York’s Chocolate Story
York’s chocolate heritage is so rich and has contributed so much to the fabric of the city we…
Exploring Manchester
It’s funny how time slips by. I regard myself as pretty well travelled within the UK, but that…
Meeting a cheerful Masterchef with Naked Noodles
It’s funny how some Masterchef contestants slip from your mind despite avidly having followed the show for years.…
A Grand cooking experience
The Grand Hotel is something of a landmark in the centre of York, occupying a prime location on…
Afternoon Tea at Oxo’s on The Mount
I’m not the biggest fan of afternoon tea. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so when…
YORKSHIRE’S FINEST FOOD AND DRINK ENTREPRENEURS REVEALED AT PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS CEREMONY
Eleven of Yorkshire’s leading food and drink businesses have been recognised for their entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen and product…
York’s Chocolate Story
York’s chocolate heritage is so rich and has contributed so much to the fabric of the city we now love, it’s only fitting that it gets its own tourist attraction. York’s Chocolate Story landed in Kings Square a few years ago with a mission to tell the story of how the chocolate industry shaped our…
Exploring Manchester
It’s funny how time slips by. I regard myself as pretty well travelled within the UK, but that doesn’t mean I’m without blind spots. Given its proximity to York it’s a little surprising that Manchester is one of those. Even more surprising was that, when I gave it some thought, I realised it was 21…
Meeting a cheerful Masterchef with Naked Noodles
It’s funny how some Masterchef contestants slip from your mind despite avidly having followed the show for years. Occasionally these days I’ll fall into a Wikipedia hole and realise that large numbers of the contestants I’ve followed on Masterchef over the years have escaped my memory entirely. One of the characters in last year’s edition…
A Grand cooking experience
The Grand Hotel is something of a landmark in the centre of York, occupying a prime location on the route from the train station to many of the city’s tourist attractions. It’s been worthy of a visit on its own merits for a number of years now, with two restaurants, relaxing space for drinks and…
Afternoon Tea at Oxo’s on The Mount
I’m not the biggest fan of afternoon tea. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so when trying it, I can end up at a loose end after working my way through the sandwich offering. That said, when I was invited to Oxo’s at The Mount Royale for their afternoon tea, I was more…
YORKSHIRE’S FINEST FOOD AND DRINK ENTREPRENEURS REVEALED AT PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS CEREMONY
Eleven of Yorkshire’s leading food and drink businesses have been recognised for their entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen and product or service excellence, as winners were revealed at the second annual Garbutt + Elliott Food Entrepreneurs awards, last night. The winners emerged from over 100 entrants to be crowned across nine categories, including the coveted ‘Garbutt +…
Jaguar XF
Can the Best of British defeat the endless onslaught from Germany? I tried the Jaguar XF to find out… Now that Jaguar has finished the important business of separating its current model line up from memories of the X & S Types, rounding out the saloon models with the F-Pace and F-Type, it’s moved its…
Introducing children to The Star Inn the City
When we learned of the impending arrival of Baby Fork, we promised ourselves that this would not be the end of our love of dining out and that we would involve her in as many meals as practically possible. As she’s only just about to pass the one year marker, we’re not quite at the stage…
Exploring the USA
What would be your dream holiday? Where would you go for a once in a lifetime trip? How much would you try and fit in? Would you prefer to fill your time relaxing on a beach catching up with your favourite authors or would you try to fit in as many sights as you could?…
Retro Road Test: Fiat Panda 100HP
For anyone who cares about driving there should always be an appeal to basic, light, low power transport marketed toward fun. The kind of thing that harks back to the original Mini but is increasingly hard to find in these days of driving aids and airbags to cater for every eventuality. Arriving on the market in…
Garbutt & Elliott Food Awards shortlist announced!
