AA honour for top restaurants

The multi-award winning Black Swan at Oldstead near York is one of only three establishments in the country to receive four rosettes today.

The restaurant is run by 26 year-old Tommy Banks, believed to be the youngest Michelin starred chef in Britain.

The Hare Inn at Scawton, near Helmsley, run by head chef Paul Jackson, received three rosettes.

The Black Swan is described by the AA as offering “dazzling intrepid modern cooking on a family farmstead”.

Describing the restaurant, it said: “An appealing stone-built country house out on the North York Moors, The Black Swan has become a coveted destination restaurant in the region, a remarkable achievement for having been brought about without TV appearances or even a book.

“Whether or not Tom Banks chooses in time to head along the media route, nothing can detract from the creative energy currently driving the place. Members of Banks’s team work at least one day a week in the kitchen garden, which helps deepen their understanding of dishes.

The AA also praised the Hare Inn for its “creative modern cooking in an old village inn”.

It said: “The Hare is a 21st-century restaurant in a 13th-century inn, and although there may well be local ales at the pumps, it’s really all about the dazzling cooking of Paul Jackson.

“It certainly looks the part of an old moorland inn, with a rugged exterior painted in pristine white, and indoors there’s plenty of character in the form of original features and some quirky fixtures and fittings. Mr Jackson seeks out the very best ingredients that abound in this part of the world and offers them up in creative ways via fixed-price menus.”

The AA awards are only made twice a year, and recognise restaurants that have shown “great improvement in the culinary standards and service they are providing”.

Simon Numphud, Head of AA hotel services, said: “The restaurants receiving the multi rosette awards should be duly proud of their achievements.

“The four rosettes restaurants can now classify themselves as among the top restaurants in the country where cooking demands national recognition.

“Those with three rosettes are outstanding restaurants that demand recognition well beyond their local area offering sympathetic treatment of the highest quality ingredients with consistent timing, seasoning and judgement of flavour.”

The top awards for the Black Swan and Hare Inn follow in the footsteps of The Burlington at the Devonshire Arms, near Bolton Abbey, which received four rosettes last January. And last year The Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds became the city’s first restaurant in years to gain a coveted Michelin star.

See our review of the Hare at Scawton here

See our review of the Black Swan, Olstead here 

About The Author

Yorkshire Food & Drink

Yorkshire's only dedicated food and drink website from Yorkshire Post Newspapers and its sister titles in the region. Showcasing everything Yorkshire has to offer from the fruits of the sea to the fields of the moors and beyond. It includes unbiased restaurant reviews by renowned food critics, recipes and 'how to' videos from some of Yorkshire's finest chefs and latest food and drink news and blogs from around our amazing county. And you can have your say either on the site or via our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Let us know what you think

comments