Le Tour de Yorkshire: a foodie guide

The Tour de France ‘Grand Depart’ starts in Leeds and ends in London this year. We follow the Yorkshire stretch of the path, suggesting where to eat along the way.

Three weeks, 3,500km, 12 million spectators, and one yellow jersey... the Tour de France is upon us once more, and it all starts in that most English of counties – Yorkshire. Here we follow the first two stages of Le Grand Depart (Leeds to Harrogate and York to Sheffield), stopping off along the way at the best local fare and foodie outlets. Watch out for the yellow bikes!

Stage 1 – Leeds to Harrogate

The first stretch of the Tour kicks off outside Leeds Town Hall on Saturday 5th July, and winds its way around Wensleydale before looping back towards Harrogate – a 160km route in total.

Leeds – blonde beer

Leeds was once the brewing heart of Britain, until the closure of the world famous Tetley's brewery in 2008 after 186 years of brewing. Leeds Brewery has filled that barrel-shaped hole somewhat since opening in 2007, and is now the city's only independent brewery.

Talking of beer, if you’re travelling to Leeds for the start of the Tour, it’s imperative to try a ‘Peloton’ beer from Leeds Brewery. It's ‘une biere blonde’ specially made to mark the Tour de France in Yorkshire, with a sharp refreshing finish, ideal for summertime. Timothy Taylor’s Championship Beers has also got in on the act, brewing ‘Le Champion’ for the occasion – a French-style blonde beer, brewed with Alsace Strisselspalt hops and continental malts to give ‘a smooth body and delicate hop fragrance’. ‘Sup up!

Our favourite place to eat in Leeds: The Greedy Pig. Don’t be fooled by the greasy spoon façade – this little caff punches above its weight with ambitious breakfasts and lunchtime treats, such as an eight-hour cooked pulled pork burger with homemade slaw, or their famous bacon sarnie topped with a slab of black pudding.

Hawes – Wensleydale cheese

Don’t get us wrong – there’s plenty to eat in between Leeds and Hawes, which is right at the top of the halfway loop. Grassington, for example, is a lovely market town in Wharfedale that boasts The Fountaine Inn – a pub with ‘perhaps the most beautiful setting in the Yorkshire Dales,’ according to those who run it. The inn serves a varying menu, from ‘nibbles and natters’ to ‘A Dales Hand Full’ – basically, your choice of meat served on toasted ciabatta bread with chips.

But our top choice for this Wensleydale stretch of the Tour is the market town of Hawes, set 850 feet above sea level (quite a climb for those cyclists). It’s home to The Wensleydale Creamery (‘the only maker of real Wensleydale cheese’), which is a discovery centre, cheese shop and working factory all rolled into one. You’ll never taste better Wensleydale anywhere else, and the samples on offer are typically ‘Yorkshire’ (ie generous) in size. Their original Wensleydale and the blue variety are our favourites.

Our favourite place to eat in Hawes: Elijah Allen’s independent grocer. It's a family-run grocer that dates back to 1860, now run by Richard Allen. The shop front retains its original signage, and the range inside includes over 20 cheeses from The Wensleydale Creamery and a staggering selection of biscuits for cheese. There are also home-cooked hams and beef, traditional cakes and pastries (try a Yorkshire curd tart), and 20-or-so different varieties of Yorkshire beer.

Leyburn – the best food pubs

On the homeward stretch to Harrogate the Tour de France competitors will cycle through Leyburn, another beautiful town in Wensleydale. There are pubs galore round this neck of the woods. The Sandpiper dates back to the 17th century and has been owned by wife and husband Janine and Jonathan Harrison since 1999. It comes complete with excellent food, cosy bar, log fire, black beams, cushioned built-in wall seats, and a little snug at the back for privacy. All the ale is local, with Black Sheep Best is the standard.

East Witton, another Tour de France stop-off just outside Leyburn, is home to The Blue Lion. It won The Good Pub Guide’s Inn of the Year 2014 award, and in previous years secured the Dining Pub of the Year gong too. Helen and Paul Klein have run the 18th-century inn for 20 years now and, other than the conversion of a meat-hanging room into a cosy informal bar, not much has changed here since times of old.

For the veggies among us, The Blue Lion has a separate, ever-changing meat-free menu as well as its ample carnivorous options. And not just same-old stuffed peppers, but innovative, well thought-out dishes such as rosemary polenta with foraged mushrooms.

Our favourite place to eat in Leyburn: Campbells of Leyburn – another top class independent grocer/supermarket. They’ve been supplying local folk since 1868 and there’s not a thing Campbells doesn’t sell. The best part is the upstairs level entirely devoted to booze. You’ll find everything from the best Champagne to local ales, vintage bottles of Madeira wine, fine wines (the biggest selection in Wensleydale) and spirits.

