Editor’s Blog: Sheffield hits the spot

With our 2020 guide book finished, printed and posted, yesterday we rewarded ourselves with a food & drink tour of Sheffield. We do these self-guided walking tours every month and they’re brilliant fun, as well as being an education.

We started with a pork pie and a pint at the Sheffield Tap next to the train station.

Next, we walked to Kelham Island where we discovered the brilliant The Depot Bakery, Sheffield Cheesemasters (who’d sold out of their Camembert-style ‘Little Mester’ cheese) and a cocktail bar in a shipping container (love it!).

From there we popped into the legendary The Fat Cat Sheffield, then to the exceptional JÖRO restaurant for lunch (a must-visit for its incredible cooking and atmosphere).

Then it was The Shakespeare, Gibraltar Street, Sheffield, followed by cheese and vermouth at Elm, and a (possibly unnecessary) top-up at The Bar Stewards.

Next, Kommune. Wow, Kommune! This is a brilliant, vibrant place set in the old Co-Op building in the city centre. It feels like a high-end food hall of the sort to rival Meadowhall but is packed with independents, including Baked in Brick and Hop Hideout Beer Shop. We were hugely excited and impressed by Kommune because it shows how large city-centre buildings can be regenerated by independent food traders (Leicestershire County Council please take note regarding the old Fenwicks building in Leicester and The Bell Centre in Melton Mowbray). Finally, we had a nightcap in the buzzing Rutland Arms – what a pub!

Today we’re on a diet.