In a coup for the city’s bartending scene, some of Leeds' best cocktail bars have been named amongst the UK’s creme de la creme – with three ranking amongst the top 50 in the country.
Local favourites Tabula Rasa, Hedonist and Below Stairs were all recognised for their top-notch drinks, atmosphere and service at a glitzy awards ceremony held in London last night, coming in at numbers 48, 45 and 42 respectively.
Over in neighbouring Sheffield, meanwhile, natural wine bar Bench (#50) and cocktail bar Public (#39) were also given honours, whilst, in Manchester, cocktail bars Speak in Code and Schofield's both made the UK's top 10.
Whilst London once again dominated the list, there were still a large number of northern drinking spots included with a total of 14 of the Top 50 Cocktail Bars to be found in Scotland and the north of England.
Liverpool bar Present Company also cleaned up at the awards, ranking at number 20 – a jump of 23 places from its 2022 position.
Over in Scotland, meanwhile, Edinburgh bars Panda & Sons (#6) Bramble (#13) and Hey Palu (#27) all got a mention, as did secret Glaswegian bar The Absent Ear (#25) and natural wine and cocktail bar Lunar (#49).
The Top 50 Cocktail Bars list is compiled by bar industry experts and offers a unique perspective on where those in the know like to go for a drink.
Image: Tabula Rasa
Each year, the list is chosen by a mixture of bartenders, bar owners, writers, critics, and other hospitality professionals.
To ensure each region in the UK has an equal opportunity to shine, voters are broken down into six geographical regions. Each voter then has four votes, including for one cocktail bar in their region and three others from anywhere else in the UK.
Top 50 Cocktail Bars community manager, Charli Tomney, said: “I am so excited to bring back this event with a bang. We have a real variety of bars, some with a capacity of 24 people some with 300. There are bars with spirit specialities, new bars that have opened just months ago and some female-owned businesses from across the UK.”
Image: The Hedonist
Chris Lowe, publisher of Top 50 Cocktail Bars, said: “We have created Top 50 Cocktail Bars to help people find the best bars, which are often hidden, around the UK.
“London still has more bars on the list than any other city but having almost all of the UK’s major cities represented showcases the explosion of great venues on the cocktail scene.”
Feature image - The Hoot Leeds
Eats
Popular New York-style pop-up pizza business to open first takeaway in Leeds
Announcing the news to Instagram, Edge's Pizza said: "Well there’s good reason for our silence over the last few months, (planning permission pending) we’ve got a home! Seven months of looking and we’ve learnt so much on this journey already, from investment that didn’t work out, to dodgy buildings not fit for purpose. We’ve got there in the end.
"All that to say, we pride ourselves on perfection and wouldn’t settle for anything less. We hope this will be worth the wait, and that you’ll support us on this next huge step. We are terrified to say the least, but we’re also so excited and immensely grateful to you our lovely customers for this opportunity."
Images: The Hoot Leeds
This would be great news for Leeds, as their pizza is something unlike anything we have in the city at the moment.
Forget the floppy, Neapolitan-slices that you fold before shoving in your gob. These slices are satisfyingly thin, perfectly crispy and just downright delicious.
We would love to welcome Edges Pizza to the city and we'll keep you updated with the progress. You can bet we'll be the first to order.
Award-wining Leeds sandwich shop Silver’s Deli to open neighbourhood bakehouse
Clementine Hall
Silver's Deli is opening up a sister shop, and this time it's about everything baked.
We all know and love Silver's Deli for their stacked subs and breakfast sandwiches that could cure any hangover no matter how severe.
They're so good, that they even bagged the coveted Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Award last year.
And rightly so, because Silver's is absolutely class.
And it seems there's just no stopping Silver's, as they've just announced that they'll be opening a sister shop named Silver's Bakehouse serving up everything, yep you guessed it, baked.
It'll also be in Farsley where the original Silver's is, and they're labelling the new venture as 'your neighbourhood bake shop'.
Announcing the very exciting news to Instagram, Silver's Deli said: "Well it’s happening. I said no more shops, but it’s kinda necessary, and I just love all things baked.
"There’s waaaaaaaaay too many details to share on this right now, but go give our sister shop @silvers_bakehouse a new follow and hold on tight. This is gonna be fun as fuck."
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Customers can expect a wider range of Silver's goodies that they're unable to whip up in the current space. From soft amaretti biscuits and their famous cookies to sausage rolls and brownies that the team have been working on for 12 months.
We're in no doubt that this venture is going to be absolutely brilliant, and you best believe we'll be first in line to try one of those brownies.
Silver's Bakehouse will be located on Town Street in Farsley and is expected to open this May.
Georgina Pellant -
8th February 2023 
