OUT AND ABOUT | LAYNES ESPRESSO SUNDAY BRUNCH #2 AT BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL

Sunday's are the perfect days for brunch, but living on my own means that it is a rarity that I ever cook anything spectacular for myself, and this includes the delight of Sunday brunch.

So what a treat it is for me to go out for brunch at one of my favourite haunts in Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall, thanks to their caffeine-fuelled residents Laynes Espresso.

Returning for my second Laynes Espresso Sunday Brunch experience (see my post on my first here), I met with my friend Sarah who has joined me the previous month and we made ourselves comfy in the Belgrave.

After our last experience where demand was completely off the rails and the service very slow, we were informed that there would be a table service to help speed things along this time.

We casted our eyes up and down the menu and after a lot of 'umming' and 'ahhing' I settled for the sweet option with the French Toast and Sarah went for the Gin Cured Salmon.

Despite the table service, we still ended up waiting quite a while for our food to come, however we were happy to natter away and drink tea in the mean time. When the food did arrive, boy were we happy!

My French Toast was composed of brioche, caramelised baanana, espresso mascarpone and nut brittle. It was an absolute masterpiece and felt VERY naughty. A really lovely combination of flavours and textures where every mouthful was a delight to eat.

It was gigantic in size compared to some of other brunch dishes we saw, however I was more than happy to oblige to clear my plate...

Sarah had the Gin Cured Salmon dish which was served on volkenbrot rye toast with cucumber, grapefruit, yoghurt and a poached egg.

This would have been my dish of choice if I had gone down the savoury route, however I had already had a dish quite similar to this that week.

A great success for Laynes Espresso with another superb brunch. Slogging away in the kitchen to serve us hungry souls were Carl Fleischer from Laynes and Dan and Jim from The Grub & Grog Shop.

A fine collaboration of talent right there and a big thank you to them.

If you still havn't had a chance to catch the Laynes Espresso Sunday Brunch then the next one will be held on Sunday 23 March at Belgrave Music Hall.

An extra hint is that Laynes will be serving their fabulous French Toast at the Belgrave Street Feast III this Saturday so GO GO GO!

OUT AND ABOUT | LAYNES ESPRESSO SUNDAY BRUNCH AT BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL

The team over at Laynes Espresso expanded to take over a new spot at the up and coming Belgrave Music Hall last Monday.

Offering £1 coffee's all week they have hit it off big time and are well on their way to becoming the next top dog independent establishment joining the Belgrave Music Hall (current vendors include Dough Boys Pizza, Fu-Schnickens and Patty Smith's).

Photo: Laynes Espresso

Returning today with their second brunch service, I visited with intrigue and excitement after unfortunately missing their first brunch service in December.

Teased by being able to preview the menu a good week in advance, I still hadn't made my mind up as to what I wanted off the menu.

A menu created by the inventive Carl Fleischer from Laynes, we were spoilt for choice with six options on offer:

Shakshuka 

Baked Eggs | Tomato & Pepper Ragout | Feta | Yoghurt | Sourdough 

Black Pudding 

Poached Eggs | Pea Puree | Apple | Sourdough Crisp 

Fritters 

Sweet Corn Fritters | Poached Eggs | Avocado | Chilli Relish

Smashed Avocado 

Feta | Sumac | Pistachio | Rye Toast 

Welsh Rarebit

Leek Rarebit | Poached Eggs | Laynes Spiced Relish | Sourdough 

French Toast

Brioche | Banana | Vanilla Mascarpone |Walnut 

Placing our orders we were also enticed by the delightful looking millionaire's shortbread and lamington's on offer as well as the usual Laynes Espresso top quality coffee.

Ordering my food and opting for a tea (I am sorry!), I was given a card as order #47 and we waited for our brunch as the Belgrave filled up. We were rather astounded by how busy it was but also extremely happy for the independents who were doing so well from the event.

Taking our seats, we were sat just across from the open-hatch kitchen where Carl was joined by Dan and Jim from The Grub and Grog Shop. Being a massive food perve and loving to watch people cook I was in my element...

I opted for the Sweet Corn Fritters which were DIVINE. Two fritters accompanied by two perfectly poached eggs, a creamy avocado puree and a tangy chilli relish all topped with watercress. Really tasty and honest feel-good food that has left me wanting to become a weekend brunch-aholic.

I was with two friends who went for the Shakshuka and Welsh Rarebit who were also thoroughly impressed.

Sunday Brunch service will now be available from Laynes Espresso at Belgrave Music Hall every first and third Sunday of the month from 12-4pm - although the earlier you arrive the better!

A definite visit for anyone who enjoys good quality real food. I am a brunch convert.

OUT AND ABOUT | NORTH STAR MICRO-ROASTERS LATTE ART THROWDOWN

Inside the depths of an industrial unit in Meanwood last week the North Star Micro-Roasters Latte Art Throwdown took place.

Opening only in October last year, the roasters have gained great support in Leeds as well as further across the country. These boys are at the heart of embracing coffee in its true form and at the forefront of the coffee revival.

