Pignut
Helmsley, North Yorkshire
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After four years at the helm of the Rattle Owl in York (now closed), Tom Heywood and Laurissa Cook are now to be found in a charming 16-seater venue in the centre of Helmsley. On offer is a four- or eight-course tasting menu (lunch and dinner) that begins with what Heywood calls 'wastage' – a series of little dishes using offcuts from other courses. Produce comes in part from the much-heralded Helmsley Walled Garden, a charity providing therapeutic horticulture. Our 'wastage' began with a cup of juice from apples, pears and cucumber followed by a chilled green soup garnished with flowers and herbs – although the star was toasted soda bread with crab mousse.The menu proper opened with an intensely flavoured tomato gazpacho, then soda bread served with salty butter and a velvety chicken liver pâté. Next up, a tender beef cheek, slow-braised in Helmsley beer, paired with pickled cucumber, pickled wild garlic and a deep, rich wild plum hoisin sauce finished with leek oil. To conclude, mushroom millefeuille made an unusual dessert: a delicately flavoured ice cream with the gentlest of fungal notes, plus lacy tuiles sandwiched with soft coffee caramel alongside. Further optional additions are scattered throughout the menu – beef tartare, 'exceptional' wild brill with mussels and an outstanding fig-leaf ice cream with a base of crunchy rapseed and a topping of honey mousse. Meals take place in a simply furnished room with chunky wooden tables (sourced from a redundant Nando’s), comfortable leather chairs and artwork depicting Conopodium majus, the delicate white flowers of the pignut – a member of the celery family with an edible tuber resembling a chestnut that is hard to find and even harder to prepare (according to Laurissa Cook). There are wines to match each course as well as a short, mostly European list starting at £28. For light meals and pre-dinner drinks, head to the comfortable upstairs lounge.
