The Globe Troffers

As a long standing customer of Virgin Wines, we’d got some tickets for their first tasting event in Leeds. I’ve long been a fan of Virgin Wines and I love the different wines and hard to find vintages they have on offer. So we planned a full Troffers outing (apart from Jill who was in London seeing Julie Andrews, don’t ask) to give them all a try.

We knew it was going to get messy. A full afternoon, tasting the very best Virgin Wines had to offer?? We needed sustenance before we headed down to The Loft, where it was all happening.

So proceedings kicked off at The Reliance, which proved to the perfect place to fill up on great food (and beer, rather ominously). As you know, Reliance is one of my staple restaurants in Leeds and most of the Troffers hadn’t been before, so I was very pleased to introduce them to its chilled out pleasures.

Saturday lunchtime is as good as time as any to eat at Reliance (is there a bad time?) and we all got stuck in. Fish & chips, chicken livers, ploughman’s, gammon & eggs and welsh rarebit all delivered in terms of taste and were as ever, generously portioned.

The Reliance won many more converts that afternoon - the food was excellent - simple and well cooked. The service was attentive and considerate and the Reliance Bitter was on top form.

The wine tasting was a pretty impressive affair and much bigger than we were all expecting. The Loft is a bar/club space that’s pretty sizeable and the place was packed to the rafters with a huge cross section of wine slurpers - from  in the know foodie types to gaggles of women hell bent on a great afternoon out. There were literally hundreds of wines on offer and it would have been impossible to try them all, so we all pursued the tables where our favourites were on tasting.

Complete with glass, pen and booklet we set about the wide selection of vino with missionary zeal. The Chilean section was of particular interest to me and it seemed that they had cornered the market in massive reds, toothsome roses and spanking fresh whites. The girls hunted down the prosecco table and hogged the rose wines until they were satisfied they had tasted them all. After a while it all predictably became a bit of a blur (literally) and the afternoon ended most satisfyingly with the announcement via mobile that Leeds United had gained promotion. More wine drunk in celebration!

To cap things off, we adjourned to Anthony’s for a glass of wine (I kid you not!) and to stock up on cheese and delicious goodies for an outdoor supper around the fire in D&G’s garden. The evening carried on back in New Farnley and the treats purchased from Anthony’s were of the highest quality - the Epoisses cheese was monumental, as were the cured meats. Special mention has to go to the posh version of the old sweet shop favourites: cinder toffee and snowballs. Amazing both!

Curry night this month was at one of the oldest curry houses in Bradford….and it was great. Tess wrote about the International a few months ago so I was looking forward to our visit. Starting with lamb chops, my staple for our curry nights, the flavours were fabulous, not too spicy so I enjoyed every bite…I ventured away from my usual main course of chicken korma and opted for chicken, mushroom and potato balti which again was not too spicy so you could taste all the herbs, spices and meat….great and all washed down with a well made glass or two of sweet lassi…10/10..Next time I am having the Taqur thali platter which as seen below is a small sampler of prawn, veg and chicken curry served with rice and salad…food was good value and staff very friendly.

D & Tess.

We had some time to kill on Saturday morning so we decided to take the short walk to Covent Garden. This is a really great market as the pics show lots to see and taste………. As we had had breakfast we just took pics but were wonderfully entertained by live musicians whilst we meandered around. D was inspired and will be down with Jen for a girlie shopping trip soon.

D&G

A quick run out to Sand Hutton Asparagus Farm netted a few bundles of green joy.

The asparagus season lasts but a few weeks in the UK - and it finishes on the 21st June this year, to be precise. When British asparagus spears are in season they are the best in the world and they really do make a mockery of the imported rubbish we get from Chile and Mexico or god knows where. Fat, plump spears of slender shoots - either way, they’re bloody good.

Usually, we cook it very simply - either gently poached and served with butter and sea salt or griddled in the pan. This time, we opted for a risotto as J is fixated on the Italian comfort food. It was truly lovely and bursting with green spring flavour. I used the unfailingly good River Cafe Easy book as a guide, surely one of the best cookbooks on the shelf.

We will be heading out to Sand Hutton again (it’s about half an hour from Leeds) before too long.

One final thing - apparently asparagus makes 50% of the population’s pee smell very distinctive - just like asparagus in fact. Does that apply to you? It does me (too much information, I realise).

La Grillade has been on the Leeds restaurant scene for many years. As other restaurants have come and gone it remains - a stalwart of French cooking along with Sous le Nez (assuming they are still going too). Oddly, it’s  a place that I wouldn’t actively consider for dinner and I don’t really know why. Perhaps it’s the slightly awkward situation on Wellington Street (good for the legal market, no doubt) or the ‘old school’ reputation it has, I don’t know.

But I had lunch there today and it was very good. We opted for a fixed price menu and the a la carte looked fabulous with the Cote de Boeuf and Chateaubriand looking like lunches from another time - which of course they are. We’d sensibly decided to return and sample these meaty delights over dinner in the very near future.

Surprisingly for me, La Grillade offers very authentic French cooking (complete with slightly indifferent service) tucked away under an apartment block on the edge of the city centre. I’d like to return and sample the full experience but for now the lunch menu is very acceptable. At £13.50 for 2 course or £16.50 for 3, this is well priced and a bottle of the house red was excellent value.  The highlight of the lunch for me was the cheeseboard - the restaurant showed its true French credentials here and the Epoisses was spectacular.

I met some colleagues for dinner at Oulton Hall for dinner, didn’t know what to expect as this place although very grand can be very hit and miss. The bars have been updated and I must say are now upmarket country house and stylish. Champgne bar is pretty cool. The dining room is very classic wood panels with more white linen than a  laundry!

I must remember to either write down what was consumed or blog earlier because I can’t remember exactly what everyone had. However everything was extremely well presented and the service was excellent. 2 bottles of very good and inexpensive(£3o each) Malbec were spot on.

The dishes did include Monk Fish, Steak and my Rare breed Pork Chop with apple Calvados sauce. Everyone enjoyed a super meal. A bit out of town but if you have guests staying then it’s worth getting them to “stop in”.

G

D and I decided to have a night at The Calls hotel to check it out before we put up guests there for our 25th celebrations. The hotel is small and boutique style, everything is just spot on as you would expect, big comfy bed, great bathroom and expensive tioletries etc etc

We met J&L for a quick pint as they were in town for a pint at the Adelphi which wasn’t quite the experience we imagined, busy is ok even early doors but only if you can service the crowd.

The walk over the bridge at Brewery Wharfe and that area is really cool, a trendy and relaxed atmosphere. We had dinner at Brasserie Forty Four, first time there in years. Reasonably busy but although the room is great overlooking the river and all that but it was somehow lacking in atmosphere. Champagne, well we were having a date! We had corned beef crisp cakes for starters which were ok but the corn beef centre was sloppy. For mains we decided on Duck and Calves Liver with Calvados jus. My duck was absolutely spot on and D’s Calves Liver was very good but she felt the Calvados jus was reduced a bit too much. Coffee and cognacs followed by one for the night in the hotel honesty bar and off up to the big comfy bed. (Friday night special at The Calls £150 per room, dinner, bed and brekkie).

The Calls breakfast will take some beating. A superb Continental buffet with home hand made everything followed by individually cooked to order English breakfast, touch of magic is the selection of 12 speciality sausages to choose from(2 each any combination). D had traditional pork and I opted for the Pork with black pudding.

Best Breakfast ever, well almost The Wolseley just shades it because of the grand setting.

D&G