With Leeds being a hub for great independent cafes and exceptionally good barista's it seemed about time to have an event centred around coffee.

Taking part in the throwdown were 20 barista's from Froth and Fodder, La Bottega Milanese, Cielo, Mrs Atha's, Notes, Bean and Bud, Upshot Espresso, Crema Espresso, Grumpy Mule, Baltzersens and North Star Micro-Roasters themselves.

A table adorned with food provided by local independent producers was also on offer. Spoilt by the delicious bread from Leeds Bread Co-op, red onion chutney from Made by Jim, platters of cold meats and cheese from Baltzersens and the BEST brownies you'll ever taste (you can hold me to that) from Noisette Bakehouse.

Now back to the competition... what is a Latte Art Throwdown I might hear you say?

The competition was based around creating the perfect latte, with three rounds judged by the crem de la crem of the Leeds coffee scene: Carl from Laynes Espresso, Adam from Opposite and Krag from North Star Micro Roasters. 

The latte's were judged on four criteria: balance and symmetry; colour definition; use of space; and the overall pour.

As twenty nervous barista's took centre stage, we watched and were highly impressed by the quality of the lattes produced under pressure - no shaky hands here! Perfectly textured milk and immaculate rosetta's were being churned out left, right and centre.

After three knockout rounds, the winner was announced and Oakley from Crema Espresso was crowned Latte Art King.

It was a really interesting event and great to see so many people passionate about coffee. I don't think I'll be setting foot in Costa any time soon and pledge for you to do the same.

Support your local coffee community and join the resistance!

Thank you to the lovely Diane from A Tale of Two Sittings for letting me use her wonderful photos.

MOOD BOARD | OCTOBER

OCTOBER.

Time to start piling on the chunky knits and fur coats.

I am lacking a pair of decent booties this year and in desperate need of a good pair to get me through the Winter. I am loving this pair from Topshop, but alas...they are £95.00(!) and this is just an inexcusable amount to spend considering my student budget.

Plus...when did the high street shops get so expensive?

I saw my first pumpkin in Morrisons this week and I may or may not have squealed with a bit of joy. I couldn't bring one home though on top of my weekly shop, they were huge!

I am however looking really forward to overindulging in pumpkin EVERYTHING over the next month.

I will do a round-up of my favourite pumpkin recipes next week.

And mulled wine...oh mulled wine!

And if you want to find me this month I'm more than likely to be tucked away in the Brotherton Library doing dissertation research with a steaming thermos full of coffee or under my furry throws watching The Great British Bake Off sipping on a frothy hot chocolate.

LIFESTYLE | TIME OUT

Taking a break from packing my life into various bags, vacuum packs and boxes.

I get stressed out all too easily if things don't go to plan or if I can't find something. Patience also happens to not be my greatest quality and appears rather absent when it concerns my life!

So it's Sunday. That means it's time out for a lazy lunch, strong coffee and a flick through the COS Magazine and Fourth & Main Journal which I picked up at London's Fashion's Night Out on Thursday.

Oh, and here's some SUNDAY INSPIRATION for you:

Photos: Various images from my PINTEREST.

RECIPE | COFFEE AND WALNUT LOAF

A classic cake turned into a LOAF. Oh how I love to make loaves.

They are kind to me because:
(a) They ALWAYS work and...
(b) It feels less naughty eating a loaf than a cake!

COFFEE AND WALNUT LOAF

Ingredients:

Cake:

90g Walnut Halves/Pieces

125g Butter

210g Caster Sugar

2tbsp Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essence

3tsp Instant Coffee

2tsp Cinnamon

300g Self-Raising Flour

2 Eggs

Icing:

2tsp Instant Coffee

2tbs Boiled Water

80g Icing Sugar

Instructions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 160°C and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

2.  Put the walnuts onto a baking tray and place them in the oven for 10 minutes. Give them a good shake after 5 minutes to make sure that all are nice and toasted. Once removed from the oven, split the walnuts into two halves and set aside.

3.  In a saucepan, place the butter, sugar, milk and instant coffee and simmer on a low heat, stirring until the butter has completely melted and you have a smooth mixture.

4.  Sieve the flour and cinnamon into a mixing bowl and in the middle make a well.

5.  Add the butter/coffee/sugar/milk mixture to the flour.Whisk the eggs with the vanilla essence and add them to the mixture, followed by half of the chopped walnuts. Stir the mixture until it is evenly combined.

6.  Pour (or slop!) the mixture into the loaf tin and then sprinkle the remaining half of the walnuts on top. Place the tin in the oven for 40-45 minutes (depending on your oven).

7.  Once removed, leave the cake in the tin to cool.

8.  Once it is cool enough to remove, take the cake out of the tin and place onto a wire cooling rack.

9.  To make the icing: Combine the hot water and coffee in a mug and then gradually add it to the icing sugar, stirring until it forms a nice gloopy consistency. Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake.