Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

The Piazza by Anthony


Recommended Posts

Apparently, the Piazza is not now due to open until Monday 24th November. Went by today and saw the sign saying so, which the bloke looking after the Corn Exchange backed up. He did also say that he reckoned another week before opening was somewhat optomistic. Thats a caretaker for you though! So we'll just have to wait and see!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently, the Piazza is not now due to open until Monday 24th November. Went by today and saw the sign saying so, which the bloke looking after the Corn Exchange backed up. He did also say that he reckoned another week before opening was somewhat optomistic. Thats a caretaker for you though!  So we'll just have to wait and see!

Result as far as i'm concerned, ill be back by then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently, the Piazza is not now due to open until Monday 24th November. Went by today and saw the sign saying so, which the bloke looking after the Corn Exchange backed up. He did also say that he reckoned another week before opening was somewhat optomistic. Thats a caretaker for you though!  So we'll just have to wait and see!

the private opening party is saturday 22nd, i have the invite here :wink:

i assumed it would be business as usual after that as it is a 7 day a week operation but i'll try and find out, especially as i was planning on going on sunday on my way back from liverpool.

you don't win friends with salad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

haven't eaten there yet!

couldn't make the opening party as i was in liverpool at fraiche and a 40th birthday do.

had a wander over on monday lunch and had a quick tour round, they were opening for dinner that night and still doing press calls etc at that point.

It's all looking very smart, they are currently running with a reduced menu until next week when the full ALC is available, and the shops aren't quite full of anthony's produce yet but it's getting there.

menu is very well priced, we've booked an office xmas do there and the common comment has been how cheap the menu looks for the dishes eg whole spit roast chicken and spit roast pots £8.50, supreme of salmon with pea puree roast salsify and tarrgon oil £8.25 so they've stuck to their aim of making it affordable.

my colleague is going tomorrow night and i'll hopefully get there to dine next week.

you don't win friends with salad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much easier than using image shack, funnily enough, is flickr. I would be lying if I said I wasn't having a very comfortable experience now using a mac. But anyway, http://www.flickr.com/photos/music_food/se...57610377131688/

First proper experience with iberico, I seem to remember it being belotta. Either way, absolutely gorgeous, cut with a very nice electric slicer. Fat melted on the tongue giving a subtle nutty flavour. The range of cheeses (kept in a refrigerated room, glass doors) looked good, lots of olives and the like, as well as charcuterie. Ate this with a piece of sundried tomato focaccia from the bakery, also very good.

Got 3 muffins too, this one (banana) was great, had an injection of caramel sauce in the middle, dried banana chips on top. Also had triple chocolate, which was unfortunately quite disappointing and carrot cake, which was absolutely stonking, brilliant cream cheese icing. Scoffed that before i could take a picture. :laugh:

So yeah, if you get a chance to visit, make sure you do. I personally don't know of anything even approaching this elsewhere in leeds, even in individual shops. Admittedly, ive only been living here for 4 months, but i've been looking around the city centre a fair bit. Maybe Gary knows of some places? I loved the general feel of the piazza, the shops are all in alcoves and have a great intimate feel to them, can't wait to try the restaurant and i hope to have a coffee in the cafe tomorrow, depending on whether my mac gets delivered so i can try and use the wifi

Link to comment
Share on other sites

other than salts deli which is at the back of the station -ish opposite malmaison, there's not much else that springs to mind.

ethinic food well served by the chinese supermarkets and there's some stalls within leeds market too, but nothing else springs to mind in terms of proper cheese /charcuterie.

stick with the macbook, in time using windows will seem like a cunning plan of mental torture in comparison - which i am enduring until they cut the price of the new range!

planning to try the piazza next friday lunchtime.

you don't win friends with salad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

other than salts deli which is at the back of the station -ish opposite malmaison, there's not much else that springs to mind.

ethinic food well served by the chinese supermarkets and there's some stalls within leeds market too, but nothing else springs to mind in terms of proper cheese /charcuterie.

That was my suspicion, I had a quick look in salts a little while back, seemed a nice place. And i've become a fan of the caribbean/sub-con food stall in the market.

