So come along and warm up with a Jalfrezi or a North Indian Garlic Chilli. Bay Leaf will be providing some nibbles for the Digbeth Summit on 16th February if you want to have a preview of what they offer.

Bay Leaf
The Green House
2 Gibb Street
Digbeth
B9 4AA

T: 0121 224 7700
E: info@bayleaf-restaurant.co.uk

To take advantage of this generous offer, simply book 24 hours in advance quoting HP20.  Please note that this offer is not valid on 14th February or in conjunction with any other offer.

Hold onto your popcorn – it’s not long until Flatpack Festival, one of the most innovative film festivals in the country, returns to Digbeth in March.

There will be shows at the Custard Factory as well as Eastside Projects and many other venues around Birmingham. For up to date details of the programme, which are being added to regularly, visit the Flatpack Festival website.

If you want to get involved with the festival as more than just a spectator, the Flatpack’s organisers are looking for super duper volunteers! To find out more about volunteering, and the rewards of doing so, click here.

The Livewell Clinic is opening at the Custard Factory in February; to celebrate, they are holding a Natural Health Fair in March.

Visit the Custard Factory to enjoy a wide range of natural therapies including Shiatsu, massage, Tai Chi and Pilates. It is completely free to attend, but ensure to register here to get your ticket.

In my role as the Director of Legacy WM, I have been working on the ‘Bangla food journeys’ over the last year. I have researched the early arrival of Bangladeshi people into the UK and looked at the food that they ate when they arrived in the 50/60s. I have interviewed first generation Bangladeshi people and collected their experiences of when they first arrived. I have also interviewed a few English people on their experiences of when they first met Bangladeshi people. Finally, I have interviewed younger Bangladeshi people and collected their stories and recipes. This information has been used to produce a beautiful book.

The book was officially launched on the 15th Jan 2012 at the Drum and it was a great success

I would like invite you to the promotion on the 9th February at 6.30pm at Bay Leaf. The evening will include light refreshments and a presentation from me. This will be followed by a discounted two course Bangladeshi meal for only £9.90. The project has been funded by Heritage Lottery Fund. You will get a free signed copy of the book.

Place are limited so, please confirm your attendance by e-mailing aftab.rahman1@yahoo.co.uk to avoid disappointment.

Kind regards

Aftab Rahman
Managing Director

Bay Leaf
Café – Bar – Restaurant
www.bayleaf-restaurant.co.uk
0121 224 7700

The New York Times, arguably one of the most well-known newspapers in the world, recently ranked Birmingham at Number 19 in their list of the 45 Places to Go in 2012.

This is an excerpt from the article:

“Could England’s second city be first in food?

Olive, the BBC’s food magazine, recently startled British gourmands when it declared Birmingham, England’s second largest city, the United Kingdom’s “foodiest town,” ahead of London and Edinburgh. The award came last October, just as Birmingham was hosting an annual festival, the 10-day Birmingham Food Fest, which featured such local talents as Aktar Islam of Lasan Restaurant; up-and-comers like David Colcombe of Opus, Andy Waters of Edmunds Restaurant and Steve Love of Loves Restaurant; and a troika of Michelin-starred chefs: Glynn Purnell of Purnell’s; Andreas Antona, Luke Tipping and Adam Bennett of Simpsons Restaurant; and Richard Turner of Turners of Harborne.

The chefs are building on an already rich dining scene. Birmingham is famous in Britain for its Balti Triangle, an area of town that is home to a beloved Pakistani-Kashmiri curry dish invented here; it is also birthplace to such classically British food items as Typhoo Tea, Bird’s Custard and HP Sauce.”

High praise indeed!

Although this is not Digbeth news per se, it’s great news for the city as a whole, and with Digbeth being so close to the city centre, we will inevitably benefit from this. More importantly, Digbeth is the birthplace of Typhoo Tea and Bird’s Custard. If anyone wants to come visit these places, then Welcome to Digbeth Bab!

Quite a lot actually.

Digbeth Resident’s Association Chairperson Val recently sent me a link to this article on the Guardian. Although I don’t fully agree with the author, I do agree on the main point of his article: HS2 is a HUGE cost to the tax payer. And call me stupid, but I was pretty sure we were/are in the midst of an economic crisis?

Birmingham architect Joe Holyoak, who has offices in the Custard Factory put it like this:

“I am very concerned about the impact of the HS2 station upon the relationship between Digbeth and the city centre. The station threatens to reproduce the barrier between the two which the previous elevated ring road represented. The removal of the ring road, and the establishment of better ground level connections, was the first act of the Eastside team following the Eastside designation. HS2 would reverse this accessibility, with Bordesley Street and Fazeley Street being blocked. Between Selfridges and the old Curzon Street Station building, there will be no way of walking between Digbeth and the city centre.”

The proposed HS2 station is discussed in the Eastside Masterplan (file download), which is available from the Birmingham City Council website. If you don’t agree with anything in the document, make sure your voice is heard!

Consultation for the Eastside Masterplan is open until 23rd March 2012; make your comments by emailing bigcityplan@birmingham.gov.uk.

Remember that HS2 and its affect on Digbeth will be discussed at the Digbeth Summit on 16th February. If you’d like to attend, make sure to RSVP!

It may seem a long way off, but October and the Birmingham Book Festival will be here before you know it!

The festival organisers are currently running a short story competition. Try your hand at writing a story between 1000-2000 words on the theme of clocks.

The winner will recieve £100 and a writing workshop of their choice, and there are also runner-up prizes. Hurry though, the deadline for entries is 31st January 2012.

50% off for January at Bay Leaf
To welcome in the New Year we are offering 50% off your entire food bill. So come along and enjoy your favourite dish, whether that is Monkfish with aloo, Lamb shank pumpkin or the more traditional Chicken tikka masala. This is for evening dining for the whole month of January every day of the week. To take advantage of this generous offer simply book 24hrs in advance and quote HP12. This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other offers.

We look forward to welcoming you to Bay Leaf soon.

The Bay Leaf restaurant is situated in the Custard Factory, in the corner by the oval fountain.

With 50% off and delicious food to boot, my spidey senses predict a new year stampede. Enjoy!

Bangla Food Journeys

The book will be launched on Sunday 15th January at The Drum on Potters Lane in Aston. Although the launch is not taking place in Digbeth, Aftab is a keen supporter of Digbeth Residents Association and the community as a whole, and a book launch is certainly something to be celebrated!

The event is RSVP, and you can do so by emailing Raihan Hussain.

Some more interesting animation from BCU students. The one above is a rather brilliant walk through Digbeth’s colourful history whilst the one below follows a family of ducks on their journey down the River Rea into Digbeth:

Enter Digbeth and the sky turns grey and cold,
All of the buildings are derelict and old…

And this one shows us what the Custard Factory has to offer: