Ready, set… l’escargot! Take your frog’s legs for a walk around the York Food Festival – because the nine-day event has a distinctly French flavour.
For the first time in its 18-year history the York Food And Drink Festival has been split into two servings.
To celebrate the imminent arrival of the Tour de France, a nine-day gastronomic celebration takes place between June 20 and 29.
Part two takes place in its traditional September time slot.
With the Grand Départ in mind the June food fest has double the taste with the theme: Yorkshire Produce – French Flavour.
As everyone knows, Yorkshire is the food capital of the world. But it turns out that French cuisine isn’t half bad, and so the festival celebrates the links between the two.
The soundtrack is provided by York’s Little Festival of Live Music.
Lots of the events are free – so tuck in, and bon appetit, as they say in Tang Hall…
French fancies
Want some highlights of the French themed events? Et voilà!
Macaroons master
The fabulously named Florian Poirot, prize winning pastry maker, demonstrates how to create the colourful biccies.
Sunday, June 22, 4pm / Sunday, June 29, 2pm
Cuisine of France with Middlethorpe Hall
French born Lionel Chatard was born near Lyon where hospitality is taken very seriously. Now the general manager of Middlethorpe Hall in York, he talks dindon with the hotel’s chef Nick Evans
Friday, June 20, 4pm
French organic wine tasting
Now you’re talking! Mireille Digard-Slater from Mimi’s Organic Wines takes you on a taste journey from Alsace to Bergerac
Friday, June 20, 2pm / Saturday, June 21, 12,30pm
Dr Annie Gray – Food Historian
Dr Annie Gray demonstrates English and French dishes and talks about the long-standing tensions between the two cooking traditions. Can you taste the difference?
Thursday, June 26, 1pm
Joshua Overington’s French dishes
The man from the intimate French restaurant Le Cochon Aveugle on Walmgate shows how to create some of those continental classics.
Sunday, June 29, 3pm
Learn from the best
A cornucopia of chefs are ready to whip up every sort of taste sensation in the demonstration kitchen in St Sampson’s Square. So which culinary legends are ready to fillet and fry?
Adam Smith: a bona fide Michelin star chef from the Devonshire Arms
Friday, June 20, 1pm
Sophie Jewett, York Cocoa House founder, shows us how to temper chocolate
Saturday, June 21, 10am / Monday, June 23, noon
Rob Porter, chef at the Green Room in Scarborough, champions Yorkshire produce
Sunday, June 21, 1pm / Sunday, June 29, noon
Phil Leverington, aka The Demo Chef, who will create a dish on the spot from market ingredients – Friday, June 20, noon / Monday, June 23, 1pm / Friday, June 27, 1pm
Stephanie Moon, one of the county’s favourite cooks, creates something unique from food foraged along the Tour de France route
Tuesday, June 24, 1pm
Hansa Dabhi leaves her Leeds restaurant to dish up some very special vegetarian dishes
Thursday, June 26, 2pm
Michael Hjort, director of the food festival, will transform some market ingredients into a dish fit for his Meltons restaurant
Friday, June 27, noon
Sharmini Thomas, former winner of the Yorkshire Vision Cookery competition, reveals more about the real food of India
Saturday, June 28, 10am
Kate Clarkson from the York Cookery School – and YorkMix contributor – brings her cooking and teaching skills into the marquee
Saturday, June 28, 1pm
Market magnifique
Parliament Street will be filled with fabulous colours, smells and tastes as the food festival market opens from 9am to 5pm every day.
Some of the street food stands will stay open later alongside the festival’s Real Ale Bar and Champagne Bar.
You can also rest your weary feet with a cuppa and a local cake at the Made In Yorkshire Festival Café.
The yummy stuff on sale at the market includes…
Beautiful bread from the Bluebird and Food For Thought bakeries.
Marvellous meat, whether in a crust by Voakes Pies or cured and imported from Italy by Etruscany of Masham
Fab fish including dressed crab and lobster from What A Catch to smoked salmon from the Port Of Lancaster Smokehouse
Pastry perfection from the likes of the Lost Cake Store and Curl Cake
Brilliant beer from our very own York Brewery and the Richmond Brewing Company
- York Food And Drink Festival runs from June 20-29
- All the events are listed in the food festival section of our What’s On guide
- More food and drink stories