As for the macbook, have you tried the refurb store. Around 1AM gmt they always put up the remaining stock of polycarbonate macbooks (white/black), they start around £530 for the 2.1ghz, 1GB ram, 120GB HD white one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

managed lunch at the piazza on friday, on entrance the first noticable thing was a waft of hot air, which is good as it's a big old space and keeping the cold leeds winter at bay is going to be a challenge!

we had a quick wander around and a drink at the bar before taking our table, menu is still the 'reduced' ALC there is a much longer one but this still provides plenty of choice with lots available as starters/mains.

my mate had been before and had the ham hock terrine, which he loved so he had it again, i had a cauliflower soup with goats cheese beignets and cumin oil. terrine looked good and very anthony is style, slab of terrine, parrallel line of piccalilli and topped with micro greens , my soup was good with the garnish showing there is more than a little class behind the pass.

mains were cumberland sauage and mash with pearl barley gravy and spit roast young chicken for me. the chicken was neatly jointed and served with some new potoatoes from the bottom of the rottiserie though they weren't overly juice soaked they were a nice touch and the chicken was properly cooked ie not blasted to death, the sausage and mash looked great and had i not had it for dinner the night before i'd have had it too.

didn't bother with dessert as we were keeping it light so just a coffee each.

so for 4.5 pints, 2 coffees, 2 starters, 2 mains & 10% service it was £52, very good value. At the moment i think there's only the steak that is over £10 a main. if you were out for a full meal you'd probably need a side order too, but even adding £3 on for that you're still paying pretty much all bar one prices for far more assured cooking.

the aim was to provide good food at decent prices with a touch of anthony's flair and i would say they have achieved that, and given the place was an empty shell just 3 months ago it's a fantastic achievement.

you don't win friends with salad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds great Gary, I think i felt the same kind of just being so impressed by the whole operation. Hoping to take Miss CalumC out for dinner in the new year, see if i can convince that the cote de boeuf is absolutely necessary! :raz:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

didn't bother with dessert as we were keeping it light so just a coffee each........so for 4.5 pints, 2 coffees, 2 starters, 2 mains & 10% service it was £52, very good value.

I love the concept of a light meal that includes 4.5 pints....total class.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just back from first visit here, and had a good meal - as per comments above, the refurb has made the whole place look stunning. Has always been one of my favourite buildings in Leeds, but the roof with Christmas lights looks quite magical at the moment.

Had a quick chat with Tony Sr, Olga and Holly who were having a well deserved drink in the bar, before heading to the table. Too full and tired for cohorent thoughts at the moment, but the food was good (black pudding and poached egg salad for me, baked camembert for H, both had cod with chorizo for main and bread and butter pudding for dessert), service was friendly and efficient (top marks for bringing us a taste of the two red wines we were dithering over!) and at £75 for a three courses each plus tea and three glasses of wine, we were quite content.

Was a little disappointed at the absence of suckling pig on the menu, fingers crossed it's there when I go back in a couple of weeks. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

didn't bother with dessert as we were keeping it light so just a coffee each........so for 4.5 pints, 2 coffees, 2 starters, 2 mains & 10% service it was £52, very good value.

I love the concept of a light meal that includes 4.5 pints....total class.

you can't buy it, especially not in leeds.

just to clarify before bapi leaps in with some comment about drinking halves, that was 2 pints each for me and colleague and a half for other colleague who popped in but was too hungover for anything more than a half.