REVEALED: SHORTLIST OF YORKSHIRE’S MOST ENTREPRENEURIAL FOOD BUSINESSES The second annual Garbutt + Elliott Food Awards have now closed for entrants and a shortlist of 28 businesses across the eight categories have been announced. The awards, established by leading York and Leeds based accountancy firm, Garbutt + Elliott, now in their second year, celebrate Yorkshire’s…
Sushi time with York Cookery School
It’d never occurred to me to attempt my own sushi until I happened to see some friends making a go of it on social media a few weeks back. I wasn’t quite organised enough to get hold of the ingredients and kit needed but in a fortunate twist of fate, York Cookery School got in touch…
Family Fork visit Keswick
It may be stating the obvious, but the Lake District is stunning. I’ve been visiting on and off for around twenty years and after staying in various locations, I generally find myself returning to Keswick. Coniston, Amble, Ambleside, Windermere, Ennerdale Bridge… all absolutely beautiful places to visit but Keswick offers a great blend of practical…
Reflections on a year of Family Fork
It’s a curious contradiction that busy periods in one’s life seem to fly by when viewed in retrospect but also subject you to seemingly interminable periods of slow motion when dealing with the the more trying events. This is something that’s come into my mind repeatedly while considering the first year of parenthood and reflecting…
Garbutt + Elliott awards deadline extended
The Garbutt + Elliott 2019 Food Awards deadline has been extended to February 1st so you still have a few days to get your entries in. The awards are Garbutt + Elliott’s way of saying thank you to our amazing county and all the food and drink offerings within it. Celebrating the wonderful food and…
Going Wild in the Jaguar F-Pace
Think a Jag is an old man’s car? Jaguar wants to prove you wrong… My stepfather has a Jaguar XKR with which he’s very pleased. It’s his third Jag after another XKR and an S-Type. With the utmost of respect to my stepfather, I don’t think he’s exactly Jaguar’s target market these days. For his…
A Grand new cookery school
The Grand Hotel is a landmark in York, providing a stunning foreground to many pictures of York Minster taken as people make their way to it from the train station. As well as being a hotel and spa, there are a variety of food and drink reasons to visit The Grand including Hudson’s and The…
Is the perfect family car actually a van?
Vauxhall’s Combo Life is a new family vehicle based on the Combo panel van that, in its position as a successor to the Zafira, Vauxhall definitely doesn’t want you to associate with its utilitarian origins. It’s entirely understandable that Vauxhall want to make sure this product stands on its own two feet amongst its car-derived…
Have you entered the G&E Food Awards yet?
The deadline for the Garbutt + Elliott 2019 Food Awards is fast approaching, leaving you just two working weeks to enter. The awards are all about celebrating the wonderful food and drink offerings in ‘God’s Own County’ and highlight the county’s growing position within the national and even international marketplace. They were set up in recognition…
Berlin by Trabant
“Your car is equipped with a communist radio system – you will hear my commentary but you may not respond through it!” Briefings and safety advice are in surprisingly short supply before we are expected to dive into the Berlin traffic behind the wheel of our rented Trabant… Trabant production started in 1958 and didn’t end…
Change on the horizon!
