What’s it like dining out? we paid a visit to HOME in Leeds

Since opening in 2017, Home, created by her and fellow chef Mark Owens, has established itself as one of Leeds’s top fine dining restaurants.

The plaudits flooded in and then last year they opened The Owl - the first pub in the city’s historic Kirkgate Market - garnering rave reviews from the likes of Grace Dent and Elaine Lemm.

And then came coronavirus and the lockdown and, like every other restaurant, Home had to close its doors.

Liz admits it took the wind out of her sails initially as she and her team faced an uncertain future. But after taking a step back she decided to use this time productively.

“I started to work on plans for using lockdown strategically, to get better and come back so much stronger than if we had stayed open. I locked myself in the kitchen and started to work on finishing some dishes we had in production and on many more news ones,” she says.

Now, they are back refreshed and with a revised plan. Mark is taking the helm at The Owl, while Liz is in charge at HOME which celebrates its third birthday in August.

The latter reopened recently with a new menu and a new approach in what is, let’s face it, a strange new world for all of us.

It’s the restaurant’s most experimental menu to date - gone are the monthly menus, with changes happening week by week. There is now a 10 to 12 course tasting menu (£75) from Wednesday to Sunday (an optional matching wine flight costs £65), plus a 6 to 8 course tasting menu (£55) available at lunchtimes and on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, plus a six-course Sunday lunch tasting menu (£55).

So what’s it like dining out in a restaurant now? Well, at HOME it was reassuringly normal. With one main, spacious dining area there is plenty of room between tables (this was never a cheek by jowl experience) and service times are being adapted to reduce the amount of people in the building at any one time.

Before we entered the dining room our temperature was taken and we were asked to wash our hands at the table with a specially prepared sanitiser (this, in keeping with the whole experience, is innovative and fun).

Measures like this are reassuring and clearly a lot of thought has gone into creating a safe environment for both customers and staff.

Then there’s the food itself which is a triumph. This is the first menu created solely by Liz and it augurs well for the future.

The main tasting menu is clever, playful and, above all, delicious. Among the highlights were the Stone Bass and Oyster and a brilliant scallop dish, while the Foie Gras Chocolate Pebbles is one of those show-stopping creations that makes you shake your head in disbelief and savour every mouthful.

The desserts were exceptional, too, and along with brilliant wine pairing and a young, friendly and knowledgeable staff, you have all the ingredients for success.

A meal out like this should be memorable and I’m glad to say both in terms of the food and the atmosphere it was - with cherries on top.

For more details and to book go to www.homeleeds.co.uk

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor