IKEA meets sourdough and marmite meets garlic bread- the genius menu from one of Leeds latest lockdown success stories.
If you visited Chow Down or just about any indie pop-up in Leeds this past year, you're likely to have stumbled across Homeboy Pizza Co., a pizza company with some of the most outrageous flavoured pizzas in Leeds.
We're not just talking about throwing on some 'nduja or giving it a funky name, these guys are making pizzas out of this world- and must be some of the first of their kind.
The Dillmatic is a dill and onion creamy based pizza with mozzarella, Lengonberry Jam, Parmesan and topped with Swedish meatballs or mushrooms, depending on your preference- and sounds like it came straight from the IKEA food canteen.
Of course, it's far from a canteen meal, all pizzas are cooked in an Ooni pizza oven and catering to the masses at pop-ups and restaurant takeovers around Leeds.
The Homeboys announced their winter menu by stating: "We know you people love those goddam meatballs from that Norwegian furniture store so we slapped em on a pizza with some LENGonberry Jam, jheeeeze."
The unique combos don't stop there. The Neapolitan Dynamite, which is available to order on the weekends via Deliveroo, has Vimto pickled onions on it, as well as 'nduja San Marzano tomatoes and Fior di Latte Mozzarella.
The Yeastie Boys garlic bread is just as wild, made up of Marmite, garlic butter, basil and Fior di Latte Mozzarella- either you'll love it or hate it, but either way it'll get you talked.
The Notorious ‘Doner McGregor’ has been a previous success and is one of the tastiest doner meat pizzas we've ever seen. Made up of homemade lamb doner, pickled onions, pomegranate seeds and parsley- these guys clearly know the way to our hearts and stomachs.
The Homeboys is another of our city's lockdown success stories and it's clear that their experimental style and creative flair is continuing to allow them to cook up a storm in the city and beyond.
"We saw an opportunity during the great lockdown of 2020 to create some of the best Sourdough pizza in Yorkshire. We do strictly sourdough, Neapolitan style pizzas with creative, ever changing toppings and our pizza names come with a strong and powerful hip hop theme.
"If you've had a chance to try one of our pies, you'll know how much of a sensation they are in the gob. If you haven't, head to our instagram and reserve your slot for the weekend."
To get your order in, you'll have to wait until the weekend begins to get your order in on Deliveroo or head over to the Homeboy Pizza Co. Instagram page to find out where their next pop-up will be.
Feature Image- The Homeboy Pizza Co.
Leeds
No Greek Tragedy, just indie bangers – The Wombats set Leeds’ First Direct Arena alight
The Wombats aren’t just still going strong - they’re getting better. And honestly? Long may they reign.
The Wombats absolutely tore the roof off the First Direct Arena in Leeds last night, Wednesday 26 March and what a night it was.
From the second they hit the stage it wasn’t just a gig, it was a full-blown indie-pop spectacle, packed with infectious energy, nostalgia, and a whole lot of dancing.
They kicked things off with “Moving to New York,” and honestly? The crowd was in from the first note.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Matthew Murphy’s unmistakable vocals rang through the arena and suddenly, thousands of people were screaming every lyric like it was 2007 all over again. It was one of those moments where you could just feel how much this band still means to people.
Despite the massive venue, The Wombats somehow made it feel intimate. The lights? Pure chaos in the best way - vibrant, colourful, and totally in sync with the band’s wild, bouncy sound.
Murphy’s cheeky banter between songs made it feel less like a polished arena show and more like a jam session with a few thousand of your closest mates.
Setlist-wise, they nailed it. “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” and “Greek Tragedy” had the whole place losing it, while the stripped-down version of “Techno Fan” gave everyone a minute to breathe (and maybe get a little emotional).
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Those quieter moments just made the high-energy choruses hit even harder. It was a rollercoaster - in the best way possible.
Then came the encore. If you thought the crowd was loud before, “Kill the Director” took things to another level. Pure, chaotic indie bliss. The kind of moment you don’t want to end.
Here’s the thing about The Wombats: some might say their older songs hit harder than their newer stuff, but is that just nostalgia talking? Or maybe it’s a generational thing?
Either way, they proved they’re still one of the most exciting live bands out there. They’ve still got the hooks, the humour, and the ability to turn a massive arena into a sweaty, euphoric singalong.
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
Danny Jones
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.”
Sophie Smith -
11th January 2022 
