In the last couple of weeks I have, by coincidence, had the rare treat of eating in four of our top ten restaurants, and what a delight. Everyone of them different and all of them operating at the top of their game.
Yorke Arms at Ramsgill in Nidderdale
A night at the Yorke Arms at Ramsgill, presented a sophisticated summer menu full of delicate, fresh flavours sourced from their own veg. garden overflowing with produce.
Then there was our longstanding raffle prize to cash in, a night and dinner at the Pipe and Glass which despite its Michelin star still operates as a pub. We began in the bar with a pint of Two Chefs, the newish honey beer created by the two chefs James Mackenzie and Andrew Pern and a Mason’s Yorkshire gin and tonic, which was astonishingly different to your regular Gordon’s. Dinner was hearty and robust without sacrificing finesse – lovely food firmly set in the region. Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon brought to our room the next day rounded off a terrific stay.
We popped into the Star Inn at Harome one Friday evening on the off-chance and despite a busy bar the charming waiter found us a table, served up a beautiful plate of halibut, heady with truffle, and brought us more of that Two Chefs ale.
Fox & Hounds, Goldsborough, near Whitby
Finally, a birthday celebration took us to another of our favourite places, the Fox and Hounds at Goldsborough. If you’ve never been to this hidden gem, (it really is tucked away on a clifftop hamlet miles from anywhere) then go now. A short but utterly perfectly balanced menu of crab risotto followed by monkfish with polenta doused in Greek olive oil rounded off with a supremely chocolatey chocolate torte.
Four of my all time favourite restaurants, all in Yorkshire. Please send your condolences for these tough assignments.