"A celebration of everything that is good about the food, drink, people and places of York and Yorkshire"
Michelin starred chef Andrew Pern and his team have revealed a first, early taste of the seasonal Yorkshire food and produce which will be at the heart of their menus in the new York Minster Refectory.
When it opens in the coming months the new brasserie style restaurant will be run day to day by Joshua Brimmel, executive head chef of The Star Inn The City, who with Andrew will also now oversee the development of the menu and all food and hospitality functions.
The menu and approach behind it, revealed here for the first time, will fit in with the style, history and former use of the building.
Commenting on the venture Andrew, owner of the Michelin starred The Star at Harome and Michelin listed The Star Inn The City York, said: "We are about 75 per cent there with the menu and will be bringing character, individuality and style in our approach while offering a high standard of food and restaurant dining, which is in the DNA of what we do."
He added: "I am lucky to have worked and trained in France on classical dishes, which is the foundation of all my cooking; so the food will very much be old fashioned British-style favourites with a new take through Anglicised French classics; they are classics for a reason - they just work - which is why they are popular."
Accessible-to-all the brasserie-style restaurant cafe also includes a daytime takeaway element and evening dining along with a mixture of smaller function, lounge and private dining options.
"The York Minster Refectory will be charismatic, vibrant, memorable and full of personality in our sense of community and a celebration of everything that is good about the food, drink, people and places of York and Yorkshire," explained Andrew.
"People are already booking, and asking about spring, summer and Christmas - now that will be quite Dickensian and very much old England, with roast goose, plum pudding, and all those tasty filling crowd pleasers that we love as a people and which we're known for around the world," he said.
A small selection of dishes from Andrew and Joshua's new York Minster Refectory menu being developed includes:
- Raw: e.g. Carpaccio of Yorkshire venison with garden beetroots, rocket pesto and Spenwood shavings.
- Starters: e.g. Cured North Sea halibut with gooseberry fennel, ewes curd and toasted pikelets.
- Grills: e.g. Entrecôte steak on the bone.
- Mains: e.g. Braised oxtail in a beer broth with button mushroom, pearl onion, bacon and smoked potato. *Sides: e.g. Wild garlic buttered Jersey potatoes.
- Puddings: e.g. Granny's tipsy sherry trifle.
- Savouries: e.g. Colston Bassett Stilton with Medjool date jam and Yorkshire brack.
While the York Minster Refectory will have a settled fixed menu, Andrew and Joshua will also be putting on a lot of daily seasonal specials.
Joshua Brimmel said: "We will let the seasons write our menus; all our food goes hand in hand with the seasons. We have a brilliant pantry of food here in Yorkshire, and we'll certainly be flying the White Rose flag for our producers."
He added: "With the volume of tourists and visitors we have here in York, we will be able to show off our skills, the very best of British cooking and the very best of British produce."
Spring seasonal dishes will draw on foods such as asparagus, rhubarb, wild sea trout, wild salmon and shellfish; summer dishes include fresh Bridlington and Whitby North Sea dressed crab and lobster, monkfish, berries, and, from August 12th, game.
"Game is always popular in towns and cities and with visitors, and is good healthy protein," added Andrew who expects a range of game focused dishes to include partridge, grouse, pheasant and venison.
A range of local food producers in the Vale of York and surrounding area will supply York Minster Refectory's fruit and vegetables, game and meats.
Shellfish and seafood will be sustainably and locally sourced from Hodgson Fish of Hartlepool for its North Sea catch.
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