Angelica and Crafthouse cook up new flavours as fresh chef moves in
TRINITY LEEDS restaurant Angelica and its sister-eatery Crafthouse are set for a food revamp after bringing in executive head chef Lee Murdoch.
The D&D-owned restaurants are getting a menu-makeover, and Mr Murdoch has already started changing ingredients, composition and cooking styles.
Previously chef de cuisine at the award-winning 55&5th The Grill restaurant in the 5-star St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi, Mr Murdoch wanted a change.
He said: “Being in the Middle East I missed the seasons, and the produce is great but not the same as back home.
“I was looking to come back to UK and had applied elsewhere but this position came up and I couldn’t miss it. It’s a hands on job, and I wanted to be working in the kitchen with the staff rather than behind a desk.
“I’m from Scotland and grew up in the countryside. Leeds is a city, but it’s not a city, and I fell in love with the place.”
Plans for the restaurants are going to be Yorkshire-centric, bringing in produce from the region wherever possible.
Mr Murdoch said: “We’re wanting to go contemporary, in fitting with our location at Trinity Leeds, we need food that reflects that, with the best Yorkshire-sourced ingredients.
“Looking over both restaurants, at Crafthouse we’re doing a lot more casual fine dining with bigger bolder flavours, whilst upstairs, Angelica is a more funky bar-type restaurant and we will keep the menus in line with that.”
A special menu at the 144-cover Crafthouse restaurant will see the new menu on show, with locally-sourced Wagyu beef, from The Yorkshire Wagyu Company, and these strong flavours look set to continue.
Mr Murdoch said: “I love Autumn as a season, you get a lot of game, being from Scotland you used to get good game, so I enjoy those bold flavours. A lot of people don’t know but it’s difficult to take a game bird and create flavours around it. It’s just a great product to work with, and a challenge.”
At the taster menu preview last night, guests were served a house jerky with a very light foie gras mousse and a background taste of beetroot on brioche.
Next up on the menu was a fillet tartar with lobster crackers, followed by a beef noodle in a wagyu consomme, and then the piece de resistance, a stiploin wagyu chunk which sunchoke, and true to Mr Murdoch’s roots, Scottish girolle mushrooms.
A selection of fine wines, starting with a Champagne Moet & Chandon Brut complemented the meal, which was finished off with a chocolate souffle cooked with wagyu beef fat, in keeping with the theme of the night.