Harrogate – tea and toffee

After leaving East Witton, the Tour continues southwards through picturesque Masham, Ripon and Ripley before reaching Harrogate – the first finishing line of the race. Surely the most famous eaterie in Harrogate is Betty’s tea room, the original (and best) of the Yorkshire tea shop chain.

Betty’s set up shop in Harrogate in 1919 and still retains its beautiful wrought iron canopy and sumptuous window displays. There are over 300 breads, cakes and chocolate to choose from, as well as 50 different teas and coffees. Either sit in the main café overlooking Harrogate’s Montpellier gardens, or settle yourself downstairs in the ‘Spindler Gallery’, which is and always has been adorned with Marquetry scenes of Yorkshire from the studio of Charles Spindler in Alsace (established in the late 1890s).

Harrogate is also famous for its hard, brittle and lemony ‘Harrogate toffee’. Farrah’s of Harrogate say that it was first produced in 1840 by John Farrah, specifically to cleanse the palate after a gulp of putrid sulphur water from a nearby spa. Definitely worth a try.

Our favourite place to eat in Harrogate: Fodder. A café and deli selling the absolute best of Yorkshire produce, from a ‘Great Yorkshire Breakfast’ to cream teas and giant sandwiches. Be sure to check out the deli too, which sells a good array of cheese and butchered meats.

Stage 2 – York to Sheffield

It’s another 201km for stage 2 of the race, starting in York and following a westwards loop towards Sheffield. The route will be just as picturesque as stage 1, as much of it skirts the Peak District National Park.

York – an abundance of everything

York is so full of places to eat, drink and be merry that we’ve dedicated a whole feature to the walled city (coming very soon). But, briefly, must-visits include Betty’s tea shop (again), La Cremeria Café for fantastic coffee, El Piano for vegan Andalusian fare, Oshibi for an excellent Korean meal, The Hairy Fig deli for picnic supplies, and the Vudu Lounge for cocktails – there are over 150 to choose from.

Langsett – a dotty café

Half way between Huddersfield and Sheffield is the tiny village of Langsett, which is happily situated right on the edge of the Peak District National Park. It may be small (no more than 200 inhabitants), but it’s worth a mention purely for its Bank View Café.

This friendly caff has really got into the spirit of things with its Tour de France themed frontage. Owner Pete Sparks has painted the entire building white with red spots to reflect the colour of the jersey claimed by the King of the Mountains during the Tour. It’s a fantastic sight, and one that will no doubt turn the eye of many a Tour de France cyclist!

Our favourite place to eat in Langsett: It has to be Bank View Café. Who doesn’t want to eat their lunch in a polka dot palace? Breakfasts are hearty and huge (especially the ‘Dam Buster’ and ‘all-in-one Breakfast Butty’), and lunch options include the likes of steak pie, sausage-filled Yorkshire pudding, and a ploughman’s platter.

Sheffield – relish and pop-ups

The Steel City will no doubt give all the cyclists a raucous welcome as they complete stage 2 of the race. Sheffield, like much of Yorkshire, loves its food and is home to one of Marco Pierre White’s favourite ingredients – Henderson’s Relish. Sold as ‘the spicy Yorkshire sauce’, it’s unique in both flavour and aroma, and complements everything from meat to soups and marinades.

No-one outside of the Henderson’s factory knows the top secret recipe, and at least once a year a rumour sweeps through Sheffield that the owner is retiring and taking the secret recipe with him. ‘Upon hearing this, supermarket shelves are cleared as people stock up on their favourite sauce,’ say Henderson’s.

Other than relish, Sheffield also offers great comfort in the form of The Wig & Pen. Less countryside charm and more modern British, it’s a pub that’s renowned for its enterprising food. It offers delights such as oxtail faggots with pickled onions, beetroot and gin-cured salmon, wild garlic soup with nettle pesto, and handmade pies. It’s symbolic of the many innovative eateries that have popped up in Sheffield over the last decade.

We also love Sheffield’s pop-up dining scene, in particular ‘Tipi’. Diners eat in a giant tipi erected in Stannington, six miles from Sheffield city centre, complete with a roaring indoor fire, open kitchen, and wooden tables. There’s a festival-feel about it, and tables are always booked up at record speeds. When they’re operating (check the dates here), three-course evening meals are served on Friday and Saturday evenings for £35 a head, with two starters to choose from, three mains, and one pudding – a chocolate and cherry panna cotta.    

Do you live on the 'Tour de Yorkshire’ route? We can’t possibly mention everywhere in one feature so please suggest your favourite places to eat along the way in the Comments box below.

All bike and relish photos courtesy of Jo Dobson. Bank View Cafe photo taken from its Facebook page

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