"It's about the experience, not just the food" - Chef at new restaurant in Elland wants to put the town on the culinary map

David Woffenden is co-head chef with Ian Leyland at Cooper Kitchen and Bar on Southgate, which opened in December.

The restaurant is based at the former Cooper Kitchens hardware store, which was originally built around 1872.

It has been converted by Rhodes Joinery and Building Services and also features a bar that was opened in 2021.

"I think we've brought something to Elland that it hasn't seen before, it's been popular," said David.

"It was just a bar, which did really well, and the intention was to open a restaurant, and I wanted it to be tapas because I felt Elland was short of an interesting food joint.

"We're getting customers from Leeds, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Bradford because the word's getting out there.

"We want to put Elland on the map, make it a good place to come to eat but also come for the evening here because there's a bar downstairs and we have planning permission for an outside terrace.

"So it's going to be big hopefully.

"There's the high street in Elland being pedestrianised too, they're shutting it down for cars and making it like Brighouse or Haworth, so hopefully next year you'll have a place to sit outside and eat al fresco as well.

"I wanted to just bring a really good, fresh food establishment to Elland.

"I'm from Elland, Ian's from Halifax and has a wealth of experience of restaurants in London and Scotland, so we're a really good team.

"To open a new restaurant in the current climate and fir it to be successful, you need a good team behind you and I think we've got that."

open six days a week, closing on Tuesdays

The restaurant employs five chefs and some sixth form students from Brooksbank School.

"To have something like this in Elland, hopefully people think 'I don't have to go to Leeds anymore' or 'I can walk down the road and have some tapas'," David added.

"We want people to have a night out in Elland rather than it being a stop-off to go somewhere else.

"We do more casual dining during the day and then we have a fresh, vibrant, exciting tapas menu in the evening.

"Tapas is the in-thing at the moment, I think your starter, main course and desert places are fizzling out a bit, people want to socialise, have a couple of beers and order food as the evening goes on.

"It's about the experience, not just the food.

"And people love the building we're in."