Use the sauce Henderson’s Relish-inspired print

3 12 2008

Number two in a series of six

Artist Jim Connolly has released another Sheffield-related silkscreen print through the Archipelago Gallery.

Earlier this year he gave us the TERROR…! At Tinsley Towers! print, and his latest work is inspired by another Sheffield institution, Henderson’s Relish:

Use the sauce Henderson's Relish-inspired print

Use the sauce by Jim Connolly

There are to be a total of six prints in the Sheffield/comic book satirical series, and the Star has reported that a Dawn of the dead-inspired Meadowhall poster could be a future subject.


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From Runaway Girl to Silversmiths

5 08 2008

Gordon Ramsay and the relaunch of a city centre bar and restaurant

There was plenty of coverage last week of Gordon Ramsay’s stay in the city and the visit of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares to Runaway Girl on Arundel Street.

The celebrity chef even appeared in the Peace gardens to record a feature for the show and to give chance for Silversmiths staff to promote the relaunched business.

Although entertaining, I find Kitchen Nightmares a bit formulaic, and have no doubt that as usual, Ramsay’s revamp proposes a new menu serving “simple, seasonal dishes, made using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients”. We’ll find out when the show is broadcast.

I liked the name Runaway Girl and was also a bit cynical about the new name until I walked past the relaunched restaurant yesterday. I originally thought he might have proposed it after unimaginatively linking a Sheffield restaurant to the city’s cutlery heritage, however given that the premises is actually a converted silversmiths works and it still features the George Ellis Ltd. livery on the façade, I think it works well. The subtle, highlighted silver name is also a nice touch:

The menu in the window gave a glimpse of the modern Yorkshire dishes on offer, I just need to pay it a visit now to taste the food:


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Categories : celebrities, design, food, sheffield, television

Music in the sun 2008

3 08 2008

A visit to one of the north’s biggest multicultural festivals

Yesterday we paid a visit to Music in the sun for music, food and drinks as the sun set over Don Valley.

Who did we see there? I’d heard Steve Lamacq mention Hiem a few times before but never watched them live. They appeared in the main arena and were good, quite electronic but more melodic and poppy than I was expecting. This is Electricity from 2004:

And following them was Steve Edwards, who I didn’t realise wrote and provided vocals for Bob Sinclar’s 2006 hit World, hold on (children of the sky):

Bob Sinclar also released Love generation, which Steve Edwards also performed live on Saturday.

There were several other arenas with other performers and DJs playing, as well as graffiti artists, food, drink, retail stalls and fairground rides.

The festival continues today from 1pm. If you do go down, also don’t miss the tasty African/Caribbean food from Broomhill’s UK Mama.


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Categories : arts, bands, beer, drink, festivals, food, live, music, photos, sheffield

Ten ways to improve Sheffield (part one)

1 07 2008

Part one of a two part post, identifying ways that the city can be improved. Here are numbers one to five (not in any order)

Sort out the traffic congestion
 Is traffic congestion in Sheffield really that bad? According to this report Sheffield traffic is in the top 10 slowest-moving in the UK. If South Yorkshire is looking to further develop its economy by attracting business investment on an international level and also ensuring that its potential as a tourist destination is fulfilled, the road infrastructure must improve. As part of this, the problem of car access around the station must also be addressed, as the good impression visitors get from Sheaf square is soon forgotten once you are embroiled in the gridlock on the way out.

Focus on the city’s digital strategy
City leaders are recognising the importance of developing Sheffield’s digital and creative industries with the development of the Digital Campus, but the strategy needs to be more wide-ranging than this. We need to work further to encourage residents, businesses and community groups to embrace the technologies on offer in order to create a digitally-literate population. In Birmingham, a Get into digital festival took place in June as part of the Digital Birmingham initiative, aiming to “help make the transition from an industrial city to a digital one by driving forward the use of these technologies in order to increase prosperity, knowledge and quality of life of its citizens.” This is definitely something to Sheffield to consider…can we afford not to?

Grow the city centre as an after-work destination
The council has been working hard at promoting Wednesday night live in the city centre. It has recognised a need for the city centre to become a viable option for post-work and evening recreation. For too long, Sheffield has become a ghost town after the shoppers and workers have gone home, with people not feeling compelled to stay in the city centre. There is potential for expanding the after-work economy, but it needs the support of Sheffield citizens, not just the local authority and businesses.

Attract more quality restaurants to the city centre
Every week in the Sheffield Telegraph I enjoy seeing what the interviewee in the Food For Thought Q&A column says in answer to the ‘What do you think of Sheffield as a place to eat out?’ question. The most positive answer seems to be that Sheffield’s restaurant scene is improving but few people have much to shout about. There are good restaurants across the region but many of these in the suburbs or out in Derbyshire, and for every highly-rated one that opens, another closes. A limited number of chain restaurants is acceptable, but Sheffield also needs more high quality restaurants in the city centre, particularly ones that stay open late to cater, for example, for the post-theatre/gig/concert crowds. Which brings me onto…

Introduce a night bus services on key routes
If the evening/night economy were to expand then would it be worth trialling a night bus service? Currently, many routes finish around 11pm, and with town pubs now generally open later than this, I think there would be a demand for buses every half hour on key services out of the city throughout the night. The impact on Sheffield taxi drivers would need to be carefully assessed, but it would certainly help the queues and scramble for cabs in the early hours of the morning when demand outstrips supply.

Parts 6-10


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Categories : arts, bands, council, development, digital industries, food, live, music, promotions, regeneration, restaurants, sheffield, technology, transport

Should part of London Road become Chinatown?

