A cafe under Millets

[simong]

I made a sweet potato and fennel gratin for dinner last night and when I put it on the table my wife immediately said 'that smells just like Millets cafe' and told me that when she was young she and her family would go to the cafe below Millets specifically for a dish like that. She thought that it was on Briggate and couldn't remember if the cafe was actually part of Millets or next to it. She was thinking about early-mid 80s and I wasn't in Leeds then so I don't know where Millets was, although a quick Google suggests that it was on Kirkgate so on the other side of the arcades. Does anyone know that might be, I'm guessing it was not actually in Millets but somewhere in or under the County Arcade.

[snowman1]

hi simong
we used the café in question it was under millets and called the country kitchen
my wife thinks this would be about 1983/4,it was very nice café,it closed
(we think) when millets moved from briggate to vicar lane
regards
sm1

[j.c.d.]

I remember long before this time when Millets was on Boar lane, after the W.W.2 they had thousands of Military clothing items for sale. it was reputed that once at the annual stocktaking they had a large quantity of camouflage items but could not find them to list.

[LS1]

Country Kitchen was later under Zodiac the toy shop.... Was Millets on the site too? I remember going in the late 1980s

[uncle mick]

Country Kitchen was later under Zodiac the toy shop.... Was Millets on the site too? I remember going in the late 1980s

Millett's was at 76 Briggate in 1984 which is here

http://goo.gl/maps/Rkhxh

In 1980 it was at 149 Briggate where the Yorkshire Building Society now is at the junction of Briggate & Duncan Street

[uncle mick]

hi simong
we used the café in question it was under millets and called the country kitchen
my wife thinks this would be about 1983/4,it was very nice café,it closed
(we think) when millets moved from briggate to vicar lane
regards
sm1

I don't know if it had a name change but it was The Farmhouse Kitchen in 1984

[LS1]

Country Kitchen was later under Zodiac the toy shop.... Was Millets on the site too? I remember going in the late 1980s

Millett's was at 76 Briggate in 1984 which is here

http://goo.gl/maps/Rkhxh

In 1980 it was at 149 Briggate where the Yorkshire Building Society now is at the junction of Briggate & Duncan Street

That's the one... 76 Briggate.

[Leodian]

The 'Leeds Retro' section of the Yorkshire Evening Post today (December 15 2014) covers December 1979 and has a report (with a photo) about Larry Grayson opening "Milletts Store, New Briggate, Leeds". In the report it states "Hundreds of shoppers swamped the premises when he arrived in a white Rolls-Royce" and that fans "damaged part of the store in the scrum". Mmmm, 'Shut that door!' .

In view of earlier posts the "New Briggate" is likely to be a mistake as it should be 'Briggate' not 'New Briggate', unless there was also a Milletts on New Briggate but if so I don't recall it.

[buffaloskinner]

Millets on New Market Street

Can you spot the lion?

[warringtonrhino]

Country Kitchen was later under Zodiac the toy shop.... Was Millets on the site too? I remember going in the late 1980s

Cheers LS1
I know this is slightly off topic, but it gives added background to the history of the location.
As the MD of the company that used to design and built all the Zodiac Toy Shops, I am always impressed and amazed when anyone from up north remembers them.
Zodiac Toys were based in Bedford, and most of their shops were south of Sheffield.
As a Yorkshire man I kept looking for local sites to help them expand northwards.
The opportunity presented itself when Boots the Chemist moved out of the old Marks and Spencer building on Briggate.
However the Leeds Zodiac Toy shop was the last one that was ever built.
The company was bought by the Ward White Group, who owned Halfords.
Someone (on a big salary) told Halfords that they needed shops on the high street, and the quickest way to do that was to buy a company that already had them.
Zodiac was bought and the toyshops converted into Halfords.
Within a few years Halfords realised that high street shops were not suitable for their business, you cannot drive up Briggate for a MOT, and so all their high street shops were sold.