Chef and entrepreneur Hugo Monypenny on why Leeds is crying out for a bigger street food scene
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The founder of Middle Eastern kitchen MorMor and smash burger brand Good Boy Burger, Hugo has fed thousands of hungry revellers at pop-up events, festivals and venues across the North.
But he wants to see bigger street food venues, food halls and markets in his home city - giving space for more start-up traders to come through.
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Hide Ad"We seem to be the only major city that has a real short fall in these kind of venues," Hugo, 32, told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
"Take Sheffield for example, which has three food-hall type venues, with more coming soon, plus a few huge street food markets.
"Leeds has the buildings and the outdoor spaces ripe to be turned into something really creative and interesting.
"The longer things stay the same, the staler things get and the less interesting things become.
"Leeds has the appetite for it."
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Hide AdHugo founded his smash burger brand during the first lockdown, wanting to try his hand at the fast food industry.
As well as juicy burgers made with 100 per cent Yorkshire beef, Good Boy Burger serves added treats such as a deep-fried halloumi patty, cheeseburger loaded fries, deep fried lasagne and confit chicken.
Hugo said: "GBBC was cooked up in lockdown 1.0 as a way of trying to make the best, but also the most simple burger we could.
"I’m always disappointed with burgers and so wanted to see what I could do with them.
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Hide Ad"MorMor is a labour of love and something I’m sure intensely passionate about, but I wanted to use everything I’ve learnt creating MorMor in a different setting.
"We wanted to strip it all back and let the produce speak for itself.
"It's simple - the better your produce, the better your product. We spend a lot of time taste testing and working on our menu to make sure everything is on point."
Good Boy Burger is now one of the latest in a line-up of rotating vendors at Trinity Kitchen, serving from one of the food hall's bespoke street food vans.
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Hide AdHugo added: "It’s a great place to try out new ideas to an open market, which has helped traders I know massively.
"Some of the biggest traders in the city started at Trinity Kitchen so you can be sure it’s a hotbed for the latest talent coming through."
Despite high praise from his customers, Hugo admits he's "pretty tough on himself" and his businesses are still a work in progress.
But he loves being part of the Leeds street food scene and insists there's enough space for everyone with ideas.
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Hide AdHugo added: "Leeds is full of loads of great indies doing their thing, at all different levels, from start-ups to guys with brick and mortar premises.
"But everyone supports each other and there’s a real sense of community. It’s also home for me, so I never feel out of place or unwelcome.
"It’s also good to be at the forefront of a scene that is continuously growing and expanding.
"It's exciting to see what’s next for the city."