Celeriac, cakes and culatello - best things to eat around Leeds in March

You already know the drill, we've been lapping up a load of Leeds-based loveliness all month long and now we get to write about the best bits.  

Ever the fun mix of cuisines, ingredients, and dining experiences, our best dishes for March include a veggie roast, a Neapolitan pizza, and the delicate meat of a pig's tender thigh. Hitting up spots in Harrogate, Hebden Bridge, Armley, and Ilkley, you cant say that we're only city slickers either. 

Read on for a list of the best things to eat in Leeds and the surrounding areas for March 2022

Culatello di Zibello, Coin (£12)

Hebden has always been a bit of an oddity for me. Huge swathes of middle-class tourists saturate the streets during school holidays and on (sunny) weekends, but while the town has some fabulous places to get beery, it hasn't quite met expectations on the food and wine fronts. Until now. 

Coin's wine list is not only comprehensive but interesting, and the small plates are inventive but affordable, fancy and accessible. Frankly, it's exactly what Hebden needs. I enjoyed an incredibly rainy run over the fells to meet my wife the other week and nothing warmed my (somewhat shrivelled) cockles more than Culatello di Zibello. It comes from the thigh of an adult pig and is then cured before being stuffed inside a pig's bladder and left to age for a minimum of 10 months. The impossibly thin slices look delicate - almost frail - but the taste smacks you around the face, intoxicating you further with every bite. It's like a pig made love to a sentient blue cheese and deposited its offspring onto your plate. Mind-blowing. Simon Richardson @lunatic_on_the_grass

In Napoli We Trust, Pizza Social (£11.50 + £3 for burrata)

The ongoing pizza revolution hit Harrogate halfway through a global pandemic. Not the easiest time to launch a new business, I imagine, but Pizza Social has quickly built up a loyal following for its first-rate disks of dough. Fluffy of crust and slender of base, we can file these under "proper gear"

I got involved with the "In Napoli We Trust", whose classic triumvirate of olive, anchovy, and caper bestowed upon me a hefty thwack of salt-based satisfaction and many umami-packed mouthfuls. Want to bung a burrata on top or some naughty cheese-on-cheese action? Don't mind if I do, ta very much. Richard Miller @eatingthenorth

Celeriac Sunday Roast, Host (£14)

If you’re wishing the endless mizzle would lift and give way to brighter days ahead, you’re not alone. February may have been short, but it certainly had its fair share of drear, and nowhere does dreary skies quite like Ilkley Moor. Well pack a mac, grit those Yorkshire teeth, and head North West of the city for a walk on the wild-side followed by a roast to remember. Think umami-rich gravy, sweet glazed carrots, charred celeriac and buttery hispi cabbage. Don’t be deceived by the brown. This dinner will kick you out of your Winter slumber in no time. Sarah Cotterill @scottnodot

Gabriel, Porterhouse Cake Co (£4)

Saturdays are fast becoming my favourite day of the week thanks to Porterhouse Cake Co. 

It's open every Saturday (with some exceptions) from 9am until they sell out and posts information for its next opening day in its Instagram bio every week, so be sure to give it a follow on @porterhousecakeco. 

A couple of fold-out tables are popped outside the door, coffee service is batch brew, stick around for a while or grab things to go. 

I usually eat something savoury while I’m there (this week's indulgence was a caramelised onion and brie brioche) and bring home a number of sweet treats because I simply cannot be expected to choose just one. The Gabriel is a particular favourite. Buttery, flakey layers of croissant pastry encase a generous dollop of tart cherry jam. A thin drizzle of icing is topped with pistachio ganache and a cherry. 

You won’t find a patisserie of a better standard anywhere in the city, truly exceptional. It also does boxes of baked goods, including bakes from famous film and TV moments.

Also pictured are a frangipane and a rhubarb danish. I told you, I can never choose just one. Anja Madhvani @anjaism

Read next: Things to do in Leeds in March 2022

Read again: The funky bunch: Natural wine shops in Leeds on what to buy and why

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