This story is sponsored by Grantley Hall

If you’re looking for a touch of magic this Christmas, Grantley Hall is on hand to make all your Christmas wishes come true.

As the most wonderful time of the year fast approaches, the five-star options on offer at the hotel will bring friends and families a taste of luxury and is just on the district’s doorstep.

From festive parties and Christmas lunches to festive afternoon tea and New Year celebrations, Christmas at Grantley Hall promises to be nothing short of perfection.

Festive Dining

Grantley Hall, better know as indulgence on our doorstep, will boast range of festive dining options to be enjoyed by locals and hotel guests this Christmas.

Whether you’re looking for a long lunch with friends or a seasonal afternoon tea with family, the hotel can guarantee you will leave with a belly full of Christmas spirit!

Why not kick-start December with a reservation at the festive champagne lunch on 2 December. This lunch combines a three-course lunch crafted by Grantley’s top chefs including a half bottle of Veuve Clicquot per person. Whilst enjoying the delightful food, a DJ and saxophonist will entertain.

From edible Christmas trees and chocolate reindeer to French fancies and glittering bauble cakes, the Festive Afternoon Tea will truly make you wish it was Christmas everyday.

Experience a magical Grantley Hall Christmas

Après at the Orchard

The Après alpine winter wonderland at the Orchard is reopening on 4 November. Dine in a cosy winter themed restaurant whilst enjoying the new menu as well as indulge in the Möet & Chandon champagne cocktails which have been created specifically to pair with the menu. Book to attend the spectacular launch event on 3 November.

The hughely popular Sunday sessions will be returning over the winter months.

Christmas Parties

Picture this: Champagne flowing, friends laughing and snowflakes glistening. Well, with Grantley Hall’s Christmas Parties, that can soon become a reality.

Who needs to travel when the Grantley Suite can become a magical winter wonderland?

With a private bar, dance floor and terrace area, up to 150 guests can dance the night away and celebrate the party season in style.

If that wasn’t enough, guests can expect a four-course dinner including Braised Blade of Limousin Beef and a Glazed Raspberry Délice in between the partying.

Let Grantley Hall work its magic and make it a Christmas to remember with their seasonal celebrations.

All Christmas bookings can be made now on Grantley Hall’s website or by emailing either dine@grantleyhall.co.uk or events@grantleyhall.co.uk.

New Year’s Eve Gala Ball

As a fairy Godmother once said: you will go to the ball.

Ditch the midnight countdown from your sofa and get your glad rags on, as the Grantley Hall New Year’s Eve Gala Ball fast approaches!

Expect an evening of exquisite food, including Dressed Crab and Yorkshire Salt Aged Beef Fillet, flowing drinks and only the happiest of memories.

This dazzling event will whisk you and your loved ones into 2024 with the sounds of a traditional pipes, a live firework display and even more bubbly at midnight.

Just a short taxi ride from Harrogate and Ripon, embrace the luxury on offer at Grantley Hall — after all, that level of enjoyment is hard to put a price on.

Celebrate the arrival of 2024 in style at the Grantley Hall New Year’s Eve House Party!

For those looking to go the extra mile this Christmas or New Year, Grantley Hall also offers two or three-night stays with its Christmas House Party and New Year House Party Packages — who says you have to travel far for ultimate grandeur?

The packages include five-star accommodation, food and spa access, with added bonuses of National Trust visits and entertainment.

So, whether you’re looking for a festive getaway, a family affair or just a good old knees up, Grantley Hall is guaranteed to bring you and your loved ones a Christmas or New Year that is nothing short of perfection.

Find out more about the packages or non-residential options available at Grantley Hall at grantleyhall.co.uk

Legendary chef Marco Pierre White started his culinary career in Harrogate four decades ago.

Since then, Marco has gone on to lead the country’s restaurant scene and helped kick-start the careers of chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal.

Later this month he is returning to the town he calls one of his “spiritual homes” to host a three-day food festival.

