New beginnings, Easter events and more

Spring is in full swing in Leicester and it’s yet again another fab season for foodies in the city. We’ve got the long awaited overhaul of the King Richard III pub opening tonight, hot on the heels of the beautiful Wygston’s House opening last week with a very inspired menu. In the same area, I’ve personally been very pleased to see a new branch of Gray‘s taking up the kitchen at The Cookie, which is a real boon for the High Street.

Wygston’s House

As if that wasn’t enough, it looks like spring will also be bringing us the much anticipated Knight & Garter opening in the former Molly O’Grady’s building in May, alongside the development of Champion’s Square on the marketplace. We’ve already got the Party in the Piazza scheduled there for 10th June, organised by the superb folks at Burleigh’s Gin in celebration of World Gin Day.

Just around the corner, we can also look forward to hand-stretched pizza from Nottingham favourites, Oscar and Rosie‘s opening on Market Approach in the near future. Foodies are also excited about the newly announced Fullagers – a collaboration between the former Cured chaps and cocktail masters The Attic, which will be in the Registry Office building. They will be offering tall drinks and small plates and I for one cannot wait, knowing the creativity that both of those teams bring to their practice.

Further away from the heart of the city centre, we have Boo Burger opening up on London Road tomorrow (08/04/17) and also the Toast Inn up on Francis Street which has already been receiving rave reviews.

Image by The Toast Inn

Phew! And there are more. I’m sure there are more.
But it’s a dizzying array to add to the already great wealth of food and drink provided by our awesome independent community here in the city. So, as if you haven’t got enough to do to make your way around all of these lovely new places, here are a few promising events coming up over the next month to give your Easter something extra and to put a Spring in your step this April.

Beer and Chocolate Pairing
Chocolate Alchemy
14th April, 7.00pm
A fantastic guided pairing with The Beer Hub’s Mark Tetlow looking how chocolate from around the world pairs beautifully with a range of beer styles.
Tickets are £20.

English wine tours and tasting
Rothley Wine Estate
15th April 12pm & 2pm
13th May 12pm & 2pm
Take a leisurely stroll around your local vineyard, see if you can spot the elusive birds at the Kingfisher’s Pool, and then relax in the comfortable tasting room for a guided tasting of some delicious Leicestershire wines.
Tickets are £10 and available from DesignMyNight.

Meet the Brewer
Brewklopedia
22nd April, from 2pm
I knew there was somewhere I had forgotten! Meet the Brewer with special guests Twisted Barrel Ale is being held at the newly opened Welford Road bottle shop, Brewklopedia. A great opportunity to hear some cracking brewing stories.

St George’s Day Beer Festival
The Exchange
21st-23rd April
What is St George’s Day without the annual celebration in the Cultural Quarter? Well, unmarked mainly! And wrapped up in the celebrations this year we have a beer festival at The Exchange. There’ll be 10 real ales, 4 ciders and even a mead on offer, with live music on the Friday night!

Gin Experience
33 Cank Street
4th May, 7pm
Try four awesome gins and a refreshing arrival drink, as well as finding out more about the history, distillation and culture of gin.
Tickets are £15 – advance booking is advisable

We also have to mention our parent company, Thirst Media‘s new food and drink professional network – Thirst Mixers. It’s free for independent food and drink venues, producers and retailers of any size and the next networking meeting is on 19th April at The Black Horse, Aylestone. Come and join us! Contact Thirst Media on ThirstMediaLtd@gmail.com for more information or to join the mailing list.