The 32-cover Ox Club grill restaurant opened its doors for business last week within Headrow House, a former textile mill turned events space.
Ben Davy, development chef at Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen and creator of street-food concepts Dough Boys Pizza, Patty Smith's Burger Co and Fu-Schnikens, has created the restaurant's menu which uses locally-sourced meat and fish cooked on a Grillworks solid fuel grill.
The menu includes small plates and wood-grilled mains, with dishes including Cherry-Wood Smoked Ox Cheek with bacon jam and flageolet beans and Scallops Cooked on Coals with grapefruit, coriander and brown butter. A weekend brunch menu includes Hanger Steak, Cheddar Eggs and Home Fries and Corned Beef and Kale Hash with Chimichurri.
Davy trialled the Ox Club street food brand at Belgrave Music Hall and Leeds Feast after a trip to the US where he first saw the grill in action. Following its success he decided to launch Ox Club as a permanent restaurant and imported what is one of only three Grillworks in the UK to Headrow House.
He said: “We think Ox Club brings something genuinely new to the Leeds food scene. We’re working with some amazing Yorkshire producers to source the best meat, fish and produce out there, and the Grillworks grill is a totally new way of cooking. We’ve been testing out dishes at Belgrave Feast and we can’t wait for everyone to see what we can do down at Headrow House.
"The brunch service should be something totally fresh for Leeds too. Travelling in places like Portland and New York we ate awesome breakfasts every day, all a bit more grown up than a greasy Full English, and we wanted to bring that idea back home, with a few Bloody Marys thrown in for good measure.”
Headrow House is a four-storey events venue which also houses the Redondo Beach cocktail bar, a 200-capacity performance space and two roof terraces.