The Moorcock Inn made waves when it opened four years ago. The pub was in 2018 taken over by chef Alisdair Brooke-Taylor and front-of-house Aimee Turford and quickly garnered a reputation for quality – in the dining room, West Yorkshire’s finest produce, sourced from only local suppliers, was cooked lavishly amidst the backdrop of the sweeping Ryburn Valley.
Before arriving at The Moorcock, Alisdair and Aimee spent many years together at now closed In De Wulf in Belgium, once one of the country's best restaurants.
Today their inn sustains but will close next year at the five-year point in the lease. In an emotional message to customers, Aimee said she and Alisdair feel a ‘deep affection’ for the pub and restaurant but will close it permanently in January next year.
She said the reasons for the closure are ‘several and varied’, and explained: ‘Simple pragmatism plays a part. In honesty, we have barely caught our breath from the last two years, and now costs in every area spiral, recession looms, there is the prospect of supply issues, the world is an unstable place right now. Frankly, it’s just no time to be running a small business like ours.’
For anyone who likes eating out – in country pubs particularly – this does not make for easy reading. Not least because The Moorcock was really that good. After a bracing walk, travellers would arrive at a ‘gnarly boozer’ and step into a soft, fuzzy, firelit dining room, where, as Aimee wrote in her announcement, ‘the flaws and the charm are all sort of mixed up together - inextricable. The antithesis of a shiny veneer with little substance.’
There is nothing overzealous here. It is clear The Moorcock managed the difficult task of balancing an old pub with the extrapolations of modern dining.
In the Guide’s 2019 entry, our inspectors wrote: ‘On offer, a masterclass in the new British cuisine with the focus on brilliant seasonal ingredients and in-vogue preservation techniques: smokehouse cooking, pickling, fermenting and curing.
‘There’s a delight in the reckless approach to pushing boundaries, with fried herring bones ‘a glorious skeleton of a thing’.
‘This sterling opener is followed by a smoky chunk of dry-aged Hebridean mutton with wood ear mushroom relish and paper-thin slices of pickled lamb’s heart, and a satisfyingly rich homemade blood pudding served with beetroot and pickled walnut.’
The Sunday Times’ critic Marina O’Loughlin was also an early fan, unwaveringly impressed with such countenance: ‘The Moorcock Inn is still very much a pub, with ales and Scotch eggs and locals. But a few blackboard items – house-made charcuterie, cultured butter, rowan-bud ice-cream sandwich – hint that through the door to the restaurant lies a foodie’s Narnia.’
Jay Rayner of the Observer was equally lauding, calling it a 'stunningly assured opening' and urging his many readers to visit.
Today, the menu still oozies wit and sophistication: Fried Mylar prawns with seaweed salt, or barbequed mackerel with house ponzu might precede a cured ham and scallop omelette. Affordability only adds to The Moorcock’s charm: the beef spare ribs with rhubarb and cabbage, and the whole wood-baked flounder are £21 and £16 apiece.
All good things must end, apparently. With nine months left of the lease, both Aimee and Alisdair want to spend the rest of their time ‘celebrating what the pub has become’.
Aimee said: 'We have met so many brilliant people along the way - hundreds of you - who have supported us. Those that visit for food, for company, for the wine list or a few pints. Those who bring produce, come along to help with DIY and gardening, our neighbours who will get us out of trouble with anything from loo rolls to change, and more.
‘I know it’s just some food, just an evening out. Just a quick pint after a walk or after a long day.
‘But it’s more than that too: A community and friendships, simple downtime or getting away from it all for a bit, it’s celebrations and commiserations. For us, it’s been making people’s day, or doing our best to, anyway. It’s been perseverance and resilience and working hard to build something.’
Here's Aimee's statement in full
After much consideration (I know this is a bit of a whatever line, but really, after much consideration), we have decided to close our business at the five-year point in our lease. This means that our final service will take place sometime in January 2023.
We would like the rest of our time here to be a celebration of The Moorcock as we know it- and of course we would love you to join us in this!
We feel such a deep affection for what our little place has become. A pub, a really good pub, with walkers and dogs and destination diners and locals and foodie-people, all mixed and mingled in together. The sight of guests propped up the bar- one with a pint of Landlord, the next with a carafe of sake, the third with a Belgian Lambic, brings us joy every time!
This is our little place. Very much a ‘gnarly boozer’ (Mandy Wragg) on the outside, but which just brims with warmth on the inside. Where the flaws and the charm are all sort of mixed up together; inextricable. The antithesis of a shiny veneer with little substance. Where we obsess over making every element of every ingredient in-house, over the finer points of service and building a drinks list with something for everyone. Admittedly, sometimes at the expense of things being a bit more manicured. But, so many of you have been prepared to look past the fact that I haven’t yet had chance to finish putting the shed roof on properly and instead see the most glorious sunset over the valley behind it.
