Laynes Espresso's Leeds favourites
Regularly voted one of your favourite coffee houses in Leeds, Laynes Espresso spread the love by naming some of their favourite food and drink hangouts in the city and beyond.
Commuters to Leeds have been thanking their lucky stars since 2011, when Laynes Espresso set up just across from the train station offering some of the city's best coffee, a friendly environment and a focus on fine ingredients.
Newly refurbished for 2017, Laynes also offer a delicious food menu to take you from an early-morning breakfast through lunch, alongside cakes and sweet treats from the award-winning Noisette Bakehouse – and the kitchen now regularly hosts special, one-off events too. (Don't miss the upcoming evening with chef Carl Fleischer and drinks expert Steve Nuttall of The Reliance, as part of Leeds Indie Food – Fleischer will be rustling up a vegetable-centred menu, accompanied by organic/biodynamic wine and beer chosen by Nuttall. Tickets here.)
Run by Dave and James Olejnik, Laynes aims to be informative: there'll be no sneering here if you don't know your macchiato from your piccolo. With more than 15 years' experience between them, the pair run courses to help you get to grips with all things caffeinated, from basic barista training to making great coffee at home.
Here are some of Laynes' favourite food and drink spots in Leeds, as chosen by Dave Olejnik.
Favourite pubs and bars
"If I’m in the city centre, after a couple of drinks I’ll most often head to The Reliance, sometimes stopping by North Bar on the way. The Reliance have been doing a great job for years and a quick drink here can easily turn into sticking around for hours, ordering dinner in their restaurant and bumping into friends ’til the later hours. Many, many years ago I worked next door but one, and this was my lunchtime hangout spot too. This place has rightly earned its place as a real kingpin of Leeds' food and drink."
Favourite local brewery
"There are so many I could mention here – I have to start with Magic Rock. I first found out about them not long after we opened Laynes in 2011 after a regular customer named Jude mentioned a friend's small brewery in Huddersfield that they were getting up and running. This brewery turned out to be Magic Rock and they just keep getting better and better.
The guys behind North Brewing Company are long-time friends of Laynes and we’re fans of theirs, and keeping an eye on Zapato Brewery is no bad thing either."
Favourite cafe
"Tall Boys – coffee, food and beer in a decent setting with great staff. Happy days all round. Although I’m more likely to be here quizzing the staff over their huge range of bottled beers, it’s more than easy to stick around longer and take a seat upstairs with a coffee and a decent sarnie. It’s awesome that somewhere like this exists just off Briggate."
Favourite food and drink shop
"Latitude have been looking after me and the staff of Laynes for years when it comes to expert advice and offering an amazing selection of wines. It’s always been a case of quality first here and although you can really spend up if you want to, I’d say this place is one of the best for quality versus cost value."
Favourite food on the go
"Caravanserai on Crown Street, just next to the Corn Exchange. A lot of love for this place, the staff, the food and the mint tea they offer while you wait next to the service hatch out on the street. Its position in a corner building facing onto Call Lane is just so great and I love the look of the place. Having been a customer of Kadas going back over 15 years it’s great to still be able to get top quality food on this street."
Favourite newcomer
"Pizza Fella is great. At Laynes we’ve always had the fundamental idea that if you do the simple things better than anyone else you’ll get customers, and that’s just what Pizza Fella do. Small menu but great pizza and located right in the centre of Leeds."
Favourite restaurant
"Does Bundobust qualify in this bit? As a vegetarian fan of Indian food and good beer I have no complaints ever and the guys that work there are proper decent folk. If Bundobust is pushing the boundary of ‘restaurant’ I’ll declare my love for Thai Aroy Dee. There may not be a ton of frills but there’s a ton of flavour. Going back to when they had a tiny little place on Vicar Lane I’ve never had a bad meal here… I’ve had testing meals here when I’ve gone for the triple chilli options, but they’ve never been bad."
Leeds Indie Food: Carl Fleischer and Steve Nuttall at Laynes Espresso, 19 May 2017, several sittings, book here
Laynes Espresso
16 New Station St
Leeds LS1 5DL
laynesespresso.co.uk
@LaynesEspresso
Looking for some foodie recommendations from those in the know? In The Food Chain, we ask some of our favourite food and drink venues to name the places they go for a pint, a coffee, a sandwich or whatever else it is they want to eat or drink. We'll then ask those venues to name their favourites, and so on, building up an extensive map of the best places to go in your city. Want to get involved? Email lauren@theskinny.co.uk