The Principal Hotel right next to York train station is one of the most striking buildings in York and a grand sight for visitors to arrive to. In years gone by it had been somewhat neglected to the point that I resented when its meeting rooms were booked by a previous employer! That’s long in…
Social media has changed the way in which we interact with our favourite celebrities, brands and businesses over the last decade or so. We now expect to be able to share our thoughts with all those subjects in the public domain, for better or worse, while some businesses scramble for the most striking appearance to…
The sight of City Cruises boats giving tourists a view of York’s riverside is a familiar one, especially if you live near the Millennium Bridge (as I do). They’re a mainstay of the city’s tourism offering which makes great use of one of our natural resources, turning the River Ouse into a great alternative viewpoint…
Pies can be a bit of a minefield and inspire strong emotions. Many is the time at a function where a pie is promised and what is delivered is a stew with a cursory sheet of puff pastry plonked on top; generally satisfying enough, but certainly not a pie. Taking things rather more seriously are…
The more things change, the more they stay the same. York has built its reputation on large elements of its attraction having remained unchanged for a great many years, but there’s part of the city that holds a mirror up to that and looks forward. The nature of the hospitality industry, whose operators are always…
York does rather well for wine these days. Since Pairings started blazing a trail for quality wine in relaxed surroundings, there have been a few others recently enter the fray with places such as Howl, 2ManyWines, The Wright Place and Jorvine all throwing their corks into the ring. The latest to join this group is…
(Ad – PR visit) Whether or not a Sunday roast needs elevating can be a contentious point. The view that, if eating out, a roast is best enjoyed in a pub by a roaring fire with a couple of pints of good Yorkshire beer is broadly held and with good reason. If you want to…
When ruminating on a recent visit to Yahala Mataam I was pondering the tailing off and subsequent resurgence of pop-ups in our city so it rather makes sense to continue with another that I attended just the following night to neatly illustrate my point. Melk on Clifford St has firmly established itself now as a…
Pop-ups and supper clubs seemed to have been steadily slowing down in popularity before the pandemic restrictions put everything back to a crawl by default a few years back. A decade or so ago there were a few popular supper clubs in York which all came to an end but over the last year or…
Spark has done a lot for the hospitality scene in York both directly and indirectly. As a venue to be able to reliably grab decent food in a relaxed, family friendly setting, it’s broadened the city’s offering greatly and as a launchpad for new businesses it’s made a strong contribution to the wider offering and…