The Hare
Scawton, North Yorkshire
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It was a leap of faith when Liz and Paul Jackson bought this faded old boozer and turned it into a destination restaurant with rooms. It’s been a hard slog, doing much of the work themselves, but they now have four luxurious bedrooms, invaluable when their 12th-century inn is, if not in the middle of nowhere, in a remote corner of the North York Moors National Park. The renovations have never interrupted the goings-on in the restaurant where Liz Jackson takes care of things front of house and Paul Jackson prepares a high-end multi-course tasting menu with wines to match. It’s a tour de force, nine precise and inventive courses that start with a selection of snacks including a memorable Dexter beef tartare and on through a series of small dishes: an intense tomato broth; a fragrant dish of mackerel and lemon verbena trailing clouds of smoke; and three impressive desserts starring an intense ‘chocolate button’ with hazelnut ice cream and a raspberry plate that adds raspberry gel, raspberry sorbet, ewe's milk ice cream and a granita flavoured with lemon geranium leaves to their homegrown raspberries. A short wine list starts at £30; otherwise, 'drinks matching' (guided by Liz Jackson) takes in port and saké as well as some excellent wine choices.
