Harrogate restaurant The Rooftop confirms closure — after just two days

The owner of Harrogate’s newest restaurant The Rooftop has said it has permanently closed — after trading for just two days.

Mason Elyas today told the Stray Ferret he had been involved in a dispute with business partners and planned to take legal action.

Mr Elyas said he had lost £20,000 on the venture but despite this he hoped to open another restaurant in Harrogate once this issue was resolved.

He said:

“Unfortunately we will not be able to reopen. I would like to thank all of the Harrogate people who joined us when we opened.

“There was a great amount of support from everyone.”

Mason Elyas

News of a Mexican tapas restaurant and late night cocktail bar generated a buzz when we reported its opening less than two weeks ago. Hundreds of comments were posted on our Facebook page.

Business was brisk on opening night on Friday, July 28 and also the following day but The Rooftop has remained shut since.

Inside the restaurant

Third restaurant to close quickly

The large upstairs premises above Sukhothai on the corner of Cheltenham Crescent and Cheltenham Parade was home to Le Bistrot Pierre for many years.

Since its demise, three restaurant have opened and closed in little more than a year.

Samsons, which offered fine dining with seasonal Yorkshire produce, welcomed its first customers in March last year.

It closed shortly afterwards in summer for what a spokesperson described as “essential works” but failed to re-open.

HG1 Grill and World Bar lasted even less time when it opened in November last year.

HG1 grill restaurant

However, The Rooftop’s two-day tenure could well be the shortest-lived restaurant in Harrogate’s history.

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New 80-seat restaurant to open in Harrogate on Friday

A new 80-seat independent restaurant with a cocktail bar and terrace will open in Harrogate on Friday.

The Stray Ferret revealed last week HG1 Grill and World Bar was to open in the building formerly occupied by Samsons and Le Bistrot Pierre on Cheltenham Crescent.

New owner Jas Gill has confirmed the venue will open in two days time.

Ms Gill, who is from a property background, has assembled a team including head chef Javier Oitana, general manager Jerome Lacheure and bar manager Joe Oliver.

Customers are able to visit for drinks or to sample the menu.

The grill will provide a wide range of international options and the bar will offer live music and DJ sets as well as cocktails.

Ms Gill said:

“We’ve assembled a team that is passionate about food and what we are trying to achieve.”

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New Harrogate restaurant offering live music to replace Samsons

A new restaurant offering live music is set to open in the Harrogate building formerly occupied by Samsons.

Samsons opened in the former home of Le Bistrot Pierre in Town Centre House on Cheltenham Crescent in March.

But it proved a short-lived venture, closing just months later.

Now signs advertising HG1 Grill and World Bar have gone up on the building.

The Stray Ferret understands the spacious restaurant will offer a seasonal menu featuring Mediterranean cuisine and seafood.

There will also be live music and a cocktail bar.

An opening date has yet to be announced but it is expected to be within days or weeks rather than months

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HG1 grill restaurant

Harrogate town centre restaurant not expected to reopen

A restaurant which opened in central Harrogate earlier this year is understood to have closed permanently.

Samsons began welcoming customers in mid-March, offering fine dining with seasonal Yorkshire produce from the former home of Le Bistrot Pierre in Town Centre House on Cheltenham Crescent.

However, it closed in the summer, when a spokesperson said the closure was temporary for “essential works”.

Now, the Stray Ferret understands, the restaurant will not reopen.

Its website is still taking table bookings, but there have been no new posts on its social media feeds since the end of July.

The company was incorporated in March 7 this year by Thomas Shotton, Duncan Bell and Mark Morris, who was its general manager. Mr Morris resigned as a director on March 23.

On the same date, he resigned as a director of Harrogate Industries Ltd, a company he co-founded last October with Mr Shotton. Mr Bell was then appointed director.

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When the business launched, executive chef Josh Whitehead said it would offer “a taste of Harrogate”. He said, having begun his career in Harrogate, he was looking for a new challenge when he saw the Samsons role advertised and it “stuck out like a sore thumb”.

He was joined in the kitchen by his friend and former colleague Andy Castle, previously head chef at the Ox Club in Leeds.

The Stray Ferret approached Samsons for a comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

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.

New restaurant to open at former Bistrot Pierre site in Harrogate

A new restaurant celebrating “exceptional British produce” is set to open at the former Le Bistrot Pierre site in Harrogate this month.

Work is underway to transform the building into Samsons restaurant and bar, dubbed a “vibrant yet elegant dining and drinking destination”.

The spacious unit on Cheltenham Parade has remained empty since July 2020 after Le Bistrot Pierre became one of the first restaurant casualties of the pandemic.

Managing director Mark Morris said:

“I am thrilled to bring the people of Harrogate and the surrounding area a unique drink and dining location in the heart of the town.”

The team behind Samsons includes executive chef Josh Whitehead, who is known for his work with the Harewood Food and Drink Project. He was also a semi-finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals 2016. Andy Castle, who was head chef at the Ox Club, Leeds, is also involved.

No opening date has been announced yet.

Roof garden

It aims to be the first carbon-neutral restaurant in the UK. This includes plans to launch a full roof garden with a wild flower meadow and bee hives next year.

The ‘design-led’ restaurant, which will offer an all-day dining space with plush booth seating, will have space for up to 182 guests across the main restaurant and bar, as well as a snug room for private wine-tasting.

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Samsons is currently recruiting staff, with a job advertisement for various positions stating:

“Samsons is unique, reflecting its heritage and location, but founded on the core values and principles. Sustainability, provenance, seasonality and traceability shines through.

“We will be striving to be the best restaurant in Harrogate.”

The empty premises were due to be occupied by Tomahawk Steakhouse, however the restaurant chain is now planning to move into Solita Food Hall’s space on Parliament Street, which closed last year after just six months.

The steakhouse had planned to open in January, but with the change of location it is now planning to launch in April.

The site was also formerly Jamie Oliver’s restaurant.