We report on the arrival of Matt Healy’s award-winning Forde restaurant in Ilkley this autumn and why he doesn’t miss the cut-throat world of city centre dining.

Matt Healy, the celebrity chef who found fame after reaching the finals of MasterChef – the Professionals in 2016 and the man behind one of the top restaurants in Leeds, has announced the opening of a second site in Ilkley.

His arrival in the Yorkshire spa town follows the success of his award-winning diner Forde in Horsforth which he set up in 2021 after he closed his former restaurant The Foundary in Leeds the previous year.

Now three years on, Matt, who admits he fell out of love with the ‘back-stabbing’ city centre restaurant scene is set to take Ilkley by storm with the introduction of a dining experience that has proved so popular and won him rave reviews in his hometown of Horsforth.

Talking about his new project, which will open this September in the Moors Shopping Centre, Matt said: “It has always been our dream to grow the Forde brand and we were just waiting for the right site to come up and on a recent visit to Ilkley, we found it.

“Our aim is to bring the same quality food, relaxed service and laid-back menu that has been so successful in Horsforth.”

Forde has built a name for itself offering brunch and coffee by day, Yorkshire charcuterie, local cheese, small plates and fine wines by night and Matt is excited to be able to expand the concept further with his new 40-cover restaurant, which neighbours newly-opened Italian restaurant Pranzo.

He explained: “What I want to do is, as the brand grows, have a core menu – any Forde you go into, you’ll get the same charcuterie board,  cheese board, or whatever dish that may be.

“We’ll be changing the menu seasonally and have lined up a great team who will be working alongside me to bring the people of Ilkley something new and exciting.

“The Ilkley site will be different in a sense that it’s bigger and we can offer more, but the core of what we offer will be the same as Horsforth – really lovely small plates, a banging Sunday roast, cocktails and great wines.”

Matt admits his love for cooking and the industry waned following Covid and the competitive nature of the restaurant trade in Leeds did little to inspire him.

He said: “After 20 years working flat out and building up a city centre restaurant, my love for it definitely dipped and I was getting sick of the cut-throat industry it was becoming.

“Setting up Forde was my escape, I still wanted to bring quality food to the table but in a far more relaxed setting and while we only started out with the intention of it being a decent little coffee spot that did charcuterie and cheese and cocktails in the evening, it snowballed into something bigger and that has now allowed us to expand.”

And in a day and age when Leeds city centre is swamped with new restaurant openings, it is refreshing to see such a talent ditch the city to brings his culinary skills to towns like Ilkley, where he is sure to shine.

For more information about the opening of Forde Ilkley follow them on instagram @thefordeilkley.