Twisted Burger Company at The Harley - an Exposed Blog Post

“Gooey, unctuous and quite naughty”, is how the Twisted Burger Company describes its burgers. And, despite a bizarre disdain for the use of the word ‘unctuous’ when it comes to describing food, I have found myself trying TBC’s burgers on a number of occasions. This time I had sadly missed out on the press launch of their new menu, but the team kindly asked me to return to try it along with the husband one evening.

With a reputation as a bit of a party bar, you might be glad to know that The Harley is quite easy going and calm when you visit during the day or, as we did, on a mid-week evening. And seated on the stage area to the far front of the building, we had a view across the busy junction and down back into town… which is great for a bit of people watching.

Perusing the menu, we noted that we were a few hours late for breakfast, but we agreed that an early morning trip (they open from 7.30 am in the week) to try out their McBuffting burger could be on the cards. With a bacon patty, a mushroom patty, cheese and a fried egg TBC claim that the McBuffting burger set off good ol’Ronald into an eggsistential crisis….

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Grind Cafe, Sheffield - Exposed Blog Post

The Grind Café is known as a hidden gem in Sheffield. However its reputation as such is so prolific that I’m not entirely sure it can continue to carry that title. Long before my first visit I’d already heard lots about it and I knew that the sausage rolls have just the right ratio of pastry v meat, allowing the latter to do the majority of the talking, and that the daily changing salads are as tasty as they are fresh and vibrant. Gem – yes. Hidden – not so much.

But, having said this, and despite the café being open for some time, I didn’t actually make my first trip down there until I received an invite to go for lunch from them. And I figured that it was only fair to give Grind Café a go on the basis that if it was as good as everyone seems to be saying it is, I would find something worth shouting about.

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Sheffield Food Festival 2013 - An Exposed Blog Post

It’s that time of year again. Time to celebrate Sheffield’s culinary offerings; the restaurants, the gastro pubs and the humble cafes, not to mention all of the food producers and community groups that work at helping our residents cook for themselves. That’s right, the Sheffield Food Festival has returned to town and this year promises to be as exciting as the last.

As ever there’s a lot to take in and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be worried about missing out. So, I’ve headed down into town this morning to check out what’s going on as well as sussing out the ‘must-do’ events for the weekend ahead.

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Peppercorn Restaurant - an Exposed Blog Post

Chef Charlie Curran and his partner, and front of house manager, Kelly Ware have worked together for many years at restaurants including the Samuel Fox in Bradwell and The Beauchief in Milhouses. But now they are stepping out on their own with new venture Peppercorn Restaurant which occupies the old Moran’s premises.

It’s always sad to see a good Sheffield restaurant go and I’m sure that our city will mourn the recent loss of Moran’s restaurant. But with Charlie and Kelly in situ, I think that the 289 Abbeydale Road South address will remain a real favourite on the Sheffield food scene.

On approaching Peppercorn on a dreary Friday night (it was the Friday that Mother Nature remembered which season she was in and quickly flicked the switch from stonking summer to abysmal autumn) I was a little bit taken aback by the exterior. I had forgotten about the Porta Cabin feel to the place, the car park and the fact that you felt as though you were walking through a bike shop as you entered. Once inside, however, I soon forgot about the location as we returned to the more familiar.

The former Moran’s restaurant has been spruced up a bit; the previously beige walls are now white, as is the snug seating area next to the bar. A pale blue floral wallpaper adorns some of the supporting posts and a couple of the walls and although Kelly was a little worried that it may have been too garish, I think it adds a good splash of colour to the place. The restaurant is fuss free, but smart with classic tableware and I was quite glad to see Kelly’s personality dotted around the place as I recognised a few of the paintings from the Samuel Fox (there’s something about those oil painted, rainbow coloured, cows).

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Exposed Post - Milestone Cookery School, Sheffield

When I was growing up, home-made curry involved raisins, apple and lots of turmeric. To be fair, my home town of Pontefract was hardly the culinary capital of anywhere and it was only when I moved to Sheffield for university that I had my first real curry. Slowly, but surely, I have trained my taste buds to like spices and heat (and coriander) and curry is now one of my favourite meals.

