The Best Fine Dining in Yorkshire

 

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In the southerly folds of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where the sky feels as if it’s been stretched big, bright and blue above rolling green fields, is the Secret Garden bistro. Found in the centre of the pretty village of Malham, the restaurant is part of Beck Hall, which was originally established in 1705 as a yeoman’s cottage and is now an intimate and bespoke hotel.

The restaurant’s decor blurs the line between inside and outside. Trailing plants hang from the ceiling, and glass doors fold away to let the fresh air waft in across the tables. Much of the restaurant’s produce is grown or sourced locally: diners only need turn their heads to spot the cattle grazing contentedly on the hillsides beyond. The food is playfully inspired by the eccentric explorer Mr Hardacre who first discovered Beck Hall back in the 1930s and set it up as a wayfarers hostel. The dishes are, therefore, pleasingly seasonal, with the occasional exotic twist.

The location of the Secret Garden makes it the perfect place to drink, dine and relax after a day of exploring the magnificent limestone landscape of the Dales.

Just a 15-minute walk away is Malham Cove, considered to be one of Britain’s top ten geological wonders. Formed during the last Ice Age, this spectacular cliff forms a striking wall that draws the eye skyward where, long ago, a huge waterfall cascaded from the valley’s upper reaches. The glacier that created the great white amphitheatre also helped form the barren rocky plateaus that characterise the Dales today. Scraped and scoured by ice over 12,000 years ago, the acidic rainwater dissolved the rock, leaving a landscape fissured and ribboned in stone. Grykes (as they are known) now shelter a wonderful variety of plants. Look out for hart’s-tongue fern, baneberry, and dog’s mercury as you walk.

Gordale Scar, a hidden, atmospheric ravine, is less than an hour’s walk along the public footpath that winds its way from Malham Village. If visiting, make sure to stop at Janet’s Foss – a lovely waterfall tucked amongst the deciduous trees of pea-green leaf. With water so cool, clear and inviting, it’s a popular spot for walkers to take a post-hike dip. Like Malham Cove, Gordale Scar was formed on the Middle Craven Fault. Instead of glacier meltwater cascading over the cliff, it cut through the rock and created the deep gorge that’s so fascinating to visit today.

Whether you stