Leeds restaurateurs discuss high-end dining amid cost of living crisis

In a waterfront dining space in Leeds, chef Liz Cottam is focused. It is only noon, but she has a big group booking later and her team is small.

She has not had a day off in 11 weeks, she says.

Her new Holbeck-based venture, emba, has opened just months after the Masterchef semi-finalist’s nearby fine dining restaurant, HOME, was forced to close.

There, customers would routinely spend up to £300 a head on her 14-course tasting menu and the waiting list for a table could be up to six months.

The restaurant, which opened in 2017, was her “diamond and ruby-encrusted cup” and represented what she thought was expected of her.

But HOME closed in late 2024 due to economic pressures, with the year a low point for the higher end of the Leeds gastronomy scene.

Michael O’Hare, whose Man Behind the Curtain restaurant earned Leeds’ first Michelin star in a decade, shut his latest venture the same week as Home’s closure.

“The reasons were circumstantial, environmental pressures on the level that we were both operating at,” Liz says.

According to UK Hospitality, the number of restaurants trading across Yorkshire has dropped by about 1,000 since 2019.

In Leeds, the number of eateries has dropped by 8% over the same time frame.

Liz says that in a post-pandemic world, demand for elaborate meals has dwindled and the cost of living crisis has bitten.

Supplier costs have also soared.

Liz recalls the “horror” of oil and butter becoming eight times more expensive, with HOME’s monthly electricity bill jumping from £1,200 a month to £12,000.

“The demand went down and the costs went up and there was just absolutely no chance of passing that on to continue.”

For Liz, who has also appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu, the stress of trying to “hustle” and keep things afloat crept up on her.

“In the beginning we we thought it might be a blip,” she says.

“We hoped it was going to be something that we could combat with some hard work and some good business management, but no, not at all.”

Liz, 49, says she wanted to go down “playing her cello” like on the sinking Titanic, rather than resorting to big discounts or gimmicks.

After returning briefly to the corporate world for some “financial breathing space”, Liz created the concept of emba, named after the coal fires most of her food is cooked on.

But this time, she had to think of alternative ways of funding the concept.

“It just felt really obvious to try and dip our toe in the water in the crowdfunding sphere,” she says.

Emba hit its £45,000 target in three weeks, with the total eventually reaching £67,000.

“Your ego needs to be parked, thrown out really,” says Liz.

“I think I’m now a lot more humble after going through this process.”

She says emba’s food is less theatrical and more “soulful and heart-led”.

“It’s still creative, but served without the fuss.”

A short walk away, another Masterchef alumnus is opening a new restaurant – the Cinnamon Kitchen at the Queens Hotel, led by Vivek Singh.

It is his first outpost in the north and billed as Leeds’ first Indian fine dining restaurant.

But why here, in light of two recent high-profile hospitality closures?

Vivek says: “The short, easy answer to that, is why not Leeds?”

He says the hotel’s proximity to the railway station was a major factor.

The grand surroundings of the hotel was also part of the decision, he says, along with the availability of local produce.

Vivek, who plans on making Yorkshire rhubarb one of his signature dishes, adds: “I want to celebrate the farmer and the seasons in West Yorkshire.”

The 54-year-old was born and trained as a chef in Bengal and opened his first restaurant in the UK in London in 2001.

Now launching his sixth opening, Vivek seems fearless about the risks – despite food prices continuing to see a gradual rise.

“Sometimes it just feels right,” he says.

“I opened my second restaurant in London two weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

“It had 250 seats and was still busy.”

Vivek, who sold the Cinnamon Collection to the Boparan Restaurant Group in 2016, continues: “Our producers need to be fairly rewarded and good, quality ingredients are not cheap.

“Eating out is not something you should do every night anyway – if you do there is something wrong.”