Following A Taste Trail At The York Food And Drink Festival
20th September 2024 - New Experience Number 24.
Each September the streets of York are full of the most incredible tastes and aromas as the Food And Drink Festival pops up for ten delicious days. It’s a haven for foodies!
Alongside an amazing array of stalls, there are lots of different activities available to get involved with. From cooking demonstrations, to hands on making, there are a variety of trails and tours on offer too.
I adore sampling different flavours, so following a taste trail where you can savour mouthfuls of delights at 18 different places across the city sounded right up my street. Perhaps not too challenging, but still something I’ve never done before and so a new thing for 2024.
CAUTION -reading this may make you feel hungry!
York Food And Drink Festival
Walking through the main festival is a feast for your senses. Stalls sizzle and steam as huge pans full of colourful ingredients are stirred and swirled into mouthwatering concoctions.
Displays are piled high with slabs of rich, gooey brownies in an abundance of intriguingly delicious flavours. Tempting tipples in beautiful bottles entice you to take an inquisitive sip. Prettily packaged treats from local culinary creators are laid out to tantalise your taste buds. There is so much going on!
I’m sad to admit that other than meandering through the stalls in the past, I’d never really engaged with the York Food and Drink Festival before. I’ve hugely been missing out. There is so much more to get involved with, as I found out.
Why You Should Try Following A Taste Trail At The York Food And Drink Festival
If you’re local to York;
- Following a taste trail is the perfect reason to experience places you might never have been into before.
- It’s a brilliant way to sample some of the amazing food and drink available in your home city.
- You’ll visit independent establishments and support local producers.
- It will give you ideas of places you will definitely want to return to.
If you’re visiting York;
- There are so many wonderful places to eat and drink in York, it’s not easy deciding where to go, so this will help you to experience lots of them.
- The taste trail will take you to numerous independent establishments, some of which you’re sure to want to re-visit!
- You can sample unique delights that you’ll only find in York.
- You’ll get to see the city, as the trail focuses on central locations.
Following A Taste Trail - How It Worked at the York Food and Drink Festival
Two taste trails were available as part of the York Food and Drink festival in 2024. One covered the east of the city and the other covered the west.
Once you sign up you receive a booklet which outlines 18 different establishments taking part on that particular trail and what their sample will be. It also includes the location, opening hours, and in some cases, any additional discounts they may offer during the festival.
It’s a self-guided trail, so you can decide what order to visit places. Everywhere is within walking distance. Simply present the booklet at the different venues. Once they’ve ticked off to show you’ve called in, they’ll give you something scrumptious to try.
Expectations Vs Reality
I didn’t really know what to expect, and thought that the samples might be tiny little morsels to try.
I was also a little apprehensive that the establishments we would be visiting weren’t all going to be clued up about the trail and there could be some awkward encounters, especially as we were following the trail on the first day.
How brilliantly wrong I was on both counts!
The Samples - Following A Taste Trail
This is probably the bit you’ve been waiting for; what we actually tried!
Sweet, savoury and alcoholic, the trail tickled all of the taste buds with decent sized samples from every participating outlet. Whilst we tried well over 20 tasters, all of which were impressive, I’m sharing some of the stand-out highlights.
These were from the taste trail in 2024, and the offers may be different in other years.
Delicious Ice Cream
I tried the most deliciously sweet, creamy and fruity pavlova ice cream at Trinacria.
This friendly Sicilian restaurant offer a selection of traditional savoury dishes, and have a cabinet full of their own home made gelato and sorbets.
It was tough making a decision about which one to try!
Scrumptious Brownies
Wafting wonderfully sweet aromas into Walmgate, the award winning Little Blondie Bakehouse has been making ridiculously amazing treats since 2022.
Offering blondies, tray bakes, pastries, cookies, buns, they are always baking something new.
Sampling a square of sublimely rich chocolate brownie, I know I shall be popping back in here again!
Fruity Bubble Tea
With a bubbling personality, the host in mooboo gave us some background and history to their bubble tea.
Choosing from a selection of flavours, and a variety of bubble pearls, this was a real thirst quencher.
It was really refreshing, and the pearls gave an intense explosion of sweet flavour.
Amazing Arancini Sample - Following A Taste Trail
The bright blue front of The Biga+ has often intrigued me. The window is full of mouthwateringly delicious Italian inspired treats. There’s an ever-changing selection of slices of sourdough pizzas, cannoli, arancini and more.
It’s a tiny venue but manages to squeeze in seating for a handful of customers who want to eat-in rather than take-away.
Sampling one of their truffle mushroom arancini, it was utterly scrumptious. With a slightly spicy crispy coating and a rich melting middle.
It was so good, that we called back in on our way home to try the deep fried lasagne. It’s got to be tasted to be believed, it’s incredible!
Visiting A Beer Hall
Brew York provided an opportunity to try some of their own deliciously crisp and refreshing lager in their beer hall.
This is somewhere that we had been to before, and it’s a great place to visit with a lively atmosphere.
With over 40 beers on tap, it was very tempting to stay and pay to try a few more but we might never have finished the trail if we’d done that!
Gorgeous Gyoza
I love gyoza at the best of times, and Yuzu provided some vegetarian ones to sample.
Oh my word, these little pockets perfectly packed a punch in light Asian flavours.
I will definitely be back for a bigger portion of those bad boys!
Dark Chocolate Heaven - Following A Taste Trail
York Cocoa Works are proud of the chocolate heritage of York. They have a passion for sharing learning and tastes in the heart of the city.
We sampled some delicious dark chocolate buttons, which had a deeply satisfying flavour to them.