It’s time for a change. I’ve been producing this site and the huge majority of its content for approaching five years now, with help from some amazing people along the way. I’ve met some incredible people and had some wonderful experiences but life moves on and it’s time for a bit of a shift in…
2018 in Review
I can scarcely believe another year has gone by and that we’re already set to drop into 2019. 2018 was another year of growth for the food scene in York with high profile new openings and expansions from established locals complementing one another. New development Spark also broadened the city’s horizons. On a personal level,…
York hits heights with Harden’s guide
The UK’s best towns for foodies and top 100 Restaurants are revealed today in Harden’s Best UK Restaurants 2019. Harden’s 28th annual poll surveyed 8,000 diners who contributed 50,000 reviews, which, as analysed and curated by the editors, form the basis for Harden’s inclusions, ratings and reviews. This year saw a surge in interest in the York…
The Cutlery Works
Food halls seem to be popping up all over Yorkshire these days. In York, we have Spark to host a range of street food vendors at the moment and the promise of another food hall in the recently refurbished Stonebow House to come in 2019. In Leeds, Assembly Underground has just opened with 50 beer lines…
Assembly Underground
The newest big name on the food scene in Leeds is Assembly Underground, an appealingly subterranean food hall that features (predictably enough) great street food and a huge range of beers to choose from. The space that it inhabits, I’m reliably informed, used to house a nightclub and has been artfully distressed into a comfortable space that…
Dough in the City
The Vice & Virtue team are on a bit of a roll at the moment. The titular bar continues to win plaudits for its cocktails and fine dining and it’s only a few short weeks since I was there to attend the preview for their new Pudsey based restaurant and coffee shop, Feed. That impressive…
Garbutt & Elliot awards update
Entries are still open for this year’s Garbutt & Elliot Food and Drink Entrepreneur Awards so make sure that you take a look at the categories and get entered in everything relevant to your business. Here’s a reminder of the winners from last year’s crop of 76 entrants: Northern Bloc for Best Innovation Heck for…
Whippet Pie menu
Lunchtime is precious in the world of office work. It’s an opportunity to stamp your authority on a small element of the days you spend earning a living in return for a precious slice of that remuneration. While you may or may not be lucky enough to have a subsidised work canteen (and “lucky” is…
Leeds Arts Cafe under new ownership
A Leeds stalwart is under new ownership for the first time in 24 years. Arts Cafe, now named simply “Arts”, is located amidst the city centre hustle and bustle of Call Lane and promises to become the neighbourhood restaurant for the city centre. One of Leeds’ original independent cafe bars, it opened in September 1994.…
Street food faves Slap & Pickle land in Leeds city centre
The diner treats and perpetual holiday vibes which made Slap & Pickle such a success at the likes of Trinity Kitchen, Eat North and Chow Down are soon to be on offer 7 days a week, 12 months a year. With its founders so in love with Leeds that they relocated from down South, the…
The Rattle Owl grazing plates
Lunch can be such a precious refuge from the workplace. I’ve spent many days cowering behind a desk desperately looking forward to an hour long escape from the day’s mundanities, always debating what kind of indulgence is justified after enduring yet another morning of tiresome meetings and reputation making. The centre of York has a…
Harewood Food & Drink team up with Northern Monk
Two much talked about Yorkshire award-winners are combining for a winter filled with beer, food and festive fun. The Harewood Food & Drink Project (HFDP) will be taking over the Northern Monk (NM) taproom kitchen from 28th October to the 29th January with informal day to day plates and a series of ticketed pop up supper…
Hudsons at The Grand
It’s a tough thing to build a reputation as a restaurant when you’re based in a hotel. For reasons that have always been slightly beyond my grasp, the challenge involved in convincing non-residents to make a few steps from their usual route is a significant one regardless of the quality of the restaurant in question.…
Garbutt & Elliot launch second annual Food Entrepreneurs awards
The Garbutt + Elliott 2019 Food Awards opened for entrants on October 19th, celebrating the wonderful food and drink offerings in ‘God’s Own County’. The awards highlight the county’s growing position within the national and even international marketplace and were set up in recognition of entrepreneurs and businesses from across Yorkshire who have been part of…
Thor’s Tipi to return
This November the ever-popular and highly-acclaimed Thor’s tipi bar will make a welcome return to York city centre. Last year over 50,000 people visited this uniquely themed attraction that plays on York’s Viking heritage and is now a firm fixture of the Christmas offering in the city. From 10.00am on Thursday 15th November in Parliament Square,…
The Bishy Weigh
A new shopping experience is coming to Bishopthorpe Road. The Bishy Weigh will be a pantry and household essentials store, complementing what is already on offer down Bishy Road, while also responding to a high demand for more lifestyle products. Instead of having to order from a faceless internet shop, their customers will get friendly, local help…
Los Moros