17 05 2008

Would Sheffield’s Chinatown bring benefits to the city or create an ethnic ghetto?

Over the last few years there have been various reports regarding a proposal to officially designate an area of the city as Chinatown, although to date nothing concrete has been formally decided.

It is thought that any such development would be based around the London Road/Highfield area, a district that has traditionally been home for a number of Sheffield’s Chinese community. Three-and-a-half hectares has been earmarked for various restaurants, bars, a business centre and maybe a hotel.

Reactions to plan are varied. On one hand it is thought such an area would celebrate the neighbourhood’s diversity while developing tourism and boosting local businesses. Internationally, it could make Sheffield a more attractive proposition for Chinese investors, plus it may help draw in students from China to the city’s universities.

There are also reservations regarding the scheme and questions to be answered. London Road is presently home for multi-cultural mix of people from all over the world, so is it right to focus on one culture, creating an area just representing the Chinese? What would the impact be on a non-Chinese restaurant located within Chinatown?

Many of the famous Chinatowns of the world have been naturally created in port cities by immigrants; would manufacturing one in Sheffield be “fake”? Or does the fact that the idea has come from Sheffield’s Chinese community give it sufficient credibility? There is no mention of the scheme in the city centre masterplan, although of course not all of London Road is classed as being in the city centre.

In principal I’m cautiously in favour of the idea of Sheffield having a Chinatown, although it would need to be implemented with care and in full consultation with all existing residents, community groups, businesses and other stakeholders. If an agreeable and inclusive solution can be found then it could become an asset to the city.

Walking the dragon
Image by bits of rubble and used under Creative Commons license


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Categories : city centre masterplan, development, drink, food, planning, pubs, regeneration, restaurants, sheffield

Sheffield sausages

6 04 2008

Debbie & Andrew’s delicious sausages make the mouth water - but are they from Sheffield?

There were stories in the media this week about how one sausage a day can increase the risk of developing bowel cancer by a fifth. But I have no plans for giving up bangers after tasting this particular range of sausage produced in Sheffield.

My colleagues were recently sent a sample selection the posh sausages in question, called Debbie & Andrew’s. Charitably, I offered to take a couple of packets home in order to try them out and report back on what I thought.

The two varieties I ended up with were the Sicilian and Pork and apple sausages. On studying the packaging, I was intrigued to see that the address listed on the design included a S13 9NP postcode. Made in Sheffield? They must be good! And they were.

The Pork and apple ones were delicious, but it was the Sicilian sausages that were most flavoursome, an intense, tasty mixture of lean pork shoulder, crushed garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. And I noticed afterwards that the grill pan was almost fat-free and barely needed washing, so despite what they may tell you in the press, it seems these sausages are good for you.

I was surprised I hadn’t heard more in Sheffield about them, so thought I’d do a bit more research about Debbie and Andrew. I discovered that following a re-branding and re-packaging exercise, the company (formerly know as Manor Born) increased their turnover from £50,000 to £2 million in just three years. A great product is clearly nothing without well-designed packaging.

But what of Debbie & Andrew’s link to Sheffield? The S13 postcode was listed on their packaging, but I’d read numerous references to North Yorkshire, too. It was time to email Andrew himself to find out what the score was. A couple of days later I got a reply:

We outgrew our production facility at Thirsk - so the sausages are based in South Yorkshire but we still have an office in North Yorkshire on the farm where Debbie spends most of her time, and I seem to be permanently on the road dashing between the two…

So although it looks like the meat is farmed in locations all around the county, the link to Sheffield is a strong one with the sausages made here.

I think it is time now to work my way through the rest of the range.

Debbie & Andrew's sausage packaging


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Cocoa chocolate shop, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield

28 03 2008

Calling all chocolate lovers - the cocoa lounge is here

In terms of chocolate, Easter is a more gluttonous time than Christmas. At yule, people exchange presents - including some chocolate - but the main gifts that people exchange at Easter are confectionery-based ones. And although I don’t like the commercialism and true meaning of the festival being watered down, I love it, because I love chocolate.

Because of this, a visit to Cocoa chocolate boutique on Ecclesall Road was long overdue. I don’t really remember noticing the shop much, but recently it has attracted attention in the local press, partly due to the story behind the present owners taking over. Apparently, the previous owner was selling up and two students that worked there decided to buy the business.

While the front of the premises continues to sell all the chocolate products you could wish for, the rear has been transformed into the Cocoa lounge, and it is this room, combined with the delightful staff, that make the shop something special.

A scrapbook tells the story of how the lounge was created. The room was stripped, a handyman came to fix it up, the walls were painted (blue then after second thoughts, turquoise), some quaint old furniture was moved in and then the girls set about filling the old dresser and walls with every item of chocolate-related memorabilia they could find. It all works together amazingly well.

One of the owners, Kate, gave us a warm welcome; her bubbly personality and enthusiasm making up for the bad news that the hot chocolate machine was unfortunately broken – and apparently hot chocolate machine engineers don’t work holiday weekends. So instead we ordered specialty teas (and by specialty I don’t just mean peppermint, but black forest gateau flavour), hot Guatemalan coffee and fair trade chocolate cookies.

And as a small consolation, Kate threw in a saucer of the chocolate drops that are used to make the hot chocolate. Yum!

If you’ve got a sweet tooth and enjoy quaint and quirky then pay Cocoa a visit, you won’t be disappointed.

Next time I’ll be having the hot chocolate…


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Categories : drink, ecclesall road, food, sheffield