We're onto our final Trinity Kitchen residency for the year, and there's plenty of familiar faces to choose from...
Back to draw the 2023 kitchen season to a close, you'll find festival favourite Eat Like A Greek alongside Yorkshire Cheese Grill and Big Mouth Gyoza. Jimmy Macks return this year with those viral birria beef tacos and Nelly's Barn has some wonderful winter warmers to check out.
Open for the next nine weeks, Trinity Kitchen shared the announcement this morning, stating "These friendly faces will be serving up their finest festive feasts until 14th Jan 2024".
Keep reading to find out The Hoot's recommendations for all the Trinity Kitchen vendors this season...
Nelly’s Barn
Vegan chicken and chips with gravy. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
Those looking for a burger fix will be delighted to see Nelly’s Barn making an appearance at Trinity Kitchen over the 2022 period. There’s cheeseburgers, bacon and cheeseburgers or the Whoa Nelly- the double burger with cheddar and crispy bacon to choose from- plus plenty of sides. Think popcorn plant-based ‘chicken’ with fries and sauces like southern-style gravy, sweet BBQ, garlic mayo and parmesan garlic.
Hoot recommends: Vegan 'chicken', chips and gravy - it's a great winter warmer
Big Mouth Gyoza
Mushroom gyoza. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
Big Mouth is serving up two different gyoza options, mushroom or pork belly, each of which that are packed with flavour, and generous servings of the brand’s secret sauce. Choose from either a bento box with four gyozas in saucy, sticky rice with sesame, spicy, cheezu or curry toppings and house pickles sprinkled on top, or opt for the gyoza tray, which serves a whopping six gyozas in different styles.
Hoot recommends: Mushroom gyoza bento box with sesame rice and as much secret sauce as you can get your hands on
Eat Like A Greek
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Now if you haven’t spotted Eat Like A Greek from previous previous takeovers, now’s your change to grab a bite of the gyros that’s kept festival-goers well fed and warm throughout the summer season. The van returns after a long stint across the UK to bring signature gyros, with options like halloumi, pork and chicken to the table.
Jimmy Macks
Roast squash and black bean tacos. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
Normally, Jimmy Macks is all about the tacos, but since its Christmas, the slow-cooked specialists will be putting on a special festive menu packed with favourites from God's Own County. That's right, the Yorkshire Pudding wrap is up for grabs at Trinity Kitchen, plus some immense pigs in blankets, brie and cranberry and even a festive loaded fries.
Hoot recommends:
Yorkshire Cheese Grill
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Naan bread, rolls and big bits of bread toasted to perfection and dripping with Yorkshire cheese- that’s exactly what to expect from returning favourite Yorkshire Cheese Grill. Whether you want a bite on your lunch break or something to warm up your stomach on a cold wintry day, you’ll find something to love here.
Hoot recommends: Naan bread and Yorkshire cheese - it's a winning combo
Eats
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
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.”
The Swine That Dines announces the official opening date of its brand new restaurant
Clementine Hall
Much-loved Leeds Bistro The Swine Bistro, formerly known as The Swine That Dines, has moved to a bigger space in Headingley.
Although it’s gone through a few name changes over the years since launching as The Greedy Pig cafe in 2012, this independent spot has long been a firm favourite for Leeds locals for some time now.
Run by chef couple Jo and Stu Myers, they’ve been operating out of North Street where it’s all about cooking seasonal produce simply and with an added ‘little bit of sunshine’.
But now Swine Bistro has moved up over to Headingley, taking up a unit previously occupied by Jam hairdressers on Otley Road.
Image: Supplied
And the time has finally come for them to open their doors, as they announce their first service will take place on Friday 4 April with bookings open from today, Thursday 20 March.
The Myers will be welcoming head chef Kirsty Cheetham, who won Observer Food Monthly’s Best Sunday Lunch award in 2018 and 2022 when she ran The Queen o’t owd Thatch in South Milford, Leeds.
The expanded space in the restaurant has allowed the team to curate a bigger wine list which will include natural wines from Wayward Wines and Latitude Wines as well as local beers from Ilkley Brewery and Horsforth Brewery.
Image: Supplied
The team remains passionate about locally sourced ingredients and has partnered with a variety of Yorkshire suppliers including R&J Yorkshire for its fresh meat, Tarbetts fishmonger, cheese from George & Joseph cheesemongers and beans from micro roaster, Chipp Coffee Co.
Jo Myers, co-owner of the Swine Bistro said: “It’s taken a huge amount of time and effort to realise our dream to revamp what was previously a hairdresser into a fully functioning kitchen and restaurant. It’s been a wild ride but we’re excited, and slightly nervous, to finally open our doors.
“We love the vibe in Headingley and the time out has allowed us to have fun with our menu as well as take part in lots of essential taste testing of ingredients and drinks from our brilliant local suppliers. We can’t wait to welcome guests into our new restaurant!”
Sophie Smith -
20th November 2023 
