Waterside, the much loved canalside fine dining restaurant, mark their seventh year of successful business with the launch of a brand new lunch menu.
Cast your mind back seven, and there weren’t many fine dining institutes in Shipley. In fact, widen the net to Shipley’s surrounding areas too and you could probably count on one hand the amount of these restaurants to choose from.
Waterside were the exception and its founders, Paul Huddleston and Ian Johnson, spent much of their early years of business proving that fine dining deserved to hold a place in Shipley.
As the years passed, they even managed to convince proclaimed food critics Jay Rayner, of The Guardian, and Giles Coren, of The Times, that they had been right all along. Fine dining, not only deserved, but needed a home in Shipley.
For the last seven years the restaurant's biggest attraction has been its five course Chef’s selection menu which utilises the best ingredients that the local area has to offer.
From Venison sourced from local attraction, Harewood House, to the best Yorkshire cheeses, the restaurant's mission has been to showcase all that its beloved Yorkshire home has to offer.
At the hands of their acclaimed head chef, Paul Huddleston, Waterside expands its offering today with the launch of a new lunch menu which features classic sandwiches with a twist.
Paul said, “We spent a lot of our early years finding our feet and trying to please everyone. The beauty of now having been here for so long, is that we don’t have to do that anymore. We’ve found our niche, and it works. If you find what you’re great at, and you offer it consistently, the people will find you.”
Despite having carved out a specific fine dining shaped home for themselves in Shipley, the restaurant continues to evolve its offering to keep moving forward.
Paul continued, “We know what works, and what our customers are looking for from our evening service. We knew it was time to look at presenting our restaurant as a place to visit for a lighter lunch too which is why we’ve decided to launch this new lunchtime offering.”
Paul’s partner, Nicola Huddleston, has made a name for herself at Waterside as somewhat of a wine expert after undertaking studies with the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust and the Wine Scholar Guild. This expertise is reflected in the restaurant's brand new wine list.
Nicola said, “The new wine list was born out of my personal frustration at going out to eat and being faced with uninspiring choices when it came to the wine. As a restaurant, we always aim to stand out from the rest, while Paul makes sure of this in the kitchen, I knew that we could do the same behind the bar too.”
As always, the restaurant looked to work with a local, independent wine merchant which has seen them spark a partnership with Leeds based Latitude Wines.
Stand out wines from this new offering include a Cada Nube Cabernet Franc and a Puligny Montrachet, one of Nicola’s personal favourite White Burgundies.
Perhaps the most enticing part is the restaurant's extensive, ‘by the glass’ offering. Meaning that guests can sample an array of different wines without having to commit to each bottle.
As the years go by and the restaurant's loyal customer base continues to grow, it's clear that Waterside have not only made a name for themselves, but found their home in Shipley.
