Revved-Up Gastro

Engine Social brings real culinary pedigree to Calderdale

- John Foster

For foodies in the know, it’s a gem nestling in the former West Yorkshire mill town of Sowerby Bridge. The clean, minimalist brickwork and pared-back sign swinging above the front door give little hint of the plates of joy that lie within.

Juicy green padron peppers sprinkled with Cornish Sea Salt, fat Spanish meatballs bathed in a rich tomato sauce, spiced koftas fragrant with punchy Aleppo chilli. Big flavours, drawn from every corner of the world, are what Engine Social’s owners Wil Akroyd and Mark Kemp are all about.

Wil is local to the area and has worked front of house for many years in restaurants while Mark, the head chef, has a background of working in kitchens like the esteemed El Gato Negro. But getting to this point wasn’t easy. ‘After converting the building we had sleepless nights thinking ‘what have we taken on’? When we opened the doors nearly a year ago we had just 30 pounds left in the bank.’

When Wil and Mark picked up the keys to the former pub it was stripped right back to four brick walls and a single room. ‘We were very lucky with the building, it was a blank canvas to put our own stamp on and we could change our mind. We spent lots of time creating the best interior so when opening night came it was never a case of ‘that could’ve been done that better’, it had to be perfect,’ says Wil.