Twelve years ago, acclaimed Leeds pizza chef and dad of two Mark Baber was living a very different sort of life.
A professional jet setter, he was flying all over for his job and working behind the scenes at European Golf Tour, which is the principle golf tour on the continent.
Then he took a trip to Italy with his wife - and everything changed.
From the moment he tried his first wood-fired pizza, Mark was obsessed. Upon their return to the UK, he and his wife quickly bought a wood-fired oven of their own and he got to work trying to recreate the magic he'd so enjoyed whilst away.
Already an avid home cook, once he'd set his sights on recreating that pizza he was transfixed and spent hours researching techniques on Youtube.
Making his dough by hand in tupperware, he got his first break after visiting Malton Food Festival with his wife, Victoria. Here they were asked if they could fill a slot at the next market. With little to no experience, no dough trays and just the one portable oven sitting in their garden, they decided to go for it.
This was the moment that Wood Fire Dine was born.
Fast forward 12 years and that market stall pop-up is now an award-winning pizza restaurant located in Rothwell, South Leeds.
Mark and his wife finally made the leap in 2017, choosing to open in their local town out of a desire to help rejuvenate the area - which had been hit by a number of high street closures and was looking a tad sorry for itself.
The Commercial Street site was soon a hit, drawing in a string of fans who enthused about the restaurant's quality dough and authentic Italian ingredients, all of which are imported directly from Naples.
In just two years, Mark found himself taking home the coveted award of UK Pizza chef of the year at 2019's national PAPA awards - a dream career moment for the chef, which he celebrated by cooking his gluten and vegan pizza the 'Millennium Special' live for the event in his Leeds United shirt.
Whilst the past year has been difficult, like many fellow hospitality businesses in Leeds Wood Fire Dine has adapted to the times - tweaking his dough recipe to hold up better for takeaways and launching a DIY home kit for families to try at home with their children.
The restaurant also launched a new New York-style dough range in February. This sees the dough cold-proved, allowing the yeast to work on the sugars in the flour for a long period of time for a deeper flavour.
Still, he's looking forward to getting back to normal and plans to reopen the restaurant on Monday 17th May when indoor dining restrictions are eased as part of the government's roadmap out of Covid.
Wood Fire Dine's new reservations system is open for bookings from 12th May.
Leeds
New BBC TV drama starring Bel Powley and Harley Squires to be filmed in Leeds this spring
The BBC has announced a brand-new crime drama set to be filmed in Leeds and Hull.
We all love a BBC drama, and luckily for us one is about to be filmed right here in Leeds.
The new drama will be titled Shy & Lola, starring Harley Squires from The Night Manager and Bel Powley from The Diary of A Teenage Girl.
The six-part series has been described as a "dark comedy" about two women caught up in a murder in the criminal underworld.
The plot follows an unassuming pair in a small coastal town in northern England where the pair both realise they have a hidden talent for crime.
The series synopsis states: "As they build an operation that threatens to blow the local bad guys out of the water, opposing futures beckon – using their earnings to fund a fresh start, or becoming the new bosses in town."
The show is based on a popular French TV series and is written by Amanda Coe, an acclaimed English screenwriter and novelist.
Amanda Coe spoke about the announcement: "With such a rich and spiky central relationship at its core, Shy & Lolais a dream of a show to write, full of fun, action and emotion. I can't wait to see our hugely exciting cast and director bring it to life."
Rachelle Constant, executive Producer for Clerkenwell Films, said: "Amanda has written a brilliantly bold series centred on a dynamic female duo, which blends dark comedy with propulsive storytelling.We’re thrilled to have Hayley and Bel as our leads, alongside an exceptional cast and crew."
The new series will begin filming in Leeds and Hull this spring and will air on BBC One and iPlayer and we'll absolutely be tuning in.
Turnstile to play their only UK headline show this year at Halifax Piece Hall
Clementine Hall
Turnstile will headline the Halifax Piece Hall this summer, their only UK headline show.
The Grammy-winning hardcore group have just announced a very special show at historic venue the Halifax Piece Hall.
As part of the venue's huge summer season, Turnstile will take to the stage on Wednesday 26 August marking a whopping 41 shows at the Piece Hall's calendar so far.
The group pulled huge crowds at Glastonbury festival last year and scooped up two Grammy Awards earlier this month, using their platform to thank fans who "swung in the dark" with them.
Nicky Chance-Thompson MBE DL FRSA, CEO of The Piece Hall Trust, says: “2026 will see Turnstile playing at some of the world’s most iconic festivals and then here in Halifax at UK’s most iconic heritage venue.”
“We always aim to deliver for the full spectrum of music lovers in Calderdale and knowing how passionate our rock and metal community is, this gig will be off the scale – truly unmissable!”
Alongside Turnstile, Halifax Piece Hall will welcome the likes of Hollywood Vampires, Paul Weller, Bowling For Soup, Skunk Anansie, Garbage, Empire of the Sun, Sex Pistols, Mcfly, CMAT and Jimmy Eat World this summer. What a season it's going to be.
Baltimore’s hardcore heroes will head to West Yorkshire to play TK Maxx presents Live at The Piece Hall on Wednesday August 26.
Tickets go on sale this Friday 27 February at 10am, and you can get your tickets here.
Find out more about what's going on at the Halifax Piece Hall this summer here.
Georgina Pellant -
11th May 2021 
