Leeds eateries named in prestigious Observer Top 50 list

A number of eateries in Leeds and West Yorkshire have been named as some of the best in the world right now by the Observer in its esteemed Top 50 list.

The prestigious foodie guide, which lays out the national paper’s favourite food highlights for 2022, names Leeds-born vegan and veggie Indian street food heroes Bundobust, alongside Yakumama, the meat-free Latin American-inspired cantina in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

Excitingly, Leeds is also named as the city of natural wine – with critic Simon Naylor speaking to a number of operators in the city and praising the informal, relaxed attitude that accompanies it here as a world away from stuffy sommeliers and gastronomic restaurants.

Leeds as the city of natural wine

Describing Leeds as “fashion conscious and happy to spend a few quid enjoying itself”, Naylor goes on to add “trends often flourish [here]” before name-checking the likes of Sarto, owned by Dave Olejnik, alongside ‘pioneering’ Eat Your Greens, Owt, Ox Club, Home, Steve Nuttal’s influential shop Way of Life, The Reliance and Friends of Ham.

Commenting that “the number of local bar-restaurants that have embraced natural wine […] reflects something deeper: the way the city’s tight-knit food scene fosters”, he goes on to speak with Olejnik about the city’s scene as a whole.

According to Olejnik, here in Leeds, the hospitality industry is, “full of people happy to exchange ideas and put in the legwork to present good things to the public – who are open to new takes. The city’s geography lets people bounce between places easily, too. New ideas are never far away.”

Naylor surmises: “The informal culture around natural wine, how it is served and talked about, suits the city’s many ambitious, casual independents: ” We can’t argue with that.

Bundobust Brewery

Leeds’ vegetarian and vegan street food favourites Bundobust feature prominently in the guide, except this time the focus is on its new brewery restaurant over in Manchester.

Housed in a 100-year-old Grade II-listed building on Oxford Road, it boasts a custom-built 10-hectolitre facility capable of producing 20,000 pints a month – not to mention a talented head brewer in Dan Hocking, formerly of Uiltje.

Naylor writes: “Good beer is essential to Bundobust: Bradford-born owners Marko Husak and Mayur Patel first bonded over the emerging craft beer scene of the early 2010s.

“Its IPAs and sours became the ideal foil for Patel’s food – meat-free Gujarati family recipes updated for the street-food generation”.

Yakumama

Billed as “offering respite from the restaurant industry’s frothiest excesses”, this Manchester food truck turned restaurant in West Yorkshire is showered in praise.

Operated by Hannah Lovett and Marcelo Sandova, the Latin American-inspired cantina serves a short menu of colourful, meat-free small plates – all designed to share.

Naylor is just as enthusiastic about the space (a 19th-century former Co-Op building in Todmorden, situatedon the border of West Yorkshire and Manchester) as he is the menu, writing:

“Beyond its ornate 19th-century frontage the airy dining room is fairly plain. There are plants. Art. Nothing showy.”

He continues: “The Andean-style crisp potatoes with kalamata olive sauce, smoked paprika oil and pickled peppers, topped with a boiled egg, embodies Yakumama’s imaginative use of vibrant sauces and pickles to create astonishing food.

“An example of what is possible without meat or lots of money.”

Feature image – Bundobust