{Meats hanging above the counters}
One of my housemates, through work, got the chance for us to eat at the new Jamie Oliver Italian restaurant that's opening in Leeds, during their soft opening week {and with 50% off the bill - you aren't going to complain now are you?}
So last night we popped down to give it a go. {Unfortunately I only had my phone with me, so there are no pics of our food because the tables are not lit well enough for a phone camera, with no flash, to capture the dishes but I did get this one of the meats they have hanging above the counter upstairs.}
So, with this 50% off hanging over our heads, we maybe went a little extravagant and ordered not only bread selections, but an amazing charcuterie style board with four meats the chef’s had chosen, mozzarella, and salads {The seasonal meat plank} which was meant to be £6.65 a head. It rocked up on this massive board, which the waitress told us was specially made for the restaurant chain. It was very nice – which is high praise as I am not a massive meat lover, although they did pepper the whole board with massive, fat, dirty olives! Heathens. I know.
For our mains it was specified that half the party had to have pasta, so Sarah and I chose these – I had wild mushroom ravioli – which was lovely, but there wasn’t a massive amount compared to everyone else’s plate-fulls, and Sarah had Carbonara – which consisted of the fattest pasta I have ever seen in my life. But, it was reported, wasn’t as good as the carbonara her mate had made from Jamie’s cook book. Pheobe had a fantastic fish in a bag. Mmmmmm. It was delicious {yes, we all tasted each others} and Gemma ordered a steak, with the posh truffle chips. Now I don’t eat steak, so I didn’t try that, but boy oh boy, those truffle chips were AMAZING! I think the chef’s might have gone a little mental with the salt at times, but over all it was a pretty good meal.
And whilst we were ‘too full’ for dessert, the staff did let us pinch some of the home made honeycomb that sat in dishes across the restaurant. If I could have just eaten that for the whole evening – I wouldn't have been too disappointed. Let me tell you that.
The restaurant has some cool touches – The legs of meat hanging over the work station, and the wheel’s of cheese were quirky touches and there appears to be a wall of wine in the downstairs of the restaurant, and we were sat in a booth which was plenty big enough or us, but the tables looked like they might not be, especially with the meat planks…..
So, all in all, a nice evening, in which we had a gossip, ate some lovely food, and the girls had a lovely bottle of Pinot. But if I had to choose I think I might still choose Salvo’s.
More festival lusting;
Discovered this amazing 'sky blue' paint - expect to see a Holga appearing in this shade soon! 
Abandoned the painting for a few g&t's in the sun with Sarah and Beth and marvelled at the people playing in the peace gardens. 
Then went wine tasting. 
Did you know Champagne is made from Red wine? They just don't just the skins. What I really wanted to know is how they peel all the grapes? Who's job is that?