There’s a lot of love for Los Moros and its founder Tarik Abdeladim in York. Tarik has been a fixture in Shambles Food Court for some time, helping to build that area’s reputation for good food while knocking up fabulous street food. He’s even been beating the great and good of York’s restaurant scene to reach number one on Tripadvisor for…
Sunday lunch at The Refectory
Location is an element that can really add a sense of occasion to a meal and the Principal Hotel is without doubt one of the most striking places to dine in York since its refurbishment some years ago which elevated it from faded glory to contemporary relevance. There’s a smartly decorated bar to relax in which has a rather…
Roots
It’s something of an understatement to say that the last few years have seen an upwards trajectory for The Black Swan at Oldstead and the Banks family. Since taking over the kitchen at Oldstead, Tommy Banks has retained its Michelin star, won Great British Menu twice and seen TripAdvisor name the restaurant the Best Fine Dining…
Born to Lose
Over the last couple of years, Mark Hill has become well known in York, developing his Street Cleaver brand into one of the most reliably excellent street food vendors in York. From humble beginnings and through pop-ups in a range of locations, Street Cleaver settled into a unit at Spark while continuing to hit up…
A crafty evening with Prashad
It’s remarkable how long one can spend abortively trying to visit a restaurant. In 2010 Gordon Ramsey hosted a program by the name of “Ramsey’s Best Restaurant” which saw him facing off restaurants of different specialisms until one was crowned the nation’s favourite. Bristol’s Casamia took the win that time round, but I was thoroughly…
Stamford’s Bar & Grill
Pocklington doesn’t tend to crop up in conversation too much about places to eat. I’d be hard-pressed to come up with many recommendations (or any actually) for it within the town centre. While it’s regularly on my schedule for family visits, I’ve not been out socialising there for some time, partly since my last visit…
York Food & Drink Festival ’18
How can it be time for the Food Festival again? It only seems like a few months since I was joining the crowds flocking to York to sample all the traders while making my way to the day’s demonstrations. It’s entirely possible that my sense of time has been disrupted by the arrival of Baby Fork six…
The Hideaway Kitchen at the Dunsforth
For a variety of reasons, it can sometimes take a little bit of a push to get me out of York to check out somewhere new. While there’s certainly a proliferation of great places to eat in York, it’s hardly the only place in Yorkshire to find fantastic food. With that in mind, for a…
Riverford recipe box
It can be a struggle to constantly think of new dishes to try in the home. It’s oh so easy to end up relying on a few easy dishes that you’ve committed to memory and their derivatives, even more so when taking into account the trouble of getting to a supermarket to booster your stocks of obscure…
Feed Leeds
Over the last year or so, I’ve kept hearing word of a young chef in Leeds who’s been earning a reputation for putting together indulgent dishes that don’t let themselves be constrained by any particular genre or convention. Jonathan Hawthorne’s name has become hot property in Leeds for some time as his regular XO Supper…
Expansion at Brew York
This Friday (August 24th) sees York’s new city-centre beer hall and street food kitchen opening it’s doors. Brew York, which opened in Walmgate in 2016, has expanded into a neighbouring building and has spent the summer converting it into the city’s biggest beer venue. The new upstairs beer hall will serve 40 beers at a…
Filmore & Union summer menu
It’s not too long since I visited Filmore & Union but whenever they have a new menu on, it’s worth a trip. They have a new summer menu to check out that’s great value at £14.95 for two courses or £18.95 for three. This menu continues the usual Filmore themes, catering for meat and dairy…
StrEat Food Festival discount!
This August bank holiday weekend sees the return of the StrEat Food and Family Fun Festival, being held at the Great Yorkshire Showground. The event runs daily from the 1100-1900 on 25th to 27th August and will feature more than 40 street food vendors along with family friendly entertainment, including street performers, live music and children’s activities. I’ve teamed…
Baby Club and a burger with Everyman
Ever since I moved to York in 2001, the City Screen has been the go-to cinema in York for good reason. Its combination of a well-judged schedule of popular and niche programming along with a friendly bar that does reasonably priced food has been unmatched in the cinema scene in York for years. The former…
Becoming part of the Fountains Abbey family
Yorkshire has so many beautiful places to visit it can be hard to decide where to go. This summer, Fountains Abbey has further made its case for a visit by adding a series of follies to the gardens at Studley Royal. These plot a nice walk around the gardens and provide distraction for little legs on their way round. It’d…
New menu at the Cat’s Pyjamas
The Cat’s Pyjamas hasn’t been in York for long, but it’s made a bit of a splash already. I’ve seen plenty of people commenting on social media about how they’ve enjoyed the Indian street food dishes and wide selection of craft beers. It’s obviously a successful formula, and is one that’s set to be replicated…
Afternoon tea at The Ivy
Being the home of Betty’s largest branch in York, St Helen’s Square is inevitably associated with afternoon tea. Aside from this, in recent years the area has become something of a hotspot for restaurants as Jamie’s Italian, Carluccio’s and the Ivy have set up shop. The Ivy is now bringing both of these worlds together…
Culture in a car park?