you don't win friends with salad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ate at the Piazza last week and had very 50/50 experience.My wife and i arrived to be greeted by 2 " bouncers" on the door which was a little off putting...Once we entered through the door into the exchange my breath was taken away ! The inside of the the exchange has been designed so beautifully, and had a great atmosphere. We then walked down the stairs into the restaurant,we stood and looked around for a reception desk or somebody to greet us.With no joy we wandered around until we bumped into a waitress ,she then directed us towards the open kitchen to where the reception is situated.We had our coats taken and sat straight at the table,the restaurant was fairly busy which was good,a really nice buzz to the place.From my seat i spotted Anthony snr watching his staff and the evening service in full flow(Like a Hawk) .Then looked to my right and spotted Anthony jnr sat under a sink talking on his mobile telephone in a room that i can only describe as a washing up area???My order was taken and I sat and waited for the starters to arrive,they appeared very quickly hot and presented nicely. We also ordered some bread to go with our meal ,which was one of the most funny parts of the night it was like the ends of a stale french stick, 5 tiny pieces (mouthful size) for about £3! As I ate my starter i looked over the table for the salt and pepper, there was none!! A bistro with no salt and pepper whatever next!! The waiter delivered the S+P after we'd finished the 1st course,meanwhile anthony was still sat under the sink!Maincourse this is where it went really down hill,my wife described the lamb as "the worst piece of meat she'd ever eaten" and my sole was raw,both dishes very light on any type of vegetables or potato apart from the raw fondant potato on the lamb dish.We swapped main courses as she said her lamb was ineadable and I was then left to finish off the really chewy lamb.The cooked parts of the fish maincourse were eaten and we hasterly asked for the bill,meanwhile Anthony was still on the phone which is one of the things I dont understand,this restaurant has been so hyped up in the press,and to serve such bad food in its opening weeks?? Why wasn't he looking over what was being sent out?We left after paying the bill as we didnt want to risk dessert ....... very disapointing and expensive for what it was :sad:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ate at the Piazza last week and had very 50/50 experience.My wife and i arrived to be greeted by 2 " bouncers" on the door which was a little off putting...Once we entered through the door into the exchange my breath was taken away ! The inside of the the exchange has been designed so beautifully, and had a great atmosphere. We then walked down the stairs into the restaurant,we stood and looked around for a reception desk or somebody to greet us.With no joy we wandered around until we bumped into a waitress ,she then directed us towards the open kitchen to where the reception is situated.We had our coats taken and sat straight at the table,the restaurant was fairly busy which was good,a really nice buzz to the place.From my seat i spotted Anthony snr watching his staff and the evening service in full flow(Like a Hawk) .Then looked to my right and spotted Anthony jnr sat under a sink talking on his mobile telephone in a room that i can only describe as a washing up area???My order was taken and I sat and waited for the starters to arrive,they appeared very quickly hot and presented nicely. We also ordered some bread to go with our meal ,which was one of the most funny parts of the night it was like the ends of a stale french stick, 5 tiny pieces (mouthful size) for about £3! As I ate my starter i looked over the table for the salt and pepper, there was none!! A bistro with no salt and pepper whatever next!! The waiter delivered the S+P after we'd finished the 1st course,meanwhile anthony was still sat under the sink!Maincourse this is where it went really down hill,my wife described the lamb as "the worst piece of meat she'd ever eaten" and my sole was raw,both dishes very light on any type of vegetables or potato apart from the raw fondant potato on the lamb dish.We swapped main courses as she said her lamb was ineadable and I was then left to finish off the really chewy lamb.The cooked parts of the fish maincourse were eaten and we hasterly asked for the bill,meanwhile Anthony was still on the phone which is one of the things I dont understand,this restaurant has been so hyped up in the press,and to serve such bad food in its opening weeks??  Why wasn't he looking over what was being sent out?We left after paying the bill as we didnt want to risk dessert ....... very disapointing and expensive for what it was :sad:

Ouch, thats a shame, sounds very unusual for them to have done so well otherwise so far. The salt and pepper i'm not sure I agree would be quite such an issue in itself, if seasoning in the kitchen is precise, it shouldn't be needed at the table. But if you felt then it needed either, then clearly you are within your rights asking for it. The bouncers thing I really don't get, I can see how that might put you off a bit, perhaps they are there because the Corn Exchange is so renowned as the 'local youths' hangout (I feel strange saying that, I might have been one of them if i had lived in Leeds in my earlier teens). I hope that your visit has fallen on a hiccup night for the kitchen rather than being a sign of things to come, if these things are happening then Anthony Jr will surely be kicking some ass, that seemed to be the case when Jay slated the Flannels branch (is it right to call it a branch?).

I had lunch in the cafe with my grandparents yesterday, very decent sandwich fillings, good coffee.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

well if you were in leeds as i was on friday night, you'd be glad there were bouncers on the door, they're not there to give you any trouble entering the restaurant just keeping trouble out of the restaurant.

we were there for our office xmas bash, the low prices and ability to hold decent sized groups made it ideal. It was i can assure you very pleasant to be able to have a beer and chat pre-dinner as opposed to the scrum that was leeds pre-christmas.

once seated i think the only gripe of the evening became apparent, the girls were cold and all fled to the cloakroom for their jackets/throws etc, i know it's been an issue so i would presume a fix is in motion, but it's always going to be a challenge to keep such a large space warm, but that skyline at night is breathtaking, so it's a bit quid pro quo.

