'I'm so proud': Leeds restaurateur thanks supporters as award-winning spot celebrates first birthday

The Swine Bistro marked its first anniversary in Headingley on April 1 with a special menu created as a tribute to those who have supported the restaurant’s journey through the years.

For co-founder Jo Myers, the birthday was a highlight of the business.

“It was one of the best nights we’ve had,” Jo told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“We had a couple of tables that have been with us since the beginning and it was just so lovely.

“On one hand it feels like it was yesterday and on the other hand it feels like we’ve been here forever. It’s so strange.”

The Swine Bistro, which specialises in modern British and European cuisine, was founded by Jo alongside her husband and head chef Stuart.

Over the years, the pair have gone from sandwich shop owners to owning one of the city’s most exciting dining destinations.

Jo, who is originally from Dumfries, met Stuart while they were both students at the University of Bradford.

From early on, they “always” knew they wanted to own their own food business as Stuart loved cooking while Jo enjoyed the idea of being her own boss.

Their first venture was to buy The Greedy Pig on North Street as they left their “stable” jobs behind to live their dream.

Jo said: “It was partly about taking control of our life and being together more as a family.

“It was really exciting, we had so many plans for it, yet at the same time, it was so incredibly scary because we were a young couple with a small child and a mortgage.

“Looking back now, we were crazy.”

The Greedy Pig transformed under the ownership of Jo and Stuart as they built a reputation for high quality food and innovative ideas including pop-ups and supper clubs.

Gradually, as Jo and Stuart realised that they needed to choose if they were a cafe or a restaurant, The Greedy Pig transformed into The Swine Bistro (formally the The Swine that Dines).

Soon after the transformation, the COVID pandemic arrived and Jo said managing the aftereffects was “probably the hardest time” in the history of The Swine Bistro.

Jo said: “During lockdown everything was okay because everybody was in the same boat. Everybody was doing whatever they could.

“But the year after was so tough because even though people were told you can go back to life as normal, people didn’t.

“They were still anxious about being in a small space with people and because we didn’t have any outdoor space it was a really, really tough year.”

As Jo and Stuart decided the business needed to evolve, they launched a Crowdfunder which instantly attracted support from the community they had spent a decade building.

In just 24 hours, the online fundraiser reached £25,000, a feat Jo said felt “crazy”.

As donations kept pouring in, The Swine Bistro raised a total of £42,000, enabling the owners to cover legal fees and landlord costs of moving to a new property.

Now as a neighbourhood bistro, Jo feels that The Swine Bistro has been welcomed by Headingley locals

Therefore, a keen value of the business is to ensure that the customers are always recognised and they always leave “with a big smile on their face”.

“We welcome everybody through the door whether it's the first time, the tenth time, or the twentieth time.” Jo said.

“If they come back in and they celebrate birthdays or anniversaries, you become a tiny little part of their life and that’s really important for us not to forget that.”

For Jo, seeing her team excited as they prepared for Wednesday’s celebratory service, made her realise how “strong” The Swine Bistro has become.

Now they’ve settled in well in Headingley, the business has high ambitions for the future.

Jo said: “I’m so proud of what we’ve done. We’ve got a good foundation and now we need to start making ourselves better.

“We want to focus on what our identity is now and make sure it's clear to everybody before they walk in the door that they know what they’re coming into.

“Now we are confident and we know what we are, we need people outside to know.”