Temporary structures have been something of a theme in York this year, with the Spark container park making headlines. Spark will be in York for at least a couple of years but making a rather more brief appearance in our city is Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre which has popped up on Castle car park in the…
Arras
York can be a slightly backwards looking city, happy to rely on existing glories rather than pushing forward. This can be reflected in the restaurant scene. When places are established there’s an attachment, justified in many cases, that can last for some time after the place in question has disappeared which can become unwelcome baggage…
CSONS at the Green Cafe
Recently we were invited to a wedding near Cardiff by a good friend so decided to break the journey with a couple of days in Ludlow. I hadn’t made any particular plans to go out and eat while there as we were staying in a beautiful Dovecote opposite the castle that leant itself to eating…
Going vegan in a Steakhouse
The Whippet Inn has been well established in York for some time as one of the best places to go for a meat fix. Its expertise in charring meat to the right point is difficult to argue with but that specialism makes it rather less appealing for the ever increasing vegan population. With that in…
Press go!
The combination of Fossgate and Walmgate has long been a hotspot of restaurants in York, one of the first areas in the city to really find itself embedded in the food culture, which has gone from strength to strength over the last few years. With that being the case, it’s a little unusual to hear…
A Super Break with a Masterchef
Sara Danesin is pretty well known around York these days thanks to her 2011 appearance on Masterchef which took her oh-so-close to winning. Since then, she’s built a successful business as a chef consultant and hosts a successful supper club from her home in the city. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy her food a…
The Cat’s Pyjamas
Leeds is only a short hop on the train and, while I do get there semi-regularly, there’s a good list of places that I’ve yet to make it to. Included amongst these is The Cat’s Pyjamas, which counts Jay Rayner amongst its many fans. Thankfully the opportunity to check it out has now landed…
Raithwaite Estate
The pending arrival of a baby really does focus your mind on all the ways in which your life is about to change. Along with local and domestic concerns about maintaining cleaning and social routines in your community, there are numerous questions raised about the practicality of travelling and holidaying with a baby that are…
A cheese feast at Shears Yard
Wensleydale Creamery is something of a Yorkshire institution, offering plentiful samples of its eponymous cheese at its visitor centre. Its Wensleydale is well established as a superb cheese and now, after some serious research and recipe development, they’ve expanded their range to offer Yorkshire Cheddar. This is not an endeavour that has been taken lightly…
Sparking a new community
York isn’t short of history. There’s a huge amount to learn about the history of our beautiful city. From Viking Jorvik, through Roman Eboracum and Victorian expansion to the present day, it’s easy to find most aspects of our history reflected in tourist attractions dotted across the city. Recent times have seen a reduction in…
A Nook for street food
There are widely documented concerns about some of the main shopping streets in York, some being blighted by empty units and a general malaise compared to more prosperous economic times. I don’t doubt that, in time, there’ll be solutions found to reverse this trend, but in the meantime some streets on the periphery of the…
A walk in Istanbul
I love quirky local museums. I’m never happier than when I happen upon a haphazardly curated old folk museum or village museum with odd exhibits. Keswick used to be a particular goldmine for these things, with the Cars of the Stars Museum, James Bond Museum, Puzzling Place and many others. A few of these are…
Parking on Bootham
Bootham is a fine street from which to find the centre of York. A series of spectacular buildings and hotels are dotted along the road that features the handsome St Peter’s School, which famously counts Guy Fawkes as an alumnus. The striking hotels along the thoroughfare don’t, in general, do a good job of shouting…
Asking about children
If you’ve been following my eating recently you may have noticed that Baby Fork is starting to have an impact on our activities, forcing us to make a few compromises, but so far not preventing the pursuit of good food around York. We seem to have a pretty relaxed baby thus far so have been…
Cruising for tea
York has so many assets, it can be hard to work through them all even as a resident with a bit of time on your hands. There are so many glorious nooks and crannies in this city to explore so perhaps it can make sense to combine a couple of activities in the interests of…
The Cat’s Pyjamas comes to York
A new offering for York, featuring Indian street food and craft beer
Brewing up something special!
