Leeds' lockdown bakery success story The Savvy Baker revealed over the weekend that they'll be taking over the food van at Trinity Kitchen this week.
Having gained quite the cult following in Leeds with her chocolate-laden gooey brownies, blondies and cookies during lockdown, founder Savannah Roqaa has gone from strength to strength and now employs a full baking team at a warehouse outside of the city.
Her delicious baked goodies are often to be found popping up at various spots in Leeds in further afield, but for this week only you'll also be able to find them at Trinity Kitchen's static food van.
The street food van has been a permanent fixture in the shopping center's food hall since May, sitting alongside permanent eateries such as Archie’s, Pho, Rola Tala, Tortilla, Pizzaluxe, Absurd Bird and Doner Shack.
It's already welcomed a host of different street food traders so far, including the 'low and slow' BBQ delights of Jimmy Macks and, most recently, Halifax's Stodfold and Clough with their modern take on pub grub.
Now, it's the Savvy Baker's turn to take on the truck - and it sounds like she's got some proper treats up her sleeve for us this week.
Promising followers a whole week of warm brownies, ice cream, goodie boxes and "maybe a few surprises" it's not one that you'll want to miss.
Sharing the news on social media over the weekend, Savannah said: "This is MADDD to me. We ain’t complete yet but with 24 hours to turnaround this gorg pop up at @trinity_kitch@trinityleeds to bake everything and try and make it look cute, I’m so buzzing.
"I used to come in here and say one day I’ll have savvy baker in trinity kitchen and it felt like a distant goal, and here she is, in the flesh, savvy baker truck at trinity Leeds!!!
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Georgina Pellant -
13th September 2021 
