To celebrate all things veganuary Rosie chatted to Louise Rodgers from Yorkshire Food Tours who runs their popular Vegan Food Tour of Harrogate to find out a bit more about Harrogate’s independent vegan food scene.
Meet Louise, Yorkshire Appetite’s extremely knowledgeable food tour guide. We are chatting everything business, food, and veganism!
Louise and Kay, the owner of Yorkshire Appetite, met whilst both teaching at a sixth form. They quickly became friends, travelling together and both eventually living in Harrogate.
After Kay experienced a food tour in Chicago, the idea was created to bring something similar to their hometown. With Kay looking to leave teaching, she returned to Chicago and learnt how to develop the tours from some of the very best. Yorkshire Appetite was born and their original classic food tour in Harrogate started in July 2017.
With vegan food in high demand, the Harrogate Vegan Tour was created in September 2018. Five successful years later, Yorkshire Appetite have food tours across York, Harrogate, and Otley.
What sets your vegan food tour aside from others?
As veganism became more mainstream, we felt like we really needed to up our game when creating the vegan tour. As the quality of vegan food became better, we aimed to give our guests the best version possible. Our two key principles are we don’t visit vegan restaurants on the tour, we like to make sure it is inclusive for everyone, and no one has to compromise – everyone can eat well. The second principle is no meat substitutes. We increasingly realised meat substitutes are not massively healthy, nor are they great on the environment. Given that a lot of rationale around veganism is environmental, it doesn’t make sense to include something that is counteractive to the value system of a lot of vegans.
What can people expect from the vegan food tour?
The tour has evolved over the years as we developed great relationships with the tasting partners. The tour is always a five-stop experience over 3 hours.
Our first stop for the starter is with Jesper’s Bar and Kitchen, who have a vegan chef and often host special vegan evenings. At the moment they offer a delicious winter veg hot salad and other menu items such as gnocchi on a cashew cream base with truffle sauteed mushrooms.
Next is Starling, who we have worked with since very early on and they do an extremely good pizza – if you have a good vegan pizza you don’t miss the cheese!
Then onto La Feria, voted the best restaurant in Harrogate for the past few years. They offer a fabulous tomato, pomegranate, and red onion salad with a sprinkle of herbs and sherry vinegar, as well as the wonderful roasted cauliflower dressed with a picada of almonds.
We then go up the hill to Vanilli’s who offer nine flavours of vegan gelato!
Finally, we walk through the park on to the Little Ale House, an independent microbrewery. Their vegan ciders are a big hit, as well as their vegan suitable guest beers.
What do you love most about being a food tour guide?
I get a lot of pleasure from seeing other people have a good time and eating well. As a vegan myself, I share a lot of the same core values with the guests, and it is lovely to chat and share tips – the social aspect is great fun. I really enjoy seeing people enjoy themselves. A lot of the independents we partner with are run by women, and it’s nice to encourage other woman to get into business like we did.
When did you become a vegan and why?
I have been a vegetarian most of my adult life, but it’s only when I adopted my Bull Terrier rescue, Kiki, that I reconciled my values and what that meant. I had been seeing a lot of stuff about the dog meat trade and unpleasant things being said about other cultural practices around meat. I decided I really didn’t want to engage in it anymore and didn’t want any involvement with any sort of meat product.
Would you recommend being a vegan to other people?
I think so yes, particularly for older women going through menopause. A diet consisting of low carb, no dairy and lots of fruit and veg can be healthy and helpful for women who are pre- and post-menopausal. When I cut out dairy, I feel a lot better and for people who have inflammatory issues, a vegan diet can really help.
People have a lot of varied reasons behind choosing to be vegan. I’ve found the younger generation tend to come from a more environmental point of view whereas the older groups lean towards the animal cruelty standpoint. But health, the control of weight, diabetes etc are always a common reason.
What is your favourite vegan meal/snack?
I would have to say roasted fennel and orzo or pasta alla norma which consists of aubergine, tomato, garlic, and fresh basil. I will send you the recipes!
Favourite spot in Harrogate?
I live only a few minutes from Harrogate centre. There is a lovely restaurant near me called Mykonos and they do a lovely veggie or vegan mezze. My favourite restaurant would have to be Domo and they create the most delicious teriyaki tofu. Major Toms is also a great place to stop by, they’ve been doing vegan pizzas for a long time – probably before the main shift over to plant-based eating. Would recommend the super vegan!
Anything new for 2023?
We are definitely looking into developing a vegan tour guide in York this year!
If you’d like to try the Vegan Food Tour of Harrogate for yourself, find out more here.
Louise Rodgers chatted to Rosie Hutchinson from Uniquely Local.