That was a bit more normal wasn’t it? Well aside from the potential for nuclear conflict, the pandemic continuing to wind down, the energy crisis, the cost of living crisis and the death of the monarch…but in general 2022 did have the feeling of returning to a bit of normality as pandemic restrictions were lifted…
A couple of decades ago when I was familiarising myself with York in my early days here, I was taken by some friends to a “really cool bar” on Lendal that had been a hangout in their later youth. My memories of the visit are now at some distance but I was shocked that such…
We’ve heard a lot about the decline of the high street over the last few years, with the advent of delivery services brought forward by the pandemic diminishing the need to go to venture out to bricks and mortar premises. Just how diminished it ends up being will come to light over the next couple…
York is a relatively centralised city, with only a few notable areas within the outer ring road featuring their own concentrations of shopping or leisure facilities. Bishy Rue obviously has carved out its own little niche and Acomb is on the up but otherwise shops, pubs and places to eat are scattered somewhat randomly around…
I probably labour the point a little too much that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and would generally direct my appetites toward savoury or cheese dishes than dessert. This makes the concept of an afternoon tea something of very little interest to me in general. I can (and have) accept invitations and…
A Sunday roast, done properly, should present more opportunities than for just eating. It should be an enabling factor in letting your Sunday afternoon expand toward early evening as you go through a few courses and graze on leftovers. I’ve always been of the view that having a Sunday roast in a restaurant can be…
I’ve written many times about the unfair tarnishing that restaurants based in hotels seem to suffer in York, with The Park at Marmadukes Townhouse and Hudson’s at The Grand unfairly failing to find the audiences they deserved leading to the chefs involved moving on to pastures new. One of those though is starting to turn…
Some buildings seem unduly troublesome for businesses to inhabit and seem to run through tenants at an alarming pace. This is a trend particularly notable on Petergate with Fat Hippo about to take over from Jimmy’s Bar which wasn’t a particularly long-standing tenant after taking over from Cafe Rouge, and The Tea Palace shutting up…
For anyone who appreciates eating well and understanding the sourcing behind their meals, a good butcher is an invaluable resource. Speaking as a meat-eater who wants to make sure they do so in as sustainable manner as possible, I think it’s essential that we understand how our meat is sourced and that it’s being farmed…
Third party booking apps or websites are not something I’m in the habit of using. I’ll lean into the easy utility of Just Eat or Deliveroo when I’m feeling lazy and can’t be bothered to breach my own threshold for food but generally if I want a table at a place in York a few…