He spoke to the Stray Ferret about learning the trade in Harrogate, favourite Yorkshire restaurants and… tripe.

‘First break in life’

Forty five years ago a young Marco Pierre White was instructed by his dad to go and search for work in Harrogate. This was because it was less than 10 miles away from his Leeds home and crammed with hotels.

So one morning in March 1978, sandwiches in hand, he caught the bus to the town, went to the St George Hotel, on Ripon Road, and knocked on the kitchen door.

He said:

“I was there for about a year. I didn’t learn much about cooking. That’s the truth. But what I did learn was how to use a knife well. I learned how to absorb pressure, I learned to be organised. I learned to work hard. Very hard.

“I also used to stand and watch the chef, Stefan Wilkinson, do the pass. He was the greatest at doing the pass that I ever saw. He gave me my first break in life for which I’m very grateful for.

“I learned a lot there, but not about food.”

Marco said his time at the Harrogate hotel was very important as it prepared him for his role at The Box Tree in Ilkley.

The famous Yorkshire restaurant opened in 1963 and was one of the first four restaurants in the UK to hold two Michelin stars.

Marco began working in the kitchen at the age of 17 in 1979, where he remained for two years.

He said:

“In those days it was one of only four restaurants in Britain to have two Michelin stars. A lot of people regarded it as the best restaurant in Britain at the time.”

‘Spiritual home’

While he hasn’t visited Yorkshire since 2019 as a result of the pandemic, he is looking forward to returning to Harrogate on October 28 for his three-day food festival.

He said:

“I always say Harrogate is one of my spiritual homes.”

And while he hasn’t dined out in the region for almost four years, he credits his favourite Yorkshire restaurant as the Cleveland Tontine, Northallerton.

He said:

“I’ve been there many, many times. My friend Eugene has left there and now he has got the Crathorne Arms, just outside Northallerton. He’s a very good chef and cooks food you want to eat.

“But when I was a boy, Harrogate had restaurants like the Drum and Monkey (which is still open today) and we had Oliver’s and Number Six. The first ever posh restaurant I took a girl to was Oliver’s in Harrogate. We both had beef wellington and a langoustine cocktail.”

Marco also recommends Simon Shaw’s tapas restaurant, El Gato Negro, in Leeds, where he plans to dine ahead of the food festival.

The Great White Food Festival

The Great White Food Festival will be held at the Harrogate Convention Centre and Royal Hall from October 28-30 and is expected to attract around 15,000 visitors.

Marco said:

“It’s basically a celebration of food and there will be lots of artisan producers who make things like salami, pork pies and black pudding.

“There will be produce like smoked salmon and haddock. In my opinion Alfred Enderby, from Grimsby, smokes the best smoked haddock in the world and they are coming.

“Redefine Meat are coming who make vegetarian steaks.

“Pierre Koffmann, Simon Shaw, Jean-Christophe Novelli and I will be doing masterclasses. There are a lot of chefs doing them.

“But it’s a celebration of Yorkshire really and all those individuals who contribute to it being wonderful.”

And his favourite Yorkshire dish?

“Tripe. Tripe is one of the most delicious things on earth. There used to be a tripe shop in Leeds Market. They used to hang it in all the butchers’ shops. People used to eat it cold with malt vinegar, black pepper and salt.”

• For more information about the Great White Food Festival and to book tickets, click here.

She was one of Britain’s first female chefs to win a Michelin star. Now, Frances Atkins could be in the running for the prestigious accolade again.

Paradise Cafe at Daleside Nurseries, in Killinghall, has been chosen as one of six of the inspectors’ favourite new additions to appear in the Michelin Guide this month.

This means the lakeside restaurant, which only opened its doors in April, could now be up for a Michelin star or Bib Gourmand.

Ms Atkins said:

“As a new business, we are delighted.

“It doesn’t make any difference in terms of what we offer. We will continue to to do what we do, which is to use fresh foods we produce ourselves, grown here at Daleside.”