Offering a selection of delectable chocolates, and a variety of workshops, it’s well worth calling in.
Fine Wine Tasting
2 Many Wines was somewhere I had wanted to visit for a long time and I was not disappointed.
Our host asked about our wine preferences, and served us something he thought would suit our palates.
This was the best rosé wine I have ever sipped. I’m definitely going to go back for a more leisurely glass full (or two) with one of their sharing boards.
Make Your Own Taster
The Director of York Food and Drink Festival, Michael Hjort, runs The Chopping Block which provided a more hands-on experience.
Fresh, local ingredients were provided to build our own canapés.
Spooning three toppings onto the savoury biscuit, I created a mildly salty, delicious, fish hors d’oeuvres.
First Time Trying Orange Wine
I’d never tried an orange wine until we visited Howl, a gorgeously cosy cafe bar and charcuterie.
The host explained how it was made as she poured us a sample to enjoy with a delicious cheese that cut through the sweetness.
Focusing on low-intervention wines from small vineyards, they offer many wines by the glass so I’m keen to go back and try more of their selection.
Green Grocers
A naked fig did seem one of the more unusual things to sample on the trail, but it was lovely and ripe.
Millie’s green grocers doesn’t have any indoor seating, but it does have a vast array of fresh fruit and vegetable produce.
With friendly service, and such a great range of choice, if you want good quality greens, you should definitely go here.
More Beautiful Brownies - Following A Taste Trail
Offering a selection of cakes, I opted to try another brownie at The Bishy Weigh.
Made locally at White Rose Bakes, this was a succulently scrumptious square of sweetness.
They have a wide range of products and ingredients, which are all sold by weight, just take your own containers along. A great way to reduce excessive packaging.
Additional Samples
As well as visiting establishments, the trail included several tasters at The Hub. This central location provided additional samples from local vendors.
Here we tried some selections from smaller traders who are not as easy to visit, but wanted to showcase some of their delicious offerings.
A slice of home made pork pie from the popular shop on The Shambles. Smoked trout from a local fishmongers. Cooked meat from a nearby butchers. Cheese from a local merchant, and a piece of fresh focaccia from one of York’s top bakers. We are really lucky to have such good food options in York.
Without a doubt I’m going to be calling in to buy some of the products we sampled.
A Warm Welcome - Following A Taste Trail
In almost every place that we visited, we received a really friendly welcome. There was just one stop where the first member of staff we spoke to didn’t seem to know about the trail but somebody else soon came to help. We’ll let them off, it was the first day it was running.
It wasn’t simply a case of handing over the sample either, in most places the staff were happy to give a more in depth explanation about their offering.
Everywhere we visited, staff were able to tell us if the samples contained any allergens, or were suitable for vegetarians or vegans.
Everyone genuinely seemed pleased to be a part of the trail, and glad that we were visiting them.
Why I Loved Following A Taste Trail
I’ve been living in York for over two decades now, and we are spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out.
Whether you’re after a quick snack or street food, leisurely brunches, lovely lunches, fine dining, something unique or a traditional dish that’s perfectly prepared, our city is deliciously well off.
The taste trail took us to 18 different establishments, and out of those, I think there were only 2 that I had been to before.
With a focus on independent venues, the taste trail was a fantastic way to support local businesses and try many things that are unique to York.
It was brilliant to have a nosey inside some places I’d only heard about or walked past, and having a little taste of what they offer certainly piqued my interest. There are some venues that I’m definitely going back to soon for a full experience!
It was so well organised and brilliantly delivered. I hope the taste trails will be running again next year, as I’ll certainly be booking on!
Want To Try It Yourself?
- The Taste Trail I followed was part of the York Food And Drink Festival which takes place in the city in September.
- To try the same Taste Trail, you’d need to visit the York Food and Drink Festival to find details if it is being offered.
- If you do book onto a Taste Trail, the offering is likely to be different to the one I experienced in 2024.
- In addition, there are chocolate tours, wine tours, pub tours and food tours! You can find details for the taste trails and all of the tours on the official website
- Why not have a look to see if there are any food related events happening where you live that you could give a try?
- Take a look at some of the other food and drink experiences I’ve tried for more foodie inspiration.
Cost Of Experience
- The taste trail cost £10 per person in 2024. This included samples in 18 different establishments, and further tasters at the hub!
- Some of the places involved also offer an additional discount if you take part in the taste trail.
- It’s really good value for money!
Recommendations
- Book in advance. If you want to do the taste trail on a particular day it’s worth booking as it can sell out.
- Check the booklet before you go. It contains the opening times for each place so take a look before you go to avoid disappointment.
- Let the venue know. If you have any food intolerances or allergies, they’ll be able to advise whether the sample is suitable.
- The taste trail is not suitable for under 18s. Due to alcohol being included in the samples, everyone needs to be an adult.
- Make sure your phone is fully charged. You might find it helpful to use it to find all of the venues. You might also want to take pictures of all of the things you try!
- Let me know how you get on if you do give it a go!
This sounds fantastic! I love how they give you a fair sized amount at each place. I love food tasting events and this definitely sounds like something I’d love to try. Thanks for sharing your experience and photos!
I was really impressed by it all, and I’m definitely going to do another trail if they’re offering them again next year! Thank you so much for reading, and taking the time to comment too. :o)
This is interesting. Such a wide variety of food to try in one place. And to sample 18 different types at 10 pounds is quite affordable. Thanks for sharing.
It was very good value for money, and such delicious things to try! Thank you so much for reading and commenting, I really appreciate it. :o)