Boar is More
If you have ever wanted to replicate at home the tablescape from a restaurant, Craig Rogan at The Collective is the place for you. A restaurant in a shop or possibly a shop in a restaurant. Shelves separating dining tables from the retail area are filled with tempting purchases such as a green marble Amelie pestle and mortar (£125) or an alabaster Amelie rolling pin (£45). It’s an intimate environment with just 36 covers and an open plan kitchen set back from the street front. A giclee print of Grace Jones by Victoria Topping (£1,200) dominates the bathroom.
This ground floor space in a restored Victorian block on Boar Lane close to Leeds Railway Station is now buzzing morning, noon and night. When we arrive for lunch a business networking event is wrapping up. Our waitress explains a brunch menu is the latest addition to the restaurant. Formality increases as the day progresses, culminating with an eight course tasting menu in the evening. Less than six months after opening, the Michelin Guide gave Craig Rogan at The Collective a glowing recommendation.
Craig cut his teeth at high profile restaurants including Fera in Claridge’s Hotel London. His father Simon Rogan is a three star Michelin chef. Craig relates, “We use a lot of local suppliers. All our seafood is from Hodgson Fish in Hartlepool on the east coast and our meat supplier is from Sykes House Farm in Wetherby. We also go to Leeds Kirkgate Market which was once the largest indoor market in Europe. It’s still very big now and has some amazing fishmongers and meat suppliers.”
Our lunch is wine, small plates, pudding, wine. Vino Pamona Pinot Grigio, 2023 (£26.50). Salt baked beetroot, walnut, raspberry vinegar, Kidderton Ash goat’s cheese (£11.00). Isle of Wight tomatoes, anchovy, basil (£11.00). Oak smoked salmon, yuzu, dill, apple, cucumber (£15.00). Dark chocolate, vanilla and acid orange tart (£8.00). Craig’s talent shines through on every plate in the fresh, flavoursome and photogenic food.
