dollop of mayonnaise at most.
Delivered fresh every morning, there's pre-cracked crab shells, brown and white crab meat, cockles, crawfish tails - all perfectly prepared for you to eat at their bar or high tables opposite.
But, it's the oysters that you'll see people queueing for. And rightly so.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Everything here is prepared to order right in front of you, and for no extra fee. You can choose from two types of oysters: super salty Lindisfarne oysters or the slightly sweeter English Loch Fyne.
We recommend having a couple of each, pulling up a stool right by the counter and getting stuck in. If you ask Cliff nicely, he might tell you a bit about the history of the place - but you may have to order a couple more oysters for that.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
You're left to dress them yourself, whether you prefer dash of fiery tabasco or a few pickled shallots. But to be honest, they're delicious just as they come.
This spot is a real piece of Leeds history, and the queues at lunchtime as well as the repeat regular customers proves just how special it is.
All it's missing is a champagne stall next to it...now wouldn't that be perfect?
Georgina Pellant -
2nd July 2021 
