Popular Leeds brunch restaurant OWT to move from Corn Exchange to 'corner of heaven' on Burley Road

OWT announced this week that it will be leaving its spot in the Corn Exchange after three years and relocating to the former site of the “iconic and beloved” Corner Café on Burley Road.

Co-owners Esther Miglio and James Simpson announced that their last service at the Corn Exchange will be on Sunday, October 29, and that they hope to reopen for business in Woodhouse at the start of November.

The restaurant, which first opened in Kirkgate Market in 2018 before expanding in the Corn Exchange in 2020, is renowned for its revolving menus and variety of offerings for lunch and brunch through the year.

The owners said that the “repeated custom and enthusiasm” of its visitors has prompted the move and that they are now planning on serving on a Friday and Saturday evening for the first time.

In a statement, Esther and James wrote: “We started in 2018 in Kirkgate Market because we wanted to have a space of our own to define what hospitality meant to us. It was the two of us, we were changing the menu weekly and we were wondering if maybe one day we’d be leaving Fishmongers Row for a place a bit more comfortable.”

They said they “loved” their time at the Corn Exchange, adding: “Our super colourful unit, our more refined menus, our wine offering, our team; those past three years helped us mature as a business, but also as humans.”

The couple said they now feel “ready to take on 60 covers, ready to run a big kitchen (and) ready to do dinner service”.

They added: “It took us time because we wanted to get it right.

“When we came across Corner Café and the beautiful souls behind it we knew it was it. Corner Café has been loved for over 30 years in LS3 and we feel honoured to have been chosen to carry on the task of being Burley Road’s neighbourhood restaurant.”

OWT added that it will be releasing further information throughout the next month about the move and be running a special “Farewell LS1 OWT Greatest Hits Menu” to conclude its last few weeks at the Corn Exchange.