Sneak Peek: New brasserie and bar will offer ‘a taste of Harrogate’

One thing Harrogate isn’t short of is restaurants.

However the team behind Samsons brasserie and bar, which opens its doors tomorrow, is confident their new venture will stand out from the crowd.

Executive chef Josh Whitehead, who is known for his work with the Harewood Food and Drink Project, is heading up a talented kitchen team. He was also a semi-finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals 2016.

The bar will serve a range of beverages including cocktails, beer and spirits.

His menu will focus on “real cookery”, using quality British produce that has been mainly sourced from within a small radius of the restaurant, which is based at the former Le Bistrot Pierre site on Cheltenham Crescent.

Mr Whitehead said:

“We are buying really good, really local produce and presenting it in a really accessible way for everyone.

“It’s British ingredients, British cooking and finding a way to replace what you would normally get from other countries. For example instead of olive oil, we will use rapeseed oil from Wharfe Valley Farms in Collingham.”

The menu will offer a taste of the local area and ingredients will include Harrogate’s iconic Stray cherry blossoms.

Dishes start from £4 for small plates, classic starters from £6 and mains from £14.

Signature dishes will include duck crumpets.

The dining area seats up to 80 people.

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Mr Whitehead said:

“We will be offering a taste of Harrogate, which you won’t be able to get anywhere else.

“It’s a really exciting time. My first ever kitchen job was in Harrogate around 10 years ago in what was Restaurant Bar and Grill on Parliament Street, which is now Piccolinos.

“I’ve always thought something like this needs to be in Harrogate. I don’t want to say it’s like a homecoming, but it’s quite cool that this is the biggest job I’ve had thus far in the same place I started.

“I was looking for next challenge and this one just stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Mr Whitehead will be reunited in the kitchen with his best friend and former colleague Andy Castle, who was head chef at the Ox Club in Leeds.

The famous cherry blossoms will also feature as garnish on the extensive cocktail menu, which will feature 12 classic and 15 signature cocktails, all of which have been given Harrogate-themed names.

The name of the restaurant is also linked to the town.

Managing director of Samsons, Mark Morrison, who moved to Harrogate from London seven years ago, said:

“There was a chap called Samson Fox who brought the first street lights to the world. He was also quite philanthropic, he did a lot of work helping the poor. He built the Royal Academy of Music, which happens to be in London, not far from where I grew up. So there’s a nice link there.

“But when I was looking around for things about Samson Fox, there was one brown plaque 12 streets away on his old house at Grove Road and that’s it.

“And this is the only three-time mayor of Harrogate, a significant figure, and nothing really to celebrate him or his life.

“It’s a nice name for a restaurant.”

Samsons, which is described as “a light, airy design-led space”, seats up to 80 people in the restaurant and 20 people in the bar area. There is also additional seating on the outdoor terrace,  which is set to launch in the warmer months.

Bring in the New Year with these 3 simple cocktails from Harrogate bartenders

After the headache of the last few months of 2021, I’m sure we could all use a strong drink when the clock strikes midnight.

Whether you’re isolating and planning to live it up at a virtual zoom party or you’re just chilling out on the sofa watching Jools Holland, we rounded up three simple cocktail recipes from Harrogate bartenders that will help you enter 2022 in style.

So get dressed up (or don’t) and raise a glass to better days ahead.

Pink 75 – Banyan 

Jack Whiting, bar supervisor, said:

“This is a nice one for New Year as it includes prosecco and you serve it in a champagne flute. You can garnish it with orange or put a flower in it, so it looks quite nice. I make it at home with my family all the time. It’s quite easy so anyone can make it.”

Pink 75

Ingredients

15ml Tanqueray gin

15ml Chambord liqueur 

15ml lemon juice 

15ml sugar syrup

Prosecco to top it up

Method

Add all the ingredients, apart from the prosecco, to a cocktail shaker with ice (about half the shaker) and shake. If you don’t have sugar syrup, you can make this by mixing sugar with boiling water and cooling it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Pour through a strainer into a champagne flute and top up with prosecco.

Garnish with a slice of orange or a flower.

