The crumpet has the texture of a damp Always Ultra
I’ve done some fairly rash things in my time, but I’ve never popped into anywhere for king scallops with ’nduja and come out with a swallow tattoo on my neck, though what is this life without adventure? Which is where Moods comes in: the space is an all-day restaurant, bar, tattoo parlour and hair salon in Leeds, offering violetta potato with ox cheek, a short back and sides, and the chance to tattoo “Mum” on your lower left arm, all in one Grade II-listed building.
It occupies the former First White Cloth Hall on Kirkgate, built in 1711 for the trade of white undyed cloth. This cavernous ark, with roof timbers dating back to the 1470s, lurked on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register for more than 20 years, during which time it was under almost constant threat from the bulldozers. It took the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Leeds Civic Trust and Rushbond, a Leeds-based developer with a penchant for rescuing buildings, to drag it out of danger. Then Will and Hayley Moody arrived, slotting in their Buzz Club Tattoo Studio and a hair and beauty salon called Self, and now, on the ground floor, there’s Moods, a kitchen reportedly run by Craig Rogan. Laugh at the tattoo/hair/dinner triumvirate, if you want (I know I did), but it’s a grim joke that we treat our old buildings like this, and that hospitality is in a state so wild that this seems to be the solution. Bring on the bright new future of ye olde small plates, buzzcuts and half-sleeve emporiums, all under 400-year-old timbers.