We have met so many brilliant people along the way- hundreds of you- who have supported us. Those that visit for food, for company, for the wine list or a few pints. Those who bring produce, come along to help with DIY and gardening, our neighbours who will get us out of trouble with anything from loo rolls to change- and more. There are those that have picked us up when we were down, especially during the pandemic. It’s been a truly special experience. One that can never be repeated or replaced, at least, not by us.
I know it’s just some food, just an evening out. Just a quick pint after a walk or after a long day. But it’s more than that too: A community and friendships, simple downtime or getting away from it all for a bit, it’s celebrations and commiserations. For us, it’s been making people’s day, or doing our best to, anyway. It’s been perseverance and resilience and working hard to build something.
The reasons for our decision are several and varied. Ultimately, the five-year point offers a break in our lease, which presents the question of whether we conclude at five or continue for another.
Simple pragmatism plays a part. In honesty, we have barely caught our breath from the last two years, and now costs in every area spiral, recession looms, there is the prospect of supply issues, the world is an unstable place right now. Frankly, it’s just no time to be running a small business like ours.
Although, it’s far from all about this. We do not own the building and this has led to some significant difficulties at times. There are some personal reasons too, for both Alisdair and myself that lead to this decision being inevitable.
Why are we sharing the news so far ahead of time? Well, one factor is that it is out there already. We had a responsibility to let some people- our employees, our suppliers and others- know ahead of time. We know that such news has a way of trickling out. Therefore, we have decided to take the opportunity to share the news with you in our way, with our words.
There is something more: This way you can join us in this closing chapter. Not much in life lasts forever, does it. But sometimes, knowing when something will end makes it easier to make the most of what’s left. We certainly plan to do just that.
For the record, we have no plans to try to do this again. Everything aligned with the combination of our location, our offering and the guests willing to be a part of it. A shinier building, or a different location, or investors. It could make something similar, but not equal.
And a note on the team: We frequently use the expression ‘wild ride’ within it. This place, it’s literally that. There are many examples. Here is a very small one, but one that always stuck in my mind:
During the 2021 winter lockdown, we were working late preparing ‘dine at home’ boxes. The power was out. One of the team walks into her shift to see us working by torch light and simply joined in. After ten minutes or so, she finally said, mildly contemplatively, ‘Nothing ever really just goes normally here, does it’. And that always stayed with me as being this place in a nutshell and the attitude of the team within it. It’s just ‘Oh right, we’ll just do it in the dark then’.
We are immensely proud of the team, past and present. From a front-of-house perspective, the level of service our team give every day is, in my opinion, a sight to behold. They are all so committed to really thinking about the nuances, so focused on doing the best they can for every guest.
These days, there is a calm in the kitchen, despite the intensity of the workload, and a wholly collaborative atmosphere. They help each other, they learn from each other, they respect each other and of course, they make fucking great food.
And Al? I mean this is supposed to be from both of us, but in reality, I am writing it. So, I can say what I want and what I want to say is- what a talent. He has such an innate ability to put a dish together, in the most casual of ways, with the most stunning of results, communicated so humbly: To write menus from what appears to be an infinite encyclopaedia of ideas in his head, with nothing ever rehashed or recycled. He works completely from his own mind and the results are completely unique.
So, while we will be here for a finite amount of time, we are proud to have an alumni of talented people- future great restaurant managers and sommeliers; creative, versatile & precise chefs and no doubt, future small business owners.
We cannot know what is next for The Moorcock, but we are grateful to have been a little piece of its history. Love or loathe us, we suspect this incarnation will be remembered for a while. And we will never forget this little pub on this windy hill. With its wild weather, warm people and those sunsets. Which gave a lot and took a lot. In a way that things in life can sometimes.
If this reads like an obituary (sorry, it’s been an emotional write), please remember, It Is Not Over Yet!
We still have almost four seasons ahead of us and we are going to attempt to do our best work yet for this final chapter. We would absolutely love to see as many of you are possible- so that each service that remains is like a little mini-celebration in its own right.
Not to mention, there are lots of events planned, of which we will provide details very soon and we have also been working very hard to produce a good quantity of Al’s pottery for sale throughout this final year.
Thank you for reading. It was never going to be a short one, and brevity doesn’t appear to be my forte anyway. But if I can’t indulge at this moment, when can I? Anyway, thank you for sticking with it- and see you soon.
Aimee
