Last night I was invited to Leon in Ludgate for ‘Burger Night’, the launch of their new chicken burger, with less than 1.5% saturated fat. A craving-buster AND low fat… what more could you want?!
My friend Katie and I arrived, not really knowing what to expect. We were warmly greeted by Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder and CEO, and ushered to a long table laid out for us with a mixture of bloggers and Leon employees sat around it.
Leon prides itself in its good, responsibly sourced food. Their vision is the belief that food should taste good and do you good, as well as being accessible for everyone. They want to ‘change the face of fast food’. Currently, they have 11 sites in London, but are looking to expand to 25 by the end of next year. They are a 14-strong team, situated in London Bridge, and as well as some great conversation with Henry, we learned a lot about the contents of the food and the product design processes from Toph, the head of food.
Their locations are perfect for the discerning office worker, keen to go and grab lunch as soon as the clock hits 12.00pm. With locations on the Strand, Bankside and Canon Street (among others) and soon to open More London Place, they are strategically placed to catch the lunch time rush, but also provide on-the-go breakfast or after work casual dinner.
We started off with a vodka zinger (vodka with fresh lemonade) and gazpacho shooters, before being presented with a chicken noodle soup (please forgive my pictures – tricky to make a chicken noodle soup look particularly beautiful, especially only with an iphone camera).
So the chicken noodle soup is mainly a lunch time dish, and is hugely appealing because it is 99 calories. They wanted something that was going to become a Leon classic, and that is simple but flavourful. It is both dairy free and gluten free, and this is achieved by using rice noodles. Usually the broth and the noodles are clear or white, so to add a little bit of colour, a dash of turmeric is added to the water when cooking. Delicious and healthy. Perfect to banish a hangover.
Now onto the main event.
Leon have just launched their new chicken burger. It is made with chicken thigh instead of chicken breast, as it is much more moist and tender. It really did make a difference in the burger, but in a good way! Toph, the Head of Food, told us they char grill the chicken to add more flavour, and have worked on tens of variations of the sauce to go on top.
The relish they serve is a mix of their own tomato sauce with a hint of chilli and mango chutney. The sauce is made from olive oil and mayo with a dash of horseradish and tarragon.
Just to make it even better, they wanted to have the perfect low-fat bun, and brioche is the king in this department. Over time, they whittled down the fat in the bun, until they now contain less than 1.5% saturated fat.
With the burger, was a portion of slaw, and some paprika-covered chips. The slaw was delicious - it was light and tossed in a gentle sesame dressing. It contains three different types of cabbage, peas and lots of herbs. Really light and refreshing.
The wines they source come from Borough Wines, and they change every week. Usually they sell a standard red or white, but the quality of the wines means you are never left disappointed.
As an after-dinner treat, we tried something slightly naughtier from the menu, the truffle and gruyere sauce to dunk chips in.
It was rich and indulgent, and after a big meal we couldn't get through much, but what we did manage to squeeze in was delicious.
The evening ended, and we had a great time. It was so interesting to find out all about the food development, changing seasonal menus and how all the different staff came to be where they are today. Foodie journeys are always completely unique!
As my office is in London Bridge, I am hugely excited for their new site to open in More London Place in November. I grab a Leon for lunch when I can, but it isn't always convenient for me at work. However, this is all set to change and I am looking forward to being able to have Leon for lunch (and dinner) more often!
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