The best things to eat, drink, and do at this years Leeds Indie Food
Leeds Indie Food is back this May for its third year, with this calendar of events belonging to one of three strands: Eat, drink, and do. There’s over a hundred local and national collaborators taking part in events for this years festival which you can check out on the Leeds Indie Food website - we reckon these are particularly deserving of your attention, though
DO. Big Fat Food Quiz of the Year! 16 May
Do you know your Ottolenghi from your Ossobuco? Forget dull pub quizzes with questions about Cuban leaders and the Suez Canal, Northern Monk’s weekly A Tribe Called Quiz is more hands-on, like a risque Generation Game. Rounds are determined by spinning the wheel of fortune and test participants’ physical and mental agility, with trivia, pub-sports, artistic and acting rounds.
This special food edition will also have a (look away BBC lawyers) Ready Steady Cook round as well as big brand vs own brand taste-tests, too. Entry is a tenner per team, and you stand to win bragging rights and banging prizes.
Northern Monk Refectory. More info
EAT. DO. The Social Club with Super Dates & Josh Whitehead, 17 & 18 May
Ever fancied going on Channel 4’s First Dates but felt too intimidated and inadequate among Fred’s presence? Ever fancied going on Dinner Date but suspicious that none of the “people with a love of good food” can even open their Old El Paso Enchilada kit without a minor disaster? This one’s for you.
Josh Whitehead (Masterchef 2016, Ox Club) is setting up a kitchen in a secret location - all we know is that the type of venue, a working men’s social club, holds a sentimental place in the organisers working-class heart - and cooking a seasonal tasting menu designed to spark conversation among the exclusively-single guests.
Secret Location. Tickets & more info
EAT. DRINK. The Power Plant Pop-up, 18 May
Billed as a culinary journey around the globe from China to Morocco via Korea, The Power Plant Pop-up is a whole-food, plant-based tasting menu determined to show that the best vegan food plays by its own rules and “just happens” to not contain animal products, rather than attempting to imitate or substitute them.
There’ll be a few home-grown recipes throwin into the mix as well, plus an optional wine pairing (past supper-clubs has shown they’ve got great taste in plonk, so it’ll be well worth the fifteen quid)
House of Koko. Tickets & more info
EAT. DO. Wild & Wall Foraging Tasting Menu, 19 & 20 May
Part of The Gallery at Munro House’s PLANT GROW MAKE EAT exhibition, The Bootleg Belly and Edulis Wild Foods are offering an evening of foraging, followed by a five-course foraged feast.
The ‘wild’ part is finding edible, naturally growing foods around the city, and the ‘wall’ refers to the edible wall that forms part of The Gallery’s exhibition. You’ll gather both and get your findings cooked for you - along with other foraged items - one the evening by The Bootleg Belly at Cafe 164.
Cafe 164. Tickets & more info
EAT. DO. Upcycle at Emmaus, 21 May
A rare chance to treat yourself while maintaining a bit of social conscience. Homeless-support charity Emmaus Leeds are hosting an anti-waste supper club with a meal cooked entirely with donated surplus food, followed by talks from innovative Leeds organisations involved in upcycling, repurposing, intercepting waste, and encouraging positive changes in local communities.
Emmaus Leeds. Tickets & more info
EAT. Ox Club presents: Andrew Clarke, 22 May
One of Leeds’ most celebrated restaurants hosting one of London’s most celebrated chefs. Ox Club and Brunswick House are kindred spirits, cooking uncomplicated, seasonal, and unpretentious Modern British food. Getting Brunswick House chef’s Andrew Clarke to man their 9ft grill for an evening was a no brainer.
The seven-course tasting menu features all of the seasonal British produce, high-welfare meat, and seafood that epitomize Clarke’s cooking, with dishes like Raw Dexter bavette, mussels and dripping toast, and Heirloom tomatoes, smoked eel, pique and fennel giving you a Brunswick House experience without shelling out four thousand pounds for a Virgin East Coast off peak to Victoria.
Ox Club, Headrow House. Tickets & more info
DO. Film Fringe: Sour Grapes, 25 May
A cross between Catch Me If You Can and Sideways, Sour Grapes is the true story of Rudy Kurniawan, one of the world’s most renowned wine connoisseurs who amassed a fortune by selling some of the world’s most sought-after wines for five-figure sums. The majority of which, spoiler alert: were fake.
Tickets include a drink on arrival - probably a genuine Château Mouton-Rothschild 1945… - followed by a blind-tasting and discussion.
Left Bank Leeds. Tickets & more info
EAT. DRINK. Donut & Beer Pairing, 25 May
aka Drunken Donuts.
The first date of this sold out immediately - IM-MEDI-ATELY - so they decided to add another one. Five donuts cooked by the award-winning Cross Keys kitchen, five beers selected by North Bar’s expert palettes.
North Bar. Tickets & more info
DRINK. Meet the Merchants Wine Fair, 28 May
This is not, I repeat not, some kind of “all you can drink” wine jamboree.
It’s a “taste as much as you want” wine soiree.
Yorkshire Wine School are hosting some of the city’s best wine merchants including Latitude, Ham & Friends, Wino, Alpine Wines and Martinez, who’ll be talking you through their offerings and help you find a new favourite bottle, while George & Joseph cheesemongers and Joseph Bullion Chocolate provide paired nibbles.
Leeds Corn Exchange. Tickets & more info