A scallops dish.

Ms Atkins held a coveted star for 16 of the 23 years she was chef-patron of The Yorke Arms at Ramsgill in Nidderdale. Although she sold the business in 2017, she continued to work for its new owner until 2020, when it closed as a restaurant as a result of the pandemic.

With two long-term Yorke Arms colleagues, John Tullett, general manager and front of house, and head chef Roger Olive, she bought a silver Airstream caravan and parked it at Daleside.

The Paradise Cafe Airstream caravan.

From here, the trio served  began serving food on disposable bamboo plates for 18 months, before moving into the long-planned 80-seat cafe.

The Michelin Guide entry says:

“It may be a garden centre café, but this is not just any old garden centre café: it’s located in a separate building for a start – a spacious and smart modern space with a jewel of a terrace overlooking a lake.

“And then there’s the food: a frequently changing, seasonal menu bursting with delightful dishes which are fresh, unfussy and full of flavour.

“Come for coffee and cake, breakfast, brunch or lunch; there’s plenty for vegetarians and vegans – and a chef’s table if you’d like to watch and chat to the chefs as they work. Do book ahead, as the aptly named café is likely to be busy.”

Paradise Cafe is open Tuesday until Sunday, from 10am until 4pm.

Dinner is available on Friday evenings from 7pm.

Read more:

• Sneak Peak: Paradise arrives in Killinghall
• Michelin-starred chef’s new cafe to open at Killinghall nursery this month

Killinghall, the large village near Harrogate with little to offer visitors, is having a moment.

A Tesco Express opened today on the site of the former Three Horseshoes pub on Ripon Road. Tomorrow, an 80-seat cafe offering food cooked by a Michelin-starred chef will open a short stroll down the road at Daleside Nurseries.

On April 8, the Old Spring Well at the other end of the village will re-open as The Curious Cow of Harrogate, promising a high-end dining experience.

Finally it seems people may have a reason to visit Killinghall other than to view new houses.

Large plants grown in hothouses are a prominent design feature.

Plants to buy and eat

The creation of Paradise Cafe has particularly caught the imagination because it fuses two successful local businesses on one site.

Daleside Nurseries has been operating in the village since 1958; Frances Atkins, Roger Olive and John Tullett forged a formidable reputation for food 20 years ago at the Yorke Arms at Ramsgill, where Ms Atkins became the first British female chef to win a Michelin star in 2003.

For 18 months the trio operated out of a van in the Daleside car park, which seemed as incongruous as seeing Ronaldo having a kickabout on The Stray.

But finally the long-planned 80-seat cafe is ready to welcome its first customers.

Situated at the rear of the nursery, the cafe has a light and airy modern feel, with large plants grown in hothouses liberally dotted around. The plants, like the art on the walls, are for sale.

The chef’s table at Paradise Cafe.

The cafe will open from 9am to 5pm six days a week and on Friday evenings.

An outdoor area overlooking the lake outside the café is due to open later this year, catering for another 80 people.

Main courses from £14 to £20

On arrival, diners are able to sit at the chef’s table directly opposite the kitchen and watch the food being prepared.

As for the menu, it includes several small plates for starters, main courses, sandwiches made with home-made bread, pastries and pudding.

Main courses include limed and ginger seared scallops, Swiss potato cake, artichoke and apple for £14, crispy duck pancake, crunchy greens and red orange gel for £15 and dry-aged Yorkshire beef steak, baked stuffed garlic potato, crisp leaf and aubergine relish for £20.

A scallops dish

Ms Atkins says the menu will change frequently but the idea is to combine plant-based food with produce from local farmers. Local cheeses will be sold at a later date.

“This is what we perceive as being healthy food, full of flavour, made with great ingredients.

“We want people to be relaxed. It’s not about how great we are. It’s about how great the food is.”

Chefs Frances Atkins and Roger Olive in the kitchen.