As a number of South Indian restaurants have been popping up across the city, curry has become more interesting - I'm really starting to learn about the Indian cuisine. I now know what a vada is, what a dosa is and that I will never see a garlic and coriander nann in my favourite Indian restaurant ever again. This is all well and good, but knowing what to order in a restaurant is only half the story. To have any chance of getting to grips with a cuisine, we need to take it into the kitchen and have a crack at it ourselves.

Easier said than done sometimes though, eh? Precisely. Which is why I was intrigued when The Milestone Cookery School started advertising South Indian cookery courses. Admittedly, I was a little sceptical at first as The Milestone is a very British restaurant, but a friend of the family, Manisha Patel, actually runs the classes and, as she grew up in India, her recipes and techniques are very traditional. So when The Milestone kindly offered me a place on the next course I excitedly took them up on the offer!

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Tamper: Sellers Wheel - an Exposed Blog

Since it opened its Westfield Terrace doors in the winter of 2011, Jon Perry’s Tamper Coffee has gone from strength to strength. The coffee offering has always been strong, but the food menu has slowly grown from a few pies to a full weekend brunch offering including mushroom and chorizo on toast and the like. I've certainly enjoyed many coffee fuelled breakfasts here.

Unsurprisingly, news of Tamper: Sellers Wheel (their second venue) was very well received; especially as I learnt that there was going to be more of a focus on food along with a wine and beer menu, thanks to collaboration with Ben Smith of The Hop Box. And with a New Zealand chef in the kitchen, I knew that things were going to get a little bit more exciting than mushrooms on toast! After all, aside from the odd steak and cheese pie at the first Tamper, I had never experienced New Zealand food before and I’m guessing that a lot of Sheffield has a similar experience.

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Back of House Sheffield - An Exposed Blog post

With a strapline of ‘Food’s got Proper’, Back of House (or BOH), Ecclesall Road’s newest restaurant has caused a bit of a stir amongst some Sheffield foodies. What is this ‘proper’? Why have we not had it before? Rather, does BOH not know that we already have ‘proper’ food?

Instead of getting bogged down in semantics, I took this strapline to mean that BOH was going to offer British food done well and without any pretence. Yes, of course we already have this in Sheffield; The Milestone do it particularly well in fact, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have room for another, and so what if they want to use a strapline that tries to set them apart from others?

With this in mind I was delighted to manage to bag myself (and the husband) a table on their launch night and on seeing their menu for the first time, I was glad to find that the food was, indeed, ‘proper’. It was only when Thomas Robjohns (bar specialist and joint owner, along with chef Richard Bucklow and Jaye Taylor) told us to expect the unexpected explaining that dishes wouldn’t be quite as they seemed from the menu that I started to question the BOH concept. How could a dish be ‘proper’ but also not what it seemed?

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The Wig and Pen - Exposed blog post

The Milestone will not need much of an introduction following their Ramsey’s Best Restaurant 2010 fame. They came tops in the British category and got as far as the semi-finals. Even though they were knocked at this stage they had put up a damn good fight and held their own.

Even prior to all this, The Milestone had been one of my own favourites for a while, although I will admit that I did start to get a bit wary following the whole Ramsey madness  I started reading more negative reviews. 

There have always been a few with the usual complaints (portion size etc), but I was beginning to wonder whether fame had gone to their heads. 

Also their menu changed; completely. It became more gastro pub and less a la carte leading to fewer interesting dishes on the menu and I lost interest.

Then the Wig & Pen on Campo Lane closed its doors.  Now this was truly a sad day for me. I’ve got a lot of happy memories of the Wig & Pen. Drinks at lunch or after work with colleagues, lunch with the parents (who loved it because it had been in the Guardian) and evening meals with the husband had all been enjoyed here. 

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Taste - Exposed blog post

UPDATE - NOTE THAT THIS RESTAURANT HAS NOW CLOSED.

