Independent cafe, 'Bruschetta' is supporting local businesses and serving up the freshest and most innovative brunch dishes in the city.
The Corn Exchange on Call Lane is home to some brilliant independent cafes and boutiques which showcase the creativity and fantastic community spirit of Leeds. Cosy coffee shop and cafe 'Bruschetta' are no exception.
Nestled in the magnificence of the Corn Exchange's gothic interior, the atmosphere is light and airy, making it the perfect spot for a brunch with friends or mid-week meeting.
Image: Bruschetta
Opening just 15 months ago, the small team at Bruschetta have found the winning formula for success. The menu is small but the flavours are not, each item is carefully thought through and brunch classics are given an exciting twist with their homemade sauces and spices.
But first, let's talk about the coffee. The beans are sourced and roasted from a local company in Sheffield and are then left to breathe for 14 days before serving. The magic formula for the perfect cup of joe is then decided on each morning, depending on the specific conditions and climate on that day. Seems like a lot of work for a cup of coffee but my god, I can confirm it was worth it. I'll be going back again and again for my daily oat milk flat white fix.
Image: The Hoot
Now for the food. Each morning the ingredients are sourced from Leeds market and you can definitely tell; the dishes are fresh, vibrant and flavoursome whilst also being great value for money. I opted for the Full Algerian breakfast which consisted of harissa spiced cannellini beans on toasted bruschetta, topped off with an oozing poached egg and spiced merguez sausage. The final touch is a house-made roasted pine nut and za'atar oil which I now need a bottle of. The flavours were punchy but perfectly balanced and left me wanting to sample all the other savoury options on the menu.
Image: The Hoot
But of course I had to leave room for something sweet and the french toast with caramelised apricots and mango certainly did not disappoint. Lacquered apricots lay on a healthy hunk of toasted brioche, topped off with a dollop of Cornish clotted cream and a sprinkling of saffron. This wasn't overly sweet and the tartness of the apricots really shone through whilst the mango coulis swirled with the clotted cream to create an indulgent sauce for the pillowy brioche to mop up.
In an attempt to offset all that naughtiness, I went for a freshly squeezed orange, carrot and ginger juice. They have a juice menu which changes depending on the fresh fruit available at the market or you can make your own by picking your fruits from the market style set-up at the counter.
Image: Bruschetta
With a seasonal menu which changes regularly, I'll certainly be going back time and time again. Not only to taste the delicious food and drink but to see the lovely staff whom gave me the warmest welcome and shared their vast knowledge and passion for local business with me.
The tiramisu hype lives on, and this time it's coming to Leeds.
It really does feel like the traditional Italian dessert has taken the world by storm as of late.
Everything from tiramisu cups and tiramisu coffees have been popping up all over our feed, and now tiramisu in drawer form is popping up in the city centre.
Misu Tiramisu is an independent business that began at Manchester's Christmas Markets and quickly became one of the most popular operators, all thanks to its miniature tiramisu ‘drawers’.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The individually portioned and colourfully packaged desserts quickly became one of town’s top puddings, and owners Aleem and Aishah went on to launch a stand inside the Manchester Arndale too.
And now they’re branching out again in Leeds inside Trinity shopping centre for a two month residency.
You’ll find all their delicious flavours of handmade tiramisu, including classic, pistachio, chocolate, Biscoff, mango, and lemon - they'll also have some gluten-free tiramisu on offer as well, so no one has to miss out.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Misu Tiramisu owners Aleem and Aishah spent a year refining the recipe for their tiramisus after a trip to Milan, first launching with their first market stall in Sale.
Misu Tiramisu is now open inside Trinity shopping centre opposite Boots Opticians and Pop Specs.
They're open every day of the week for you to get your tiramisu fix, from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday.
And trust us Leeds, they're just as delicious as they are adorable.
Fossilised 320-million-year-old fish found in Leeds’ Roundhay Park
Clementine Hall
A prehistoric fish fossil has been unearthed at Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The fascinating prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth fish was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year.
It is thought the creature was frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.
The remarkable discovery has now been kindly donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries and added to the natural sciences collection at Leeds Discovery Centre.
Image: Leeds City Council
The Leeds fossil was found by Ru Smith of the Yorkshire Geological Society during a reconnaissance walk he was carrying out ahead of a planned field excursion in the north Leeds park.
Describing the moment he made the discovery, Ru said: “There’s a layer of rock in the park which dates from around 320 million years ago, from a time before the breakup of the continents, when what is now the park would have been situated close the Equator and under the warm waters of a tropical lagoon. West Central Africa would be a good place to find similar environments in the present.
“There’s a bed of freshwater mussels called Carbonicola at one level in the rock, and opening a piece of shale from this bed in my hands I saw something unusual – a distinctive skull bone of a large fish. I knew straight away this was something different and very rare."
The bone was verified byexperts as belonging to a coelacanth older than those found elsewhere in Yorkshire, making it the oldest fossil coelacanth discovered in the region.
Ru added: “Coelacanths are pretty amazing fish and it’s just very cool to think that at one time, you could have been standing in Leeds and watching them swim around above a bed of mussels in Roundhay Park.
“That’s really the wonder of geology, looking at the rock and time travelling in the imagination to what was a very different world.”
Clementine Hall -
24th March 2022 