Stuart Townsend, managing director of Daleside, said this was the biggest improvement in Daleside’s 64-year history.

“It broadens our offering. I love growing good quality plants and Frances and her team enjoy serving good quality food so it seems the perfect fit.

“People expect more from nurseries and garden centres these days. We want to grow top quality plants and we want to sell top quality food.”

I can still remember watching Shaun Rankin make his famous treacle tart on The Great British Menu in 2009.

I used to be a regular viewer of the BBC 2 series back in the day — and like Greg Wallace, I never forget a good pud.

So I was genuinely looking forward to meeting the Michelin Star chef, who has returned to his North Yorkshire roots at the helm of his eponymous restaurant at Grantley Hall.

I managed to get lost on my way to the Grade II listed luxury hotel, despite being there twice before. And using a sat nav. So we had a good laugh about my terrible sense of direction, before we sat down for a coffee in the dining room.

It was certainly an opulent backdrop for an interview. The sprawling estate on the outskirts of Ripon was established at the end of the 17th century, its Palladian-style mansion boasting a rich history having been home to lords and ladies and hosted countless society dinner dances. So the restaurant, which was once a ballroom, is obviously a grand affair. Definitely Bridgeton territory.

Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall. Photograph: Jack Hardy.

Yorkshire lad

Born in Richmond, Shaun, who turns 50 in March, is a Yorkshire lad.

He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a chef, often cooking with his mother at home in County Durham, where he grew up.

He said:

“Every chef always says their mum was a good cook. And she was. She was a great baker. She was one of those ladies who cooked on a Sunday. I used to help her with her Sunday roasts and make Yorkshire puddings, mash the potatoes and all that kind of stuff at the age of 13 or 14.

“I used to help make scones, apple pies, mince pies and things like that. And those things were used at the beginning of the week. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the bakery products were then used to feed you through the week.

“It was quite a simple upbringing. Mum and dad were divorced, so it was only mum that brought me and my brother up.”

At the age of 16, Shaun went to London to complete a three-year apprenticeship at the five-star May Fair, Ritz and Savoy hotels in London.

He said:

“I went to London as a bit of an escape. From the world of simple things really.

“It opened your eyes to luxury, to food, restaurants and the scene of hospitality. Things you’d never seen before in your life. Things you’d only seen on TV or read.

“That’s where I kind of cut my teeth.

“At that age I didn’t know what a Jerusalem artichoke looked like. So it was a learning curve from all aspects — it was life-changing.

” I liked the idea of cooking, so then from there it just became a passion.

“It just becomes your life. You get so enthralled in it all, that you just get carried away with it.”

After completing his apprenticeship, he returned to North Yorkshire in 1992 to work at one of the most prestigious restaurants in the UK at the time, the Black Bull in Moulton, near Richmond.

He said:

“That was a notorious fish restaurant, so I learned lots about fish, lobster, crabs, langoustines. All those really fab ingredients from the coastal areas.

“I was there for about two years and then the head chef said to me ‘it’s time to go’. So he found me a job in Jersey.”

Turning point

Shaun went on to spend much of his career in Jersey, eight years of which were dedicated to the Relais and Chateaux Hotel Longueville Manor. He opened his first restaurant as head chef, Bohemia in 2003, gaining a Michelin Star two years later.

In 2013, after nine years at Bohemia, the rising star went on to open the much-awaited Ormer in Jersey, winning a Michelin Star just four months later. In 2016 he opened its sister restaurant, Ormer Mayfair, bringing the tastes and produce of Jersey to London.

Fondly reminiscing about his time in Jersey, he said:

“That just opened my eyes again to what a different world we live in. Island life. I really fell in love with ingredients.

When you are island-locked, you start to understand exactly what is in abundance and what is sustainable and the carbon footprint of the produce that you use. You’ve got to be shipping in a lot of your meat protein because it’s unavailable on an island.

“But you understand the asparagus grower, the strawberry grower, the guy that grows the watercress, the Jersey Royal is phenomenal, all the vegetables that are grown on the island.

