An ambitious Mediterranean restaurant featuring innovative chef swaps with twinned businesses across Europe is scheduled to open at Weetwood Hall on the outskirts of Leeds in February.

Convive is the brainchild of veteran Yorkshire restaurateur Martin Pickles (left in photo) and his old friend Martin Hicks, managing director of Weetwood Hall.

The pair met when they were both working in London at Langan’s Brasserie, during its heyday in the 1990s. Pickles later owned well-known Leeds venue The Flying Pizza for 10 years, and ran the catering operations of the Garrick Club in London.

He promised that the new-built 120-seater would be the city’s most exciting new venue for years, combining authentic Mediterranean cuisine with the best Yorkshire ingredients.

“A high-end Mediterranean restaurant is what Leeds has been crying out for, and I’m delighted to be back in the city I love.”

The Weetwood Hall hotel, conference and banqueting complex in Headingley is owned by the University of Leeds, which gives it an unusual business model with profits Gift-Aided back into university funds.