HARROGATE
Chef patron of Restaurant 92 tells us about the food scene in Harrogate
I honestly don’t think there’s another town like Harrogate in the UK. I’m extremely fortunate to be in an area that grows some of the best produce in the UK, from fruit and veg to amazing Yorkshire beef.
My three favourite dishes on the menu at Restaurant 92 are the Yorkshire squab with grains, beetroot and horseradish. For those new to game, this is the perfect introduction – rich but not overpowering. Our beef Wellington is famous. We serve it year-round. For dessert, it’s the 92 millionaire – my take on millionaire’s shortbread, made with salted caramel and Caramac ganache.
Restaurant 92 prides itself on using all local Yorkshire ingredients.
I often forage for wild garlic, chanterelle mushrooms, elderflower and wild thyme in the fields around Harrogate. One of our most unique suppliers rears a very rare Hungarian breed of pig called the Mangalitza in Helmsley, near Harrogate. The meat is beautifully fatty with a rich, chestnuty flavour. It’s a real specialty of ours. The region’s best dish? Yorkshire is the birthplace of the Sunday roast so it has to be that. My perfect roast would be slowcooked Yorkshire beef with fluffy Yorkshire puddings, creamed leeks and caramelised root veg.
My perfect day eating out in Harrogate would start at Hoxton North (hoxtonnorth.com). It serves the best eggs royale I’ve ever had. For coffee, I’d go to Slingsby’s (slingsbysharrogate.co.uk) – they make cracking coffee. Lunch has to be at Betty’s (bettys.co.uk), a wellknown establishment which has seen generations of Carrs through its doors. I always pick the rarebit on rye toast with Yorkshire cured bacon. For dinner, The Orchid (orchidrestaurant. co.uk) at the Studley Hotel. It’s an exceptional experience every time. Have the wasabi prawns to start and crispy glazed duck with glass noodles for the main. Lastly, for a drink, I’d head to Cold Bath Brewing (coldbathbrewing.com), a new bar that brews some of my favourite lager. It’s very popular with the locals.