“So you really get a sense of community and you understand what goes into the produce and how hard it is to produce.

“That’s where the whole thing changed for me. As a 22-year-old it kind of clicked. And I knew this was the path, it’s all about ingredients, it’s all about respect for it and you need to try and bring this carbon footprint down.”

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Sustainability

And it is this sustainability approach that he has brought with him to Grantley Hall.

He said:

“The food philosophy has to be that produce is sourced from all around Yorkshire. Of course we go to the coast to get seafood and we go to Scotland to get shellfish, but 95 per cent of the time everything is from a 20 to 30 mile radius and that’s our platform.”

Shaun uses R&J farmers and butchers, from Kirkby Malzeard, and Farmison butchers, based in Ripon, to source meat.

He said:

“All the cattle is full breed and full carcass cut, so that means there is no wastage and that’s really important for us.”

Shaun also uses ingredients from the kitchen garden at Grantley, which supplies 70 per cent of the restaurant’s produce throughout the year.

He added:

“For the rest of it we forage. Things which are around us like rosehips, elderberries, elderflowers, pineapple weed. All these things that are around the areas and local to us. We use those and we create the platform for the dishes.”

The restaurant is set within Ripon’s 17th century mansion, Grantley Hall. Photograph: Jack Hardy

In fact, if it’s not from the UK, it won’t make an appearance on the menu. This is something he takes a tough stance on.

He said:

“We don’t use olive oil, we use rapeseed oil, we use all of these substitutions all the way through. We don’t use or make pasta, because it’s not what we are.

“Everything is very traditional but reflected in a different modern cooking way and method.

“Hence the menu is called a Taste of Home.”

Taste of Home

And a taste of home it truly is. The current 10-course dining experience, which changes throughout the seasons, features dishes including Bread, Butter, Dripping and Beef Tea, which is bound to evoke memories of a traditional Yorkshire upbringing for many.

And of course the famous Treacle Tart and Clotted Cream makes an appearance.

Shaun said:

“It’s about what a taste of home means. It means that we remember nostalgic parts of our childhood and memories that take us back. It’s led by food and combinations of flavours and textures.

“We take all of the ingredients during the course of the spring and the summer and we will use them in their natural process, but will then savour them and will pickle them, ferment them or preserve them in some way so we can use them in the winter.

“We don’t use things like pineapple, mango or coconut, again we don’t use anything that isn’t from the UK.

“That’s a really strong message for us. For this sustainable carbon footprint approach to this restaurant.

“I’ve been flying this flag since I was 20 in Jersey, and now I am even more determined for it to be that way.

“As a chef, I’m also a teacher, so it’s important to teach my brigade – the chefs that work in the restaurant who are the next generation – that you don’t have to put a menu together with a load of avocados and tuna and passion fruit, pineapple and mangos.

“You can use what is here on the British island really resourcefully. Surely then that generation might change and then the carbon footprint shrinks even further.”

Venison Loin, Blackcurrant and Celeriac from Shaun Rankin’s Taste of Home menu at Grantley Hall.

Passion for design

Shaun said he actually ended up at Grantley Hall thanks to his passion for designing restaurants and concepts.

He said:

“I used to do a lot of consultancy creating and helping hotels and restaurants to achieve what they needed to achieve in London, Jersey and throughout the UK, sometimes even the South of France.”

Two years before Grantley Hall opened, he was introduced to Andrew McPherson, the general manager, and Richard Sykes, the managing director, and joined the team as a consultant, helping to put the concepts and designs together for all the restaurants, kitchens and food and beverage areas in the hotel.

Enjoying his time back in Yorkshire, he was then invited to take over the fine dining and was put in charge of designing the restaurant itself. This involved everything from the credenza units to the soft-closing, velvet-lined drawers, which prevent the clink of the silver-dipped Sheffield cutlery. It’s these little details that help to enhance the dining experience, which, when you are paying £130 per head, is perhaps to be expected.

