Recent research by Lightspeed, a hospitality tech platform, found that while Britons have become more adventurous diners over the past few decades, they are also craving old-school food, with 81 per cent of respondents wanting restaurants to bring back traditional British dishes that reminded them of their childhood.
Restaurant owners, it would seem, are of a similar mind. Jo and Stuart Myers opened the Swine Bistro in Leeds last year after 15 years running an “old-school” sandwich shop. Stuart, Jo Myers explains, considers himself a “modern British” chef, but the classics, from suet puddings to trifles, have long inspired the couple, too.
“We’ve always done pie nights, suet puddings, things like that,” says Myers. “I think they’re coming back into fashion, we’re seeing them more and more. I don’t know whether when things are difficult people gravitate towards nostalgia and comfort,” says Myers, who believes there’s no reason these dishes can’t sit alongside more modern creations on the menu.
The restaurant has also caused a stir with another 1970s party classic, the devilled egg, introduced after a member of staff visited New York, where they were frequently served at fashionable cocktail bars. “My mum used to make them all the time when my sister and I had birthday parties,” says Myers. “She used to do them so we felt fancy – that’s what it makes me think of.”
At the Swine, devilled eggs have been served with several twists, such as a pickle base or curried with blitzed-up Bombay mix sprinkled over them. Younger guests, Myers admits, can be a little confused, but are easily won over. “It’s time for a devilled egg revival, I’m on a one-woman mission to bring them back,” jokes Myers.
