Josh Overington: The chef bringing true Yorkshire hospitality to fine dining

Josh Overington is a distinguished British chef dedicated to serving local and sustainable cuisine.

Mýse is a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms and British tasting menu experience in North Yorkshire created by chef and sommelier team, Joshua and Victoria Overington.

Situated in the picturesque village of Hovingham in Yorkshire, Mýse operates from a beautifully restored building. 

Mýse's menu, which evolves with the seasons, integrates traditional British cooking techniques with modern influences, while supporting local farmers, artisans, and producers.

Locally-reared meats are dry-aged and cured in-house as well as home-made charcuterie. The restaurant features an open kitchen, enhancing guest engagement and emphasising the connection between the chef, his team, and the diners.

Early Career and Training

Josh’s career started unexpectedly during a gap year in Sydney, where he worked as a kitchen porter. He quickly moved up to cooking roles, sparking his love for food. He then trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and worked at top restaurants like the Michelin-starred Pipe and Glass Inn and the three-star Waterside Inn.

After graduating, Josh spent a brief time at the world-famous three Michelin starred Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris with chef Yannick Alleno before working as a private chef in the French Alps where he met his now-wife, Victoria.

Mýse opened in 2023 with a strong focus on seasonal British produce and local farmers and embodies Josh and Victoria’s farm-to-fork ethos. 

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Just seven months after opening, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star.

Josh’s cooking is deeply rooted in sustainability and respect for ingredients. He believes reducing waste is essential to good business, and to good cooking.

Inspiration Behind Mýse

He said: "I saw that the building was up for sale, my wife Victoria and I drove to the village, which is quite a magical drive in a magical part of the world. We just fell in love with the building. I always wanted to build a restaurant and have a restaurant that represented me as a person, my English side, and also the countryside.

“Me and my wife are both from the country, and I wanted something that suited my cooking style completely, using local artisans and local producers. When we're here in the sticks, we're right next to them, just a stone’s throw away to be able to go and get amazing asparagus or go and see a local beef farmer. So, it was really important to me that we created something that represented all the local producers and that's what Mýse is all about, local British food."

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Creating the Dining Experience

"I wanted the feel and the experience to be like 'you come into my home, you're eating a communal meal.' Essentially, everyone eats at the same time and everyone has the same thing and I think a lot of times in fine dining restaurants, it can feel a little bit sterile and muted.

“I wanted a really warm hug of a restaurant where everyone’s friendly, really proper Yorkshire hospitality. Also the food people can eat is different, but they can relate to it. They can understand where it comes from. It might not be a Yorkshire pudding, but they can understand it in the flavours when they eat it."

The Most Rewarding Moments

"The most rewarding part of my career here at Mýse so far, I think there's two. I think the first is the Michelin star, winning that in seven months. That's a dream I've been chasing for 10 years. It's not just the seven months I had here beforehand, it was the 10 years I had at my previous restaurants, to have that happen here was amazing.

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The Importance of Sustainability

Josh is an advocate for all things sustainability, he added: "Sustainability is important. I always think the main reason you should be sustainable is because you're running a business, and not being sustainable is a stupid thing. So if you're throwing ingredients in the bin and not being sustainable in that way, then you're not being a good businessman.

 

“I look at how my produce is being reared or grown, because that's very important as well and when produce has been reared or grown in a conscious way, it tastes better. So I look at it from a taste perspective, mainly."

The Most Challenging Career Moment

The pair closed Le Cochon Aveugle at the end of November 2022, after almost nine years in operation. The restaurant, which won numerous accolades over the years for its innovative blind tasting menu, had been hugely popular, winning praise from both critics and the general public.

At the time, Josh said: “We have had an amazing time running Le Cochon Aveugle over the past eight years and achieved more than we could have hoped for,” said Josh. “This hasn’t been an easy decision to make but the time has come for us to look at some new opportunities which have come our way.

"We are so grateful for all our team, both past and present, dedicated suppliers and especially our incredible guests, all of whom have supported us since day one and have helped make Le Cochon Aveugle such a success."

But the struggle of owning a restaurant started at the beginning, Josh added: “The most challenging part of my career was actually opening Mýse. We were opening the restaurant and trying to get the finance for it at an extremely terminal point in England, and my mortgage fell through around about three times to get it, at which point I had already sold my two restaurants in York, so I couldn't return back to it.

"It was incredibly stressful for me and my wife, because we had to open Mýse, there was no choice about it so I think at that point in my career, it was make or break. We either opened Myse or I lost all my hard work, but I did it, so can't complain."

Written by Abi Kinsella