The Swine That Dines Leeds: Owners 'blown away' by customers who raised £25k in two days to support relocation

Modern British restaurant The Swine That Dines, located in North Street, announced the news of its relocation to a nearby site earlier this month. 

With its doors set to open this Autumn, the couple behind the much-loved restaurant turned to its loyal customers to help get the project over the line. 

The Crowdfunder was launched on Friday (June 7) and, over the weekend, fans of the Swine That Dines had exceeded the target. 

Jo Myers, who owns the business with her husband and works front-of-house at the restaurant, said the support and love customers have shown the couple has been “amazing”. 

She added: “We started as a family shop 12 years ago. I'm looking through the names of people who've supported us, and they're people that I've known since the beginning. People that have had kids and moved away. It's just blown us away.” 

If you’d like to receive more stories like this and the latest news from Leeds, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

The money raised will go towards some of the changes the new venue, which Jo describes as a “shell”, needs. This includes an extraction and fire suppression systems, minor structural changes, and adaptations to the kitchen and furniture.

Jo said: “But the most important thing, and this is what's always upset me or made me uncomfortable about the unit that we're in now, our toilets are not accessible. 

“We're really excited that we will be more accessible to people who wanted to come to us for so long, but there's just those little things that stop them having an enjoyable night with us.”

Jo said the couple are excited to bring more members of staff on-board too, which in turn should help allow the restaurant to increase their food and wine menu and host private dining.

She added: “We've been squirrelling away money for a while now. Opening a restaurant is so expensive, but it's just so that we don't have to make compromises on those things that we really want to do. 

“The place that we're in at the moment is so small and the kitchen is so small. We've got so little room for such space, which means we can't do much prep and we can't get any more staff in, so that we're so restricted in what we can do. 

“And now we're going to be able to have staff, which means I can take on an apprentice, and we've always wanted to teach somebody.

“It's such a wonderful industry to be in if you really want to do it and you make such great friends. 

“And then I'd love to take, take somebody through from the house as well, because front -of-house, it can be just as much a rewarding career as being a chef. 

“So we want to be able to have an apprentice front of house and apprentice chef, and then it just means so much that we can expand in ways that we've just never been able to do where we are here.”

A stretch target is now in place, of £35,000, which will help the restaurant buy a van to support the catering side of the business.