Surroundings can make quite a difference to some meals. I’ve had opinions related to me suggesting it’s impossible to enjoy a meal in some locations and, while I can see merit in the suggestion, it’s not something I subscribe to. I’ll ignore most decorative faux-pas if the food is good enough, but that’s not to…
I’ve had a curious blind spot for Hotel du Vin for a number of years. Despite being a well reputed bolthole close to the centre of York, I’ve somehow contrived to avoid it since 2013 it seems, based on my occasionally shaky memory. With that in mind, I was all too eager to accept a…
Any opportunity to eat food from a Michelin Starred chef is a thing to be grasped with both hands. A set menu for a very reasonable price with input from a well-reputed forager makes the occasion even more special, so the idea of dinner cooked under the watchful eye of Andrew Pern featuring ingredients from…
Sometimes the best parts of something new can feel comfortingly familiar. Sticky Walnut Chester has the reputation for dishes with a happily old fashioned basis but which are underpinned by a thoroughly modern commitment to engagement through social media thanks to chef patron Gary Usher. Usher has become a well known figure in the hospitality…
I can scarcely believe another year has gone by and that we’re already set to drop into 2019. 2018 was another year of growth for the food scene in York with high profile new openings and expansions from established locals complementing one another. New development Spark also broadened the city’s horizons. On a personal level,…
The UK’s best towns for foodies and top 100 Restaurants are revealed today in Harden’s Best UK Restaurants 2019. Harden’s 28th annual poll surveyed 8,000 diners who contributed 50,000 reviews, which, as analysed and curated by the editors, form the basis for Harden’s inclusions, ratings and reviews. This year saw a surge in interest in the York…
The Vice & Virtue team are on a bit of a roll at the moment. The titular bar continues to win plaudits for its cocktails and fine dining and it’s only a few short weeks since I was there to attend the preview for their new Pudsey based restaurant and coffee shop, Feed. That impressive…
Lunch can be such a precious refuge from the workplace. I’ve spent many days cowering behind a desk desperately looking forward to an hour long escape from the day’s mundanities, always debating what kind of indulgence is justified after enduring yet another morning of tiresome meetings and reputation making. The centre of York has a…
It’s a tough thing to build a reputation as a restaurant when you’re based in a hotel. For reasons that have always been slightly beyond my grasp, the challenge involved in convincing non-residents to make a few steps from their usual route is a significant one regardless of the quality of the restaurant in question.…
It’s something of an understatement to say that the last few years have seen an upwards trajectory for The Black Swan at Oldstead and the Banks family. Since taking over the kitchen at Oldstead, Tommy Banks has retained its Michelin star, won Great British Menu twice and seen TripAdvisor name the restaurant the Best Fine Dining…