Hern
Leeds, West Yorkshire
* Rab Adams is now offering an à la carte menu on Wednesday nights and Saturday lunchtime, while his set menus run from Thursday-Saturday."
The Chapel Allerton district of Leeds is home to Rab Adams' ambitious neighbourhood restaurant, where a four-course menu is supplemented by a blackboard offering for outdoor tables on a small terrace. If the location feels a little off the beaten city track, it can often work to the advantage of a place like this, where an LS1 address might see it swallowed up – either by the pressure of competition or media hype. As it is, there's a pleasingly understated feel to the interior – think white walls, dark wood tables and shelves of contemporary cookbooks that feel implicitly like a manifesto. Appetisers inspire confidence, from eloquently fresh gazpacho to wholemeal focaccia with all the requisite springiness, and a selection of excellent crudités from Organic North (a non-profit Mancunian co-op with an instinct for quality). Menus appear seasonal to the extent of matching today's weather forecast, or so it seemed in a preliminary course of charentais melon and cucumber heavily macerated in vinegar with a good, light ajo blanco, cut with subtle Aleppo oil and crunchy almond shards – just the ticket on a muggy June day. To follow, we had roundels of superlative lamb loin, sourced from a Skipton whisky producer (obviously), accompanied by smoky aubergine purée and garlicky barbecued flat beans topped with seductive, punchy zaatar. Dessert was a moist brown butter cake with roasted, still-tart plums decorated with little stars of elderflower and a dollop of rhubarb fool on the side. Plum-stone ice cream dressed with its own oil is evidence of the kitchen's commitment to not wasting anything. The enterprising drinks list takes in hibiscus soda and Newbarns beers from Edinburgh, while wines kick off with food-friendly blends from Gascony and the Rhône.
Dining Information:
Family friendly, Dog friendly, Pre-payment required
Stainbeck Corner, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS7 3PG
0113 262 5809
