Proves fast food doesn't have to be unhealthy * Sunday Times Style * I love the Leon chain. It serves really fresh fast food but the kind that's good for you. Its meatballs are amazing and it's licensed. -- Gordon Ramsay Fantastic, gutsy, Technicolor stuff -- Jay Rayner * Guardian * Leon is as sexy as a cookbook gets - stylish, interesting, and full of tempting, yet inexpensive, seasonal recipes * Delicious Magazine *
When Henry Dimbleby, John Vincent and Allegra McEvedy opened their first restaurant on London's Carnaby Street in July 2004 their aim was to change the face of fast food. Six months after opening, Leon was named the Best New Restaurant in Great Britain at the Observer Food Monthly Awards (by a judging panel that included Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay, Nigel Slater, Heston Blumenthal, Ruth Rogers and Jay Rayner). There are now 43 Leon restaurants. Allegra McEvedy is a chef, writer, broadcaster and culinary explorer. She has been cooking professionally for 20 years, doing her apprenticeship in some of London's best restaurants, before packing up her knives and moving to the US. After working in New York and San Francisco, she came back and opened The Good Cook in a London community centre, with her ethos of 'the best food to the most people'. In 2000 she became Chef-in-Residence at The ICA, leaving in 2003 to co-found LEON. She has had weekly columns in the Evening Standard and the Guardian and is a regular guest presenter on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends. As well as appearing on a miscellany of television shows, in summer 2009 Allegra co-presented Economy Gastronomy, a BBC series about spending less and using ingredients wisely. Her books include The Good Cook (2000), Allegra McEvedy's Colour Cookbook (2006, winner of an IACP award), Bought, Borrowed & Stolen and the best-selling Economy Gastronomy (2009). Allegra is a spokesperson for the Fairtrade Foundation and in 2008 was awarded the MBE for services to the hospitality industry.
Introduction: The Idea, Our Story, Foundations; Ingredients: Fruit, Veg, Fish, Meat, Dairy, Dry Stores - Includes the top 250 ingredients Leon use every day in their restaurants; Recipes: Breakfasts, Soups, Salads, Starters, Sharers & Sides, Grills & Sauces, Slow Cooks, Puds, Drinks; Suppliers, Index, Acknowledgements