Bet you weren’t expecting the next super cool, must-visit opening to pop up in Farsley, were you?
The regeneration of Sunny Bank Mills has been responsible for a few exciting and interesting openings in the past twelve months, the latest of which is Grumpy’s Bar and Wood Fired Pizzas.
Grumpy’s, for short, is a collaboration between sisters Cassie and Alex, and does exactly what the name suggests (the bar and wood fired pizzas part, not the grumpy part). There’s a concisely stocked bar in one corner of the room, and a wood fired oven smouldering away in the other - being fed paddles full of hand-stretched dough and toppings by pizza chef Daley, and spitting out Roma-style pizzas a few minutes later.
All of the pizzas share their name with characters played by a grumpy actor - we won’t spoil the fun by telling you who - we had a Steve and a Frank and were well impressed - the former was dotted with pools of mozzarella and proper lairy nduja sausage, the latter a blanco style with roast chicken and rosemary pesto - like a roast dinner on a pizza.
Little things like naming pizzas in homage to Cassie’s favourite actor gives the place a real personable feel, as do things like the (banging) playlist, and decor - an eclectic mix of design-led prints that look great against the mill’s plaster and bare brick. “We kind of ran out of money when it came to decorating the place, so all of these prints are from our own houses - there are big white rectangles on our walls now where they used to be hung…” Cassie tells us.
Grumpy’s is clearly a labour of love, and a pooling of resources. “Me and my sister have worked in various positions in bars around Leeds for as long as we’ve lived here, and we just wanted to make the move to having our own place.” says Cassie.
“When we decided it was pizza that we wanted to do, Daley built a pizza oven in our garden and started working on perfecting a dough recipe, Alex has a background in design so she did all the branding and marketing, and taught herself CAD to design the restaurant itself - I got to do all the boring stuff”
“I did get to have a wine tasting session with our supplier though when we were researching our drinks menu...that was good”
As well as wine, there’s a decent selection of local and international craft beers, and cocktails. “We’re hoping to have an outdoor area for the Summer” says Cassie, gesturing out the huge, wide windows gushing sunlight into the big open-plan room. “It’d be great to sit out there with an Aperol Spritz”
Grumpy’s might not live up to its name, but let’s hope Sunny Bank Mills continues to.
Grumpy’s Bar + Wood Fired Pizza , 83-85 Town St, Farsley, Pudsey LS28 5UJ
