Seven Artspace Cafe Bar

Seven’s ethos should be applauded and so should its menu. There’s not much not to like about Seven, whoever you are.

The Venue
Set back slightly on the main Harrogate Road that cuts its route through Chapel Allerton, and a short distance from the main drinking area, you could never possibly imagine that Seven (the cafe bar) conceals a 100-seat cinema/theatre behind a pair of double doors.

Seven aims to bring the community together with the arts and its venue will go a long, long way to help it to succeed. From the outside it looks a chilled out place to drink with friends with big windows enticing you in and lovely graphic signage that re-affirms it’s cool.

Once inside the bar its warm and friendly and yes it does have a cinema at the rear, which is also used for arts events, comedy, jazz on Sundays and plays a major role in the Leeds Film Festival. It's then it hits you, this is not at all pretentious, it’s great!

The People
As you would expect, it draws in an arty crowd and, depending on the event taking place out the back, the cafe bar is filled with excited film buffs through to jazz hipsters. The clientele is a bit older due to its location but there’s still plenty of young hip kids lounging round flicking through art books over a cappuccino and generally chilling.

No one is going to bat an eyelid here if you spend an hour with the same coffee, in fact it's encouraged. The staff are young and pleasant with an obvious interest in what goes on behind the scenes which adds to the ambience. If there's one criticism it’s that it is a little too bright which makes it a little bit more difficult to relax on that first date.

The Food
The food is not the main attraction, with money from the cafe bar helping to fund more ambitious arts projects. However, for a place where food isn’t the sole endeavour, they do a fantastic job. The dishes are different from the normal staples, and have a hearty, homemade feel.

It's refreshing to get away from the chained restaurants that are suffocating our high streets for a change. Bangers and mash are hearty with creamy mash (£8.50) and there's a great selection of lighter dishes and some extremely addictive bar snacks that are just perfect with a beer after a film.

A few choice desserts top off a nice meal or prove an irresistible reward after a long film. The chocolate brownie with ice cream (£4.50) is deliciously homemade and rewarding. Seven really likes to please you, in that nonchalant arty way.

The Drink
Locally brewed beer from Timothy Taylor (£3) seems to be what most are drinking. If not that, bottles of wine are popular starting at £13.25 a bottle. There are more draught beers (Staropramen and Guinness, both £3.20) and a selection of bottled beers and ales from the more unusual end of the scale (Leffe Blonde £3.50).

You can also grab a coffee (capuccino £2) and it stocks a wide and varied selection of teas from earl grey and peppermint (£1.70) to the more unusual teas from the speciality range (jasmine tea £3).

The Last Word
Original food at Leeds' most original venue, Seven is a fantastic concept that deserves full support. If you love the arts, good food and a beer, this is your mecca.

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