Interview: The Nottingham Bucket List on pizza tours, supporting local and Notts' food community

We chat to Leigh, the brains behind some of Notts' most popular food tours and reviews...

You moved back to Nottingham in 2020, following a few years away after studying here for uni. What brought you back to the city?

I moved to Australia right after graduation because my sister and brother had both moved there when they were 22, and they loved it and became citizens. I assumed that I would feel the same and booked myself a flight, but I quickly realised that Australia is just Hot England, and I sunburn really easily! 

I enjoyed my time there, but everywhere I went I kept thinking, "It's nice... but it's not Nottingham." It sounds mad to say it because so many people dream of moving to Australia, but I just love Nottingham so much. Including my years at uni, I've spent seven years living in here, and I'm still finding new things to do and new places to go. I just never get tired of it. 

You're now part of a seemingly tight-knit and supportive food community in Nottingham. What's that like to be a part of?

It is lovely! When I started The Nottingham Bucket List in 2014, there were only a handful of other bloggers around, and Instagram was barely a thing. By the time I started it back up in 2020, the blogging game was completely different and there were so many new people in the community. What started as a few awkward hellos at restaurant launches has developed into friendships that go far beyond Instagram comments. With Luce (Luce in Notts) and Jules (The Nottingham Food Guide) in particular, I feel so lucky to have found friendships that aren't just online but are very much a big part of my regular life. 

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Your posts are very visual and eye-catching, but are underpinned by passionate and engaging copy - how much work goes into your page?

First of all - thank you! Second of all - a lot! My degree is in Creative Writing, so the words have always been the most important part of a review for me, and it takes a lot of time to put together a post that is as interesting as it is informative. I try not to be too repetitive (though there are only so many ways to say that something is bloody tasty), and I can't count the amount of times I've written a review only to find that it's three paragraphs too long for Instagram's caption limit, and I've had to painstakingly chop it down. 

Ultimately, I just want to support Nottingham's small businesses, and if it takes me a couple of hours to craft a review and it sends a few more people their way, then it's been time well spent!

I have to say a thank you here to the never-ending patience of the friends and family that are unlucky enough to eat out with me. They have all learned to put their cutlery on their laps, take their straws out of their drinks, and sit perfectly still while I snap away at their dinner. They never complain, and I love them for it!

You’ve mentioned that you’re a big pizza fan, and it’s safe to say Nottingham is stacked with pizza joints - but which are your favourites and why?

I once ate five pizzas across four days, and in 2019 I took a solo trip to Naples purely because I fancied some really good pizza, so I'm definitely a big pizza fan. We are so spoilt for choice in Nottingham, but since the first time I had it, Pizzamisu has been my No. 1 spot. It is the closest you can get to genuine Neapolitan pizza (which is my favourite style) without having to get on a plane, and they smash it out of the park every single time. An honourable mention has to go to Slice 'n' Brew - I've never had a pizza like theirs! And also Baba Dough and The Rustic Crust, which are fantastic but a little bit out of the way!

And on the topic of pizzas, you're doing more pizza tours in September and beyond! How did that come about and what can people expect?

I am! Earlier this year I took a massive leap and launched my own business - EAT: Nottingham Food Tours. I'd been sitting on the idea for a year before I finally plucked up the courage to just go for it, so I was almost speechless when so early on in the business, It's In Nottingham approached me to run a special pizza tour for their Taste of Nottingham event! 

On one of my regular tours, you visit six completely different venues and try a whole range of food, but on the pizza tour you're guided around five of the city’s best pizzerias to see how they do it! You get to score your slice, maybe try some new flavours, and learn a bit of Nottingham's history along the way. 

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Is there one area where Nottingham could improve? What’s one type of cuisine that we could do with seeing more of?

My go-to answer for this used to be Mexican, but we're lucky to have Taquero and Tacolypto in the city these days! Instead, I would really love for us to have a food hall. I used to love seeing what was new at the Notts Street Food unit in Victoria Centre, and I think there is definitely space for something like that but on a larger scale to take root in Nottingham. We have so many incredible local street food vendors (shout-out to Dirty Chicken, Yello Yard, Secret Burger Club and Zenzerros Pizza, to name just a few!) and I would love to see them have a permanent space in the city.  

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To end on a big, sad question, you can have one final meal in Nottingham: what are you having and where?

There is simply no way I could choose just one place! I would have to create my own personal food tour to say a proper goodbye, and I would be making stops at Kushi-Ya for the Prawn Toast, Zhug in Wollaton for a big plate of hummus, Coco Tang for the BBQ Lemongrass Chicken, Little Bricks for literally anything they choose to put in front of me, ViDa by Lorentes for some chorizo in honey, BOHNS for a big ol' burger, Dispatch for a creamy hot chocolate, and I'd say my final goodbye with a cocktail (or twelve) at 31K, which is my favourite place in the city. My stomach might feel a bit weird after, but it would be worth it. 

You can follow The Nottingham Bucket List on Instagram.