'˜Destination' eateries recipe for success

Leeds needs to create more fine dining '˜destination' restaurants in order for the city's food industry to have a significant impact on tourism and the economy.

The food guru of the north, Thom Hetherington, has joined the team at the Leeds Independent Food and Drink Academy to share his knowledge and expertise with the city’s up-coming ventures.

Speaking exclusively to City Buzz, he said in order to maintain the level of growth Leeds is seeing in other sectors, the food industry needs at least three ‘show-piece’ places to tempt visitors from around the country and overseas.

It would then, he suggests, encourage overnight stays and spends in the wider economy such as hotels, shops, museums and attractions.

Mr Hetherington said: “We have to look at tourism and visitor economy and the impact. For that what you need is destination restaurants that get written about nationally and internationally.

“The Red Book - North Americans still swear by it. We need to attract gastronomy fans and they need to be high spend.

“Leeds has ‘The Man Behind The Curtain’ but if you want overnight stays you need two or three serious food restaurants - one people can’t get into, one people don’t fancy and another.