Espresso martini – Foundry Project

Jody Shearer, bookings manager, said:

“It’s perfect for New Year’s Eve as it is easy to make and the caffeine kick keeps you going through the night!”

Espresso martini

Ingredients

25ml Kahlua 

25ml Absolut vodka 

12.5 ml vanilla syrup or vanilla vodka for an extra kick

50ml freshly ground coffee

Method

Measure all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake.

Pour through a strainer into a coupe cocktail glass and serve with a coffee bean garnish.

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White Stray – Three’s a Crowd

Francesco Deleo, bartender, said:

“This is a good one for New Year’s Eve as it’s a nice looking cocktail and it’s easy to make. People love Kahlua and Frangelico. Your friends will be jealous when you make it. You also don’t need a cocktail shaker.”

White Stray

Ingredients

20ml Jack Daniels 

20ml Frangelico hazelnut liqueur 

20ml Kahlua

50ml (approx) double or squirty cream

Large marshmallow to garnish

Method

Pour the ingredients, apart from the cream, into a whisky tumbler, top with ice and stir.

Top-up with the double or squirty cream

If you have a chef’s blowtorch, use this to toast the marshmallow, if not use gas or a lighter, then serve it on top of the cream.

Francesco Deleo, bartender at Three’s a Crowd, makes a White Stray cocktail.

Three local gin cocktail recipes to get you in an Autumnal mood

As the leaves start to turn and the cool crisp Autumn air sets in, we tend to seek out more earthy autumnal flavours when it comes to our tipples.

Yep, seasonal drinks are totally a thing.

And there’s nothing like a good gin to warm the cockles when it starts getting cold outside and the nights begin to draw in.

In the Harrogate district, we are fortunate enough to have some of the best distilleries in the country.

Bar manager at Harrogate’s West Park Hotel Jordan Davis said there was a huge gin scene in Harrogate – unlike anywhere he had seen before.

He said:

“With the beautiful distilleries we have that’s no surprise. Our Masons range and Slingsby Rhubarb Gin are the clear favourites amongst them all.

“Our best selling gin cocktail would have to be either the Yorkshire Tea Negroni, or our Rhubarb and Wild Berry Sour.”

The Yorkshire Tea Negroni, a signature West Park cocktail, featuring Masons Yorkshire gin, Campari Martini Rosso and cranberry bitters.

Three Harrogate gin producers share their favourite Autumn cocktails

Slingsby Harrogate – Blackberry Sour

Slingby’s Blackberry Sour

Starting out as a flavour exclusively enjoyed by visitors to The Spirit of Harrogate store, Slinsgby decided to launch its Blackberry Gin last month after receiving rave reviews. The new gin was released to coincide with the traditional blackberry picking season and has been designed encompass an array of autumnal flavour

With floral hints of violet, followed by notes of rich blackberry jam and a beautifully sweet finish, it makes for the ideal base for this delicious Blackberry Sour recipe, a personal favourite of Slingsby senior marketing executive, Rebekha White.

INGREDIENTS

35ml Slingsby Blackberry Gin

15ml Slingsby Rhubarb Gin 

25ml Lemon juice 

10ml Hibiscus syrup 

Egg white (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Shake all of the ingredients together and then double strain into a coupe glass. To finish, garnish the glass with an edible flower or a lemon twist.

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Harrogate Tipple – Blueberry Fields

 

Whittaker’s – 007 Martini

Whittaker’s 007 Martini

There’s no escaping the huge fanfare surrounding the long-awaited Autumn release of the latest James Bond movie, No Time To Die.

So as we say goodbye to the summer – and Daniel Craig – Whittaker’s has come up with this tasty little number, that is guaranteed to make you feel shaken and not stirred.

Toby Whittaker, co-founder of Whittaker’s, which is based in Dacre Banks, said:

“We have chosen this recipe incorporating our Navy Strength Gin as a nod to Commander Bond’s Royal Navy Heritage and obviously the Martini ‘shaken not stirred’, as this is his tipple of choice.”

INGREDIENTS

50ml Whittaker’s Barley Mow Vodka

15ml Whittaker’s Navy Strength Gin

15ml Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth

10ml Olive brine

INSTRUCTIONS