Review: Cora, Boston Spa

The restaurant Home caused something of a stir on its opening in Leeds in 2017.

Chefs Liz Cottam and Mark Owens’ new place was one of the hottest tickets in town and still is, as the waiting list bears testament.

Then came Owl in Kirkgate Market, a particular favourite of mine given its location and excellent food. They had plans for more food concepts in the market, which at the time was seeing something of careful gentrification, then Covid struck, and that’s the last I heard on that one.

But Liz is back on it, this time with a bakehouse, dining room and wine cellar in Boston Spa. Cora is a broad brush of concepts but all under one roof.

The double-fronted former shop now housing Cora sits unassumingly in the heart of the main shopping street in Boston Spa and gives little away from a distance. Step inside to a stylishly pared-back café with all soft greys and moody lighting.

A long busy bar cum bakery counter runs down one side; there are well-spaced simple tables, wine shelving and some seriously tempting aromas drifting around.

We were there for the Afternoon Tasting (evening ones are available on a Friday and Saturday in late August), which seems reasonable at £45 per person by most restaurant standards.

There is an exciting wine list, too, with many by the glass or half-bottle, and a wine flight for the tasting at £45 proves to be excellent value for the quality, including organic, vegan and biodynamic wines.

Unsettlingly, the café was remarkably quiet on a Saturday afternoon. However, it was not without atmosphere with bakehouse customers popping in and out, and as a few more tables filled, it felt much cosier. The staff are supremely professional, managing to be both efficient yet chatty and informative, and even the young man clearly in training was charming and eager to please.

It is important to note they do not cater for specific dietary preferences and allergies except for vegetarians. Also, they do not accommodate infants or babies and feel the tasting menu is not suitable for children under ten and I agree.

So, if you fit into that dwindling number of possibilities, you are in for a treat, as we soon discovered.

For the most part, the plates here are small, but each is unique and bouncing with sheer deliciousness. First off, a tiny cup of Pandan leaf and Kefir juice. Then, and possibly my favourite savoury, a croissant-based mackerel, rose, and rhubarb pastry.

Though only relatively small, it had the lightest, crispiest, meltingly buttery pastry, filled with squishy, fishy, rhubarb loveliness; even if this had been any bigger, it couldn’t have been better. My vegetarian stepdaughter Emma had a similar pastry but with fennel rather than the fish. She loved it.

We sipped on a so, so good Vichyssoise with a lovage oil and a thin crisp flatbread topped with black sesame seeds and lovage puree. Next for me, there was lamb fat roasted beetroot, Manuka honey and tangy lemon goat’s cheese, beetroot & caraway bread, with an anchovy and a cultured butter – the veggie version obviously without the fat or anchovy.

Roasted chicken with truffle and lavender didn’t quite hit the mark. Though the lavender was subtle, I find its flowery perfume on any kind of meat jarring, but it is personal. However, the pan-fried enoki mushroom, split Barolo, thyme, and chicken fat sauce alongside was an excellent combination, though I admit I rather fancied the tempting looking confit fennel and pickled wild mushrooms across the table.

As dessert is placed in front of us, I quietly think it must be an exaggeration when a mention is made that “it takes three days to make this” about what is ostensibly a mocked-up orange.

However, when we cracked open the shell and discovered a centre of Champagne and Seville orange jelly contained within a ganache of Greek yoghurt and white chocolate sprayed orange, I realised it is not. What a dessert, one of the best we both can remember for quite some time.

We were buoyed up from such a fabulous afternoon and had enjoyed the food so much.

I love the concept at Cora. There are some serious talents in the kitchen, the bakery and front of house here for sure, led no doubt by Liz.

Cora is a hugely enjoyable and relaxing experience filled with real surprises in both the food and the wines, and I can’t wait to see what Liz comes up with next.

Cora, 162 High Street, Boston Spa, Leeds, LS23 6BW. www.coraleeds.co.uk

Open: Thurs – 9.30 – 5pm, Fri – 9.30 – 10pm, Sat – 9.30-10pm, Sun 9.30 – 3pm.