Deliciously encapsulating both the ultimate British food (the good old Sunday roast), and the best thing to come out of Mexico (apart from Mariachi bands and the Mexican wave)... the burrito! This is none other than Yorkshire Burrito, run by a young chap named Henry who is a thoroughbred Yorkshireman. With credentials like that, we totally trust his Yorkshire pudding making abilities.
"There was a girl at a festival who was adamant about hating roast dinners, but she came back three times after her first one! That’s a pretty good feeling."
Yorkshire Burrito essentially cook all the best bits from a classic Sunday roast, like sage and onion stuffing and rosemary roast potatoes, and wrap them in a giant, expertly made Yorkshire pudding. Their giant puds come with a choice of three meats, chicken roasted with thyme, braised beef brisket in a red wine gravy and pulled roasted pork belly cooked in white wine and herbs. They also have a vegetarian edition with cauliflower cheese to replace the meat. Got a little grumble in your stomach? You can find them at Street Food Union on Soho's Rupert Street, Monday to Saturday. You’ll also soon be able to find them at Broadway Market on Saturdays and at Chelsea Harbour on alternate Fridays. We spoke to Henry to find out more about his brand, his blossoming business and his brilliant burritos and he gave us his honest advice about what it’s like to set up your own street food company.
Henry’s love of the Yorkshire pudding has followed him from childhood and the idea for Yorkshire Burrito came about when he noticed how little British food existed in the street food scene…
“In London you can sample delicious food from every corner of the globe in one tiny market, but I was frustrated at how few offerings there were in the way of British cuisine. It seems a crying shame to see so little celebration of something we do better than anywhere else in the world… the roast!”
The idea for the British burrito itself was created in Henry’s own kitchen, stemming from his hate of unnecessary food waste…
“Wrapping up leftover Sunday roast debris in a giant Yorkshire has long been a staple for my lunch on Mondays. After a bit of refining I came up with a market menu, which includes what I think are all the best bits of a Sunday roast, wrapped in the best bit, a Yorkshire pudding.”
Before Yorkshire Burrito, Henry had spent four years helping to build a new marketing agency, but was at the end of his tether with being sat in front of a screen all day dreaming of Yorkshire puddings…
“I learnt a lot about what’s involved in building a business and got to the point where I was ready to do it for myself and to do something I was actually passionate about!”
The Yorkshire Burrito brand was created with both honesty and Britishness in mind…
“I went with the flat cap for the logo branding as I see a farmer as being a pretty humble person, and Yorkshire Burrito is a humble brand. It’s the perfect representation of British cooking and something we should be proud of. I think that the brand encompasses what I believe is important about British cuisine and especially roasts!”
Despite creating his own totally unique and successful business, Henry doesn’t consider himself an entrepreneur…
“I just consider myself someone who is passionate about food who wanted to share it with people.”
Yorkshire Burrito have catered for some really impressive events since they began and area clearly building up some fantastic experience, so could be the perfect solution for catering at your wedding and big corporate shindig alike…
“We’ve catered for The Last Leg on Channel 4, Playstation, Alexandra Palace fireworks and many more! We’ve got quite a few festivals booked in for the summer already, so it should be a fun year.”
Although we’re sure that becoming a street food trader can often be a rather complicated process, Henry made it sound so easy…
“I spent the six months prior to starting Yorkshire Burrito helping with a friend’s street food business on the stalls and at festivals and realised what great fun it was! From there, I came up with the concept and started on all the necessaries in order to trade at London street markets.”
Since he started trading, Henry has fallen in love with what he does and there have been so many highlights along the way…
“The reaction from customers has been fantastic and incredibly rewarding. One customer took a burrito from the market back to the their office and the following week we were booked in for 80 lunches in their offices, which was pretty cool.”
Not to mention some inevitable hiccups…
“At first, time was the major limitation. Running everything as a one-man band can leave you spreading yourself a bit thin and it becomes really tiring after a little while. Since then, I’ve brought in some really talented partners and we’ve got some exciting plans for the future, which I would never have been able to execute if it was still just me doing everything.”
The Yorkshire Burrito is wonderfully classic, with the three essential meats that you’d expect from a Sunday roast as well as the cauliflower cheese veggie option. We asked Henry which his favourite burrito was…
“The Beef. It’s slow cooked for eight hours so it’s immensely tender. Also we all know a roast should really be made with beef!”
He was even kind enough to share a vital Yorkshire pudding secret with us, and seeing as Henry is actually from Yorkshire, this is gold dust…
“Mix the batter with an extra egg several hours before you need it and take it out the fridge an hour before using it. Also use oil or fat that’s going to get really hot, not olive oil!”
Thank you so much to Henry for speaking to us about his wonderful brand! Why not treat your staff to an office lunch courtesy of Yorkshire Burrito, or have them delight guests at your quintessential British wedding this summer with their delicious crispy, meaty offerings? You can also browse through hundreds of other handpicked street food caterers and pop-up bars on our site and book them for your corporate event, birthday party and wedding in just four easy clicks.
