A new treat for cuisine connoisseurs in town is EAT: Nottingham Food Tours. Our two intrepid Food Editors, Julia and Lucy, take a wander through the streets of Nottingham to sample some of the best food the city has to offer - and along the way, they uncover historic tales that bring Nottingham’s past to life.
Twelve strangers gather at a Nottingham city centre meeting point, waiting for our host to arrive and take us on a food tour through the streets of Nottingham. We know where we are going, but exactly what we will be eating remains a mystery.
Leigh Campbell runs EAT: Nottingham Food Tours, which offers a gastronomic journey through the city, stopping at six independent venues to sample some of the best food Nottingham has to offer. As the first food tour of its kind in Nottingham, you’ll also learn about the city’s rich history, hear inspiring stories from its business owners, and, of course, enjoy some delicious food along the way.
When asked what inspired her to start a food tour in Nottingham, Leigh said: “Whenever I go on holiday, I book a food tour for my first evening. I get to fully experience the food scene and immerse myself in the culture, and it's always my favourite part of the holiday.
“After running The Nottingham Bucket List blog for nearly ten years, it's safe to say I'm fully immersed in Nottingham's food scene. There are so many incredible businesses to show off, and a food tour is the perfect way for both visitors and locals to get the true flavour of Nottingham in one afternoon.”
I’m joined by our new Food Co-Editor, Lucy Campion, and after some nervous yet excited introductions among the guests, we make our way to the first stop just around the corner: Pizzamisu, an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in Nottingham’s historic Lace Market.
Since we still have five stops to go, we don't want to fill up too much on carbs and cheese—a difficult but necessary sacrifice for the greater good of the tour. Our guide has chosen well, starting us off with the light, fluffy dough of traditional Neapolitan pizza. We each get two slices, just enough to whet the appetite, along with a quick demonstration on the best way to eat Neapolitan pizza (cut with a knife and fork and folded over, for those who don’t know!).
Between the lively chatter amongst the group, I ask our host how she came to choose each restaurant and why: “The first thing I wanted to make sure of is that I was featuring independent restaurants on the tour,” she tells me, emphasising the importance of supporting local independent businesses in the current climate. “I wasn't about to lead a tour group over to Pizza Express!” she adds, laughing.
Our group is delirious with food and drink by now, as we all huddle together to toast Leigh on an incredibly successful launch.
Getting into a deep discussion over our slices of pizza about Nottingham, a subject we are both enthusiastic about, she tells me: “The culinary scene is by far my favourite thing about Nottingham. We're a city that is overflowing with taste and talent and it sometimes feels like you'll never get around to trying it all.”
By joining a tour, you don't have to commit yourself to just one restaurant. Instead, you get to experience six of the city’s best independent venues, and hopefully find yourself a new favourite. “If I can help people to see more of our city, I'll be happy,” she adds.
Our second stop takes us through the back streets of the Lace Market, with a short pause at St Mary’s Church for a brief history lesson and some fascinating tales of Nottingham’s Lace mills. Just around the corner, we’re led down some stairs to an underground hideaway and find ourselves in a vibey Spanish tapas bar, ViDa by Lorentes.
This is for the purists who insist on traditional Spanish tapas, and that’s exactly what you’ll get here. After all, the owner, Vincenzo, is from Valencia, and takes his stuff seriously, cooking dishes that date back to his childhood. We’re treated to a selection of tapas, including their famous paella, and a jug of sangria awaits us at the table, which our group happily cheers with.
The venues Leigh has chosen are a mix of her personal favourites and places that she believes would give people a great tour experience and the chance to discover somewhere they might not have tried otherwise. For now, I’m told the venues for future tours will remain the same, with plans later in the year to run a second, weekday tour featuring different venues.
We’re ready for our third stop on the tour, and it’s at one of my favourite restaurants in Nottingham: Mesa, a small fusion plates restaurant in the heart of Hockley. Here, we sample creamy burrata, focaccia that the group comments is the best they’ve ever tried, and chargrilled Hispi cabbage, while the meat eaters of the group get to try the legendary Mesa cheeseburger. If you know, you know.
If you haven’t yet tried the masterpiece that is the Crème Brulé cocktail, you haven’t experienced true happiness. Our group is delirious with food and drink by now, as we all huddle together to toast Leigh on an incredibly successful launch.
By now, after three courses, we are all in the mood for something sweet, so a stop at Studio Chocolate is on the cards. Located on Thurland Street, close to Market Square, the studio is run by the lovely Ellie, a chocolatier who studied Patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu London. Ellie delivers a wonderful introduction to chocolate tasting, where we get to sample seven different types of chocolate, ranging from 100% cocoa to white. This part of the tour is also really interactive and gets everyone talking and sharing their opinions on what matters most in the world - chocolate.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be overjoyed to end the afternoon with something savoury: cheese. Our final food stop takes us to Nottingham’s renowned Delilah Fine Foods, a deli that is a stone’s throw from Market Square, with an impressive cheese counter. The deli is housed in a grade II listed beautiful former banking hall, and we enjoy our cheese platter on the mezzanine overlooking the shop.
The final crescendo takes us on a short walk back to Hockley to cocktail bar 31K for a night (or afternoon in our case) cap. If you haven’t yet tried the masterpiece that is the Crème Brulé cocktail, you haven’t experienced true happiness. Our group is delirious with food and drink by now, as we all huddle together to toast Leigh on an incredibly successful launch.
Before we bid our farewells, I quickly grab her to ask her how she has found the whole experience, moving from casual food blogger to businesswoman. “I've been so blown away by how supportive and enthusiastic all the venues involved have been. Not only is our culinary scene gorgeously tasty, it's also so friendly and accommodating of people who are new to it,” she says. “To go from reviewing Nottingham's food businesses to trying to run one myself has been a bizarre transition, but I already feel so supported by the community.”
Cheers to that! More tour dates are being added soon, with the next one due to take place in July.
Good to know:
Price: £75 pp
Duration: Four hours
Stops: Six
Number of guests: Twelve
Dietary requirements: Meat and vegetarian for now, but vegan options are planned for future tours.
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