For anyone who’s experienced the excellent Six and a Half in Dyson Place, you’ll know the deal: big flavours, great produce and pretty much everything given a lick of flame over the open wood fire.
Now, chef-owner Leslie Buddington has taken that same approach into the city centre with The Other Half, a new spot inside Cambridge Street Collective. The idea is simple – take what people love about Six and a Half, loosen things up a bit and make it work for the walk-in, grab-a-few-plates nature of a food hall.
“I think it makes our cooking style a bit more accessible to everyone,” Leslie tells Exposed. “I think that’s what we really wanted to do here and really create something that is quite unique for Sheffield – there’s nobody cooking over fire in this way, especially in the food hall setting.”
It’s a move that makes plenty of sense. Since opening at Dyson Place, Six and a Half has built a dedicated following around Leslie’s fire-led approach, with seasonal produce and sharing dishes at the centre of things. But it’s also naturally become a destination restaurant – somewhere people make plans to visit.
The walk-in nature of Cambridge Street Collective changes that, opening Leslie’s cooking up to passersby who might fancy giving it a go on a more casual basis. “Hopefully both venues can play off each other. People could try a smaller bite at The Other Half, enjoy it, and book in at Six and a Half for their next occasion,” Leslie says. “Or fans of the restaurant can enjoy the same cooking but over a shorter lunch rather than a three-course meal.”
That doesn’t mean they’ve simply picked up the restaurant’s menu and carted it across town. The Other Half takes the same approach to cooking and adapts it to suit its new surroundings, simplifying dishes without ditching the ideas behind them.
“The menu is completely different, but we’ve taken the style of cooking I do there and adapted it. For example, we have a popular jerk cauliflower dish on the menu at Six and a Half, so here we’ve made it into a cauliflower burger.”
Alongside the burgers, you’ll find beef cheek roly poly, nduja-stuffed chicken wings, tempura cod, flame-grilled steak rolls and charred gochujang hispi cabbage – just some of the highlights from the smaller plates, with the roaring fire remaining at the heart of the operation.
And the timing feels right. Cambridge Street Collective, billed as Europe’s largest purpose-built food hall, has become a major part of the Heart of the City regeneration, alongside neighbouring Leah’s Yard and Pound’s Park. The Other Half puts Leslie’s brand of fire-led cooking right in the middle of what’s quickly become one of the city’s foodie hotspots.
“I just think it’s brilliant for Sheffield,” he says. “There’s a lot of footfall here and, as I’ve been setting this up over the last month, I’ve seen the amount of customers coming through and the interest we’re getting already. It’s fantastic.
“I’m just really looking forward to starting cooking and feeding people, getting properly stuck in.”