i had black pasta ,garlic cream and squid to start, for £5.25 it was a cracking dish, different to the usual brasserie offerings and well executed . my main at £8.25 was sausage and mash, a great cumberland ring on creamed pots, good gravy with some small onions. great winter booze absorbing stuff.

i think to grumble about portion size is missing the point, the cooking is way ahead of anything else at this price point so it's going to be poriton controlled to a certain point but having said that i was perfectly able to face the rigours of a night out on the tiles in leeds with just those two courses (ok , i admit i hit mcdo on the way back to the hotel but at 2 am with a 6.30 alarm call i thought it was necessary!)

we washed it down with a bit of champagne and some very servicable house wines

Everyone enjoyed it, so much so that a friend of mine who tagged along sent me a text on saturday saying he'd gone again sat night and it was his new favourite place, and a colleague of mine's only complaint was that they needed to crank up the PR as most of her friends were unaware of its existance.

i don't know why people would be suprised by tony jnr keeping out of the way, he's not head chef there, they have a kitchen full of chefs , tony's just helping out until it's all running smoothly.

you don't win friends with salad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ate at the Piazza last week and had very 50/50 experience.My wife and i arrived to be greeted by 2 " bouncers" on the door which was a little off putting...Once we entered through the door into the exchange my breath was taken away ! The inside of the the exchange has been designed so beautifully, and had a great atmosphere. We then walked down the stairs into the restaurant,we stood and looked around for a reception desk or somebody to greet us.With no joy we wandered around until we bumped into a waitress ,she then directed us towards the open kitchen to where the reception is situated.We had our coats taken and sat straight at the table,the restaurant was fairly busy which was good,a really nice buzz to the place.From my seat i spotted Anthony snr watching his staff and the evening service in full flow(Like a Hawk) .Then looked to my right and spotted Anthony jnr sat under a sink talking on his mobile telephone in a room that i can only describe as a washing up area???My order was taken and I sat and waited for the starters to arrive,they appeared very quickly hot and presented nicely. We also ordered some bread to go with our meal ,which was one of the most funny parts of the night it was like the ends of a stale french stick, 5 tiny pieces (mouthful size) for about £3! As I ate my starter i looked over the table for the salt and pepper, there was none!! A bistro with no salt and pepper whatever next!! The waiter delivered the S+P after we'd finished the 1st course,meanwhile anthony was still sat under the sink!Maincourse this is where it went really down hill,my wife described the lamb as "the worst piece of meat she'd ever eaten" and my sole was raw,both dishes very light on any type of vegetables or potato apart from the raw fondant potato on the lamb dish.We swapped main courses as she said her lamb was ineadable and I was then left to finish off the really chewy lamb.The cooked parts of the fish maincourse were eaten and we hasterly asked for the bill,meanwhile Anthony was still on the phone which is one of the things I dont understand,this restaurant has been so hyped up in the press,and to serve such bad food in its opening weeks??  Why wasn't he looking over what was being sent out?We left after paying the bill as we didnt want to risk dessert ....... very disapointing and expensive for what it was :sad:

Rather than crying about it on the internet wouldn't you have been better served taking it up with the restaurant on the night in question?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

snip .....feedback from personal experience.

Rather than crying about it on the internet wouldn't you have been better served taking it up with the restaurant on the night in question?

Whilst i agree that comments should be directed to the restaurant management the tone of the post seems to convey dissapointment as per the line

....... very disapointing

I did not sense a single droplet of salty water from the post. This is a discussion forum where participants share their culinary experiences. The comments were a reflection of the posters experience, sometimes these can be positive and sometimes not so.

Agreed. Apart from a couple the standard's been dire. No wonder it's such hard work getting a decent restaurant meal in this country.
I've had one ordinary and one shockingly bad meal at The Capital over the last year. I used to be a big fan especially for the lunch (probably waxing lyrical on the early days of The Capital thread if you can find it) but after my last visit I've decided there's no need for me to return. I found the majority of dishes poorly conceived and executed and the whole experience lacked any satisfaction. This is low level 1* cooking as far as I'm concerned.
I had a shit lunch at The Capital a couple of weeks back to follow on from a poor dinner on my previous visit. No idea how this place maintains 2 michelin stars.

With these and many other of your tearful comments i'm suprised your eyes are not red and sore. Try this.

http://www.onlinepharmacynz.com/images/pro..._eyes_1_157.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...