Shaun said:

“We created everything. We bought the best linen, the best glassware, the best porcelain and crockery.

“Richard and the family honed in on all the local tradesman and materials and again, used everything, as much as possible, from around the Yorkshire area.”

Whisky Sours

Shaun now splits his time between Yorkshire and Jersey, where his two boys, Harry and Ethan, live with their mother.

He currently has a home in Ripon, but before that he lived in Ripley, near Harrogate.

So of course, I wanted to know where his favourite places to eat and drink were in the district.

He said:

“I spent a lot of time at the bar in The Ivy Harrogate drinking whisky sours. The bar is really nice.

“I love Oliver’s Pantry in Ripon. The breakfast is good there and they do a really good club sandwich.

“I go to Three’s a Crowd in Harrogate. I’ve had food a couple of times and it’s tasty. I’ve had Sunday lunch there. I love a roast dinner.”

In terms of what the future holds for Grantley, Shaun said he was looking forward to hopefully having a full year in service at the hotel, following two years of upheaval due to the pandemic.

‘World class’ ambitions

He said:

“Hopefully from now since we reopened, we will get one full year. We will get some momentum.

“We got the Michelin Star in January last year, and the thing about that is every day you need to polish it and keep and eye on it, because you never expect to hold it.

“The ambition for us is the second star in the next few years, so we have to work hard for that. We are constantly working on training and building the team.

“The thing about momentum in restaurants is the more you are open, the better the momentum is. It just becomes more natural and more fluid with everybody and the work, products and service become better. Constantly starting and stopping, you just lose the whole rhythm.

“We are focused on what we do here. The ambitions of Grantley Hall are still yet to be seen. It’s a long journey for Grantley Hall, and for us here and what we want to achieve.

“It really is a world class destination and we want to create a world class restaurant.”

Traditional methods

Shaun then took me on a brief tour of the kitchen – immaculate, unlike mine – which features the Chef’s Table. You can pull up a leather stool and have dinner in the place where the magic happens.

There is also a private dining room, The Dales Suite, which can seat up to 20 people, where you can celebrate special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings.

Shaun said:

The key message is what we cook here is for a reason. You don’t get fois gras here, you don’t get anything that comes out of France or Italy. Even down to the charcuterie. We brine our own pork collars and make our own hams.

“Everything is traditional, using old methods from the last 200 or 300 years. Salting, brining, curing, preserving fermenting.”

And his favourite dish on the current menu?

“At the moment it’s our Yorkshire venison with blackcurrants and celeriac – both of course grown in our kitchen garden.”

A North Yorkshire pub famous for its food and setting in a historic thatched inn has been “reduced to ashes” in a fire which took hold overnight.

The owners of the Star Inn at Harome, which will be well-known to food lovers in the Harrogate district, called the fire service at around 10pm last night.

Firefighters battled the blaze overnight with nine fire engines on scene at its peak. As of 7am this morning, crews were still working to extinguish the fire.

In a dramatic video posted by the pub’s owners on social media just after 4am the thatched roof can be seen ablaze with smoke billowing out into the night sky. They said:

“It’s been a long night so far…I’m afraid we won’t be open for a while as we are reduced to ashes with The Star on fire and still burning, residents please call after 9 am.”

Read more:

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https://twitter.com/TheStaratHarome/status/1463723386534862849

The Star Inn is famous for its food, having held a Michelin star for much of chef Andrew Pern’s tenure who has been at the pub for 25 years.

Fire crews from Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering along with the aerial ladder platform from Huntington have attended the fire.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said at 7am:

“At it’s peak the incident had nine appliances, one aerial ladder platform, one water bowser, one welfare unit and an incident command unit in attendance.

“Crews worked with main jets and hose reel jets to contain the fire and the aerial ladder platform was deployed to removed thatch from the roof.

“The incident is still ongoing and crews are still working to extinguish the fire.”