A TASTE of the American Deep South has arrived in Yeadon with the launch of a restaurant serving soul food.

Holy Moly’s Deep South Kitchen on High Street is being billed as the first of its kind in the North and aims to tempt diners with traditional Southern fare ranging from grits, gumbo and biscuits with gravy along with specialities such as 'gator' meat. The new restaurant from the creators of Huckleberry’s American Diner, was launched this week. It aims to use fresh, authentic produce to create dishes inspired by the soulful flavours of Mississippi, Louisiana, Memphis, Nashville, Alabama and New Orleans.

Challenge dishes will also be on the menu, with five mammoth man v food contests available including the Meat Marathon which carries a £100 cash reward if completed inside 40 minutes and the 'Termigator', an 8lb monster of a challenge featuring two cajun gator burgers.

Food challenges at Holy Moly’s are designed by Adam Moran, the UK’s leading competitive eater and a Guinness Book of Records world record holder. New challenges will be created throughout the year to test the biggest appetites.

The restaurant's director and co owner Simon Robinson, said: "An authentic Deep South inspired eatery is a first for the region – we are truly dedicated to the delicious taste of the southern states and there’s just nothing else like it on the restaurant scene at the moment. We’re aiming to take our customers on a real road trip through America’s Deep South. This goes beyond your usual fried chicken dishes — foods that fall under the umbrella of the Deep South include grits, ground corn kernels boiled up with water or milk; gumbo, a wholesome stew-like dish made with fresh seafood or meat and okra, and po’boys, a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana.

"We wanted to introduce something completely different for diners and move away from traditional American diner type food. We’ve seen a growing trend in burger joints opening, a love of 'dirty food' and endless steak and chicken diners opening all serving the same food. So, the logical step for us was to delve even further into US food, and Deep South food is absolutely delicious."

Holy Moly’s will cater for 100 diners and the launch of two new restaurants in both Yeadon and York have led to a recruitment drive for chefs and servers.