Brew York reveals full details of expansion – and invites local people to help make it happen
The Star Inn the Harbour
A look around the latest addition to Andrew Pern’s stable of restaurants
Seafood in the Square
An evening of matched wine and seafood with Melton’s in St Sampson’s Square
Great British Menu brought to life
An evening with food from Josh Overington, Tommy Banks and Danny Parker at House of Tides.
Taking a butchers at some BBQ
A full day of butchery, bbq, food and drink with a BBQ legend.
Happy Birthday to Appleton’s!
A chance to win a fifty pound voucher for Appleton’s Butchers on Lendal
Yorkshire Day with Marks & Spencer
A look at some of the Yorkshire produce on offer from Marks & Spencer
Meeting a chef on a train!
A return trip to London with Virgin East Coast and James Martin
Rhubarb Gin
Rhubarb is firmly in season, and to get the best of a crop, it requires regular picking. Here’s our recipe for rhubarb gin.
Dinner at the Chefs Table
An evening at the Chef’s Table with Gareth Bottomley from the Charles Bathurst Inn
Express lunch at Jamie’s Italian
A trip to Jamie’s to check out their new affordable lunch menu
BBQ Lunatic (CLOSED)
Revisiting the Blues Bar in Harrogate to see the latest from Andy Annat.
Cut and Chase private dining
A private dining event hosted in conjunction with Cut & Chase
Liz Cottam at the New Ellington
A visit to a Masterchef semi-finalist taking up a residency in Leeds.
A theatrical addition to the food scene
Welcome to the relaunched bistro in York Theatre Royal
A Royal Affair: Sunday Lunch at the Royal York
We try out Sunday Lunch at the Refectory Restaurant, The Royal York Hotel.
Anchor Christmas Beer
It’s coming up to Christmas, check out what our resident beer expert had to say about a limited edition beer last year.
Blues Bar new menu (CLOSED)
Approaching its first birthday, the Blues Bar launches an updated menu.
Great British Menu
A local chef will be fighting for the region on TV in just a few weeks!
Charity dinner bargain!
The chance to buy tickets for a charity dinner at the fabulous Park Restaurant
Hudson’s at the Grand Hotel
The tasting menu at Hudson’s in the Grand Hotel, on offer until the end of September.
The Café at Field & Fawcett
The Cafe at Field & Fawcett, Bingley House Farm, Grimston Bar, York
Yorkshire + Wine = Our Two Favorite Words
A Wine Review from Britain’s Most Northerly Commercial Vineyard
Chef’s table at the Dean Court
The Dean Court’s head chef cooks for us and introduces his ingredients.
Taste York at the Shambles Market
A new weekly food event has been announced for the Shambles Market
Celebrating the Best of British Chocolate
The International Chocolate Awards comes to York!
Foie gras –faux pas?
Our disgust at the French delicacy may be legitimate, but is it hypocritical?
Pairs well with?
Access to good wine in York has never been a problem, but evening destinations focused on such are only starting to gain a real foothold.
The Next Chapter
The Royal York Hotel’s multimillion pound revitalisation introduces the city to The Chapter House, a stunning lounge bar open to the public.
A Farewell to Melton’s Too and a Welcome to The Walmgate Ale House
Meltons Too, Walmgate, becomes Walmgate Ale House.
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