Leeds Indie Food: programme highlights
Widely regarded as one of the North’s greatest celebrations of food and drink despite being a fairly new addition to the scene, Leeds Indie Food is a month-long salute to the independent culture of Leeds and beyond. We look at this year's tasty programme
After making its debut in 2015, following a successful crowdfunding boost via Kickstarter, Leeds Indie Food (LIF) festival has fast become a lesson in how it should be done. Each year it promises a diverse programme that mixes intelligent, ambitious ideas with the kind of laid-back approach (and beautifully playful branding) needed to bring it back down to earth.
The programme for its third edition reads like a genuine ode to the best that Leeds has to offer – and, crucially, it’s accessible to all, with everything from special tasting menus and pop-ups to film screenings and art exhibitions, all under the three strands of 'Eat', 'Drink' and 'Do'. Here's our rundown of some programme highlights.
Eat:
Following a LIF special edition of Belgrave Feast, which helps get the festival’s first week underway on 13 May, you can get a good feeding with a lobster-centric three-course dinner by experimental kitchen Workshop and cocktail aficionados Hedonist Project (17 & 18 May, Hedonist Project); a foraging session and tasting menu with Wild & Wall (19 May, Cafe 164); a vegetable-focused menu from Carl Fleischer and Steve Nuttall (19 May, Laynes Espresso); five courses of donuts matched with beer at North Bar (25 May), and Nordic-inspired fine dining from Norse (12-13 May, Corn Exchange). Or, you can simply have Breakfast for Dinner at Laynes (25 May).
Drink:
Witness The Decanter and Yorkshire Wine School battle it out in the Grape Debate (22 May, The Decanter) or see some serious coffee skills in action at Pump n Grind’s Latte Art Throwdown (13 May); try some drinks expertly made by coffee and cocktail bod Dan Fellows at Oakwood’s beautiful Scandi-inspired café Stories (12 May); try out a pub crawl with a difference by boarding a bus for The North Bar Magical Mystery Tour (12 & 19 May), and see the festival off with the Meet the Merchants Wine Fair (28 May), which will welcome the likes of Latitude Wine, Ham & Friends, Wino, Alpine Wines and Martinez to the Corn Exchange to help you sample your way through tipples from some of the region’s finest independent traders.
Do:
Get clued up with a food styling and photography workshop with Food&_ (13 May, Ham & Friends); succumb to the Willy Wonka vibes of an edible wall at the PLANT GROW MAKE EAT exhibition (11-28 May, The Gallery at Munro House); catch some food and drink-related flicks including Danish classic Babette’s Feast (20 May, Arch Cafe) and documentary Sour Grapes (25 May, Left Bank Leeds); learn how to make your own chocolates with Tyto Leodis (14, 18 & 20 May, 200 Degrees), or pit your food knowledge against others’ with the Big Fat Food Quiz of the Year (16 May, Northern Monk).
That’s just the tip of the iceberg for this year’s LIF, and while some events have already sold out there’s still plenty to sink those teeth into. Head to leedsindiefood.co.uk for the full programme; HOLY MOLY WE’RE EXCITED.
Leeds Indie Food, 11-28 May
#LIF17