Failed restaurant to be gastro-pub

An application has been submitted to Leeds City Council for permission to change the former Create restaurant in King Street into a bar, it has emerged.

The man behind the plan for the site is publican Geoff Thornton, who already runs The Pour House and the Epernay champagne bar in Leeds city centre.

He says the new venue will be called The Atlas and will operate as a gastro-pub.

Mr Thornton said: “It will be a London-style pub serving quality food and drink.”

Mr Thornton said the new bar’s scheduled opening date was November 25. Create was set up as a social enterprise in 2007 to provide disadvantaged people with work and training opportunities in the food industry.

Praised by Prime Minister David Cameron, it opened its flagship King Street restaurant in 2011 and enjoyed widespread support from the city’s business community. The venue won rave reviews – but in February this year the restaurant closed its doors, citing “tough commercial realities”.