In 2020, The Fat Duck celebrated its 25th anniversary. Snail porridge, sounds of the sea, and egg and bacon ice cream may have become modern classics, but when the Duck first appeared in the Guide in 1997, Heston Blumenthal was praised for his modern classical cooking.
It must be the perfect country inn: an 18th-century former farmhouse of mellow stone, set in a beautiful, wooded valley, in the heart of the North York Moors National Park, four miles from Rievaulx Abbey and bang opposite the 12th century Cistercian, Byland Abbey. Jill Turton takes a first look at The Abbey Inn, Byland.
Even before you arrive at the inn, the location is a corker, bang opposite the Gothic remains of Byland Abbey with its huge half-moon of empty rose window. If anything, the ruins look more dramatic when spotlit at night, which is when the Abbey Inn feels at its most welcoming as a retreat from the nearby North York Moors.
Mark Hix will permanently close his Dorset pub The Fox Inn in July after only 18 months of trading.
Teej Sparks is the co-founder of Wales’ Best Local Restaurant 2024, Inn at the Sticks. How have they been celebrating the win? The Good Food Guide finds out.