Following on from my recent review of 1855, you will all be glad to hear that I have since found the perfect carbonara!  For those of you who don’t quite understand my obsession with carbonara you should check out my Roman Feast blog post here. 

I found my carbonara whilst on a stroll with the husband.  It was sunny and we were in search for a decent lunch. 

As we got towards Hunters Bar roundabout I spotted Zerboni Taste and on remembering good things about it and being in dire need of a decent pasta dish we decided it was the one for us.

On entry we were greeted by the chef who poked his head through the serving hatch. Quickly a waitress appeared and, on hearing that we were after lunch, she suggested that we sit upstairs as they offer table service. 

The décor is nothing special. Furniture is bog standard and there are a few prints of popular Italian sights on the walls along with blackboard menus. I quickly flicked through the menu, spot the carbonara (£7.50), along with the statement ‘a classic done the right way’, and went for it. 

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Moss Valley Fine Meats - an Exposed blog post

As a young teenager I went through a phase of collecting pigs. Not the real ones, obviously, but ceramic pigs and the like. I’ve grown out of that now, but I still have a soft spot for pigs. 

So after getting in touch with Stephen Thompson of Moss Valley Fine Meats and discovering he was a pig farmer, I was keen to visit his farm and meet some of his little piggies!

The farm is just on the outskirts of Sheffield, in S8 and it’s bizarre to know that a farm of that size (240 acres) is situated so close to town. My husband was also intrigued so he came along too and sure enough, after turning off the Bochum Parkway and driving down a country lane we arrive. We feel that we’re in the middle of nowhere, when we’re only about a 10 minutes drive from Woodseats.

Stephen cheerfully welcomes us and we have a chat with him and his wife, Karen, before going on a tour. Having already met Stephen at a recent Farmers' Market, and followed him on Twitter for a couple of months I already knew that he has a strong interest in keeping the British pig industry alive. 

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Moo La La - Sheffield's newest restaurant

Update - this restaurant has now closed.

Sheffield Foodies will be pleased to see the arrival of Moo La La on the restaurant scene as it promises to be ‘your local restaurant’ featuring ingredients from the Sheffield area.  It’s only been open a week and already I’ve heard quite a lot about it on both Twitter and Facebook.  So, having had a few busy weekends away from home, I thought a visit there would be a nice way to catch up with the husband, whilst also giving me something to blog about.

We arrive at 8pm to a bright and cheery restaurant.  Those who remember Dosanj (a short lived Indian restaurant serving bland and overpriced food) will be astounded by the new layout and décor of Moo La La.  Walls are freshened up in white and green, the floor is wooden and the tables are dark wood, with chairs upholstered in colourful pinks and greens.  It looks good; professionally finished and inviting. 

We sit and peruse the menu which boasts Sheffield suppliers including John Crawshaw’s the Butchers of Stocksbridge, Lower Hurst Farm of Birley Carr, Daisy Hill Farm of Hazlehead, Brochall Farm of Langsett, Cross Farm of Lower Bradfield, All Seasons Fruit and Vegetable Suppliers of Castle Market, Bakewell Pudding Company (Bread Suppliers) of Bakewell, Bradfield Brewery of Bradfield and Kelham Island of Sheffield.  Ice cream lovers will also be pleased to see that Our Cow Molly features on the menu. 

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When will I, will I be famous?! New Blog

When I first started this blog, it was purely a hobby, a project, something to keep me occupied. I love food and I also like to write so a food blog made perfect sense to me.

Well, a few weeks ago I got in touch with Exposed Magazine and they liked my blog, so much so that they wanted me to write one for them. Wow. I can't begin to tell you how chuffed that made me feel! I really enjoy writing this blog, but to know that people enjoy reading it is pretty cool!

So here it is........ Clare's Foodie Blog

It's gonna be purely about Sheffield food; restaurants, produce, recipes etc. My first post is about a trip to the Sheffield Farmers Market where I got to meet a few producers and chat about their food. I'll be keeping this one up too to cover non-Sheffield stuff and also to complement some of the Exposed blog posts. I hope you enjoy!