Harewood Food and Drink Project review: I tried a secret 16-course menu in the grounds of this Leeds estate
I didn’t know what to expect from Hidden Harewood - and the experience is like nothing else in Leeds.
The four-week pop-up event, run by the Harewood Food and Drink Project, gives 400 guests the chance to dine in the secret corners of the Harewood estate every summer.
After being dropped off in the grounds, we followed a woodland trail to our first location, where we enjoyed a Harewood Greystone gin and tonic and two delicious canapes.
Harewood’s head event chef Will Campbell, previously of the Ox Club, explained that he designs a different menu every night to be as sustainable as possible, making full use of animals and foraged finds from the estate.
Two farm vehicles were standing by and to our excitement we were soon ushered inside them, whisked away on a bumpy tractor ride to a truly stunning second location.
Boasting views of Harewood House on one side and the Wharfe valley on the other, cosy tables and chairs were set up by three food stations, where chefs cooked over open fire.
After grabbing two further canapes and a glass of prosecco from the bar, we enjoyed Nduja butter mussels served with seaweed and a rich tomato sauce.
Next was the Yorkshire dock pudding, served with beautifully crisp pork jowl and fennel pollen, and then our favourite course of the evening - Hebridean lamb belly skewer which melted in your mouth, served with wild mint and a sharp spruce tip ponzu. Watching the food being cooked in front of you, the smells wafting from the fire, made it all the tastier.
After around an hour, it was back to the tractor and onto our next location - Harewood’s beautifully-decorated, Grade-II listed event space, The Hovels. We tucked into the multi-seed sourdough with whipped bone marrow butter, which was followed by a fresh Isle of White tomato, green tomato dashi and gooseberry palate cleanser.
Carrot cooked in beef fat and topped with shavings of beef heart was next, before the show-stopping main of Highland beef, caramelised turnip and a bone marrow Yorkshire pudding.
The Tunworth ice cream, sweet cicely and strawberry dessert was a grown-up take on a Twister ice lolly, and we somehow managed to finish a second dessert - chocolate and mulberry crème de mure and cacao nib.
The sun had now set and we were taken to the final location, a cosy bar area with sofas, firepits and fairy lights, where we enjoyed a cocktail from a fantastic selection at the bar. There were two further mini desserts, as well as marshmallows which we roasted by the fire.
The two hosts, the Project’s owner and director Eddy Lascelles and events manager Josh Flesher, and their staff could not do enough for us and for all the guests throughout the evening. Warm and accommodating, they made the experience full of fun and not at all stuffy, with a brilliant atmosphere throughout the night.
This year’s Hidden Harewood was priced at £150 per person, not including drinks. It’s certainly not cheap, but for a magical evening, where the ingredients and properly good cooking are still front and centre, it’s worth it for a special occasion.
I can’t wait to see what surprises are in store next summer.
Factfile
Address: Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds, LS17 9LG
Telephone: 0113 288 6252
Opening hours: Pop-up event
Website: www.harewoodfoodanddrink.com
Scores
Food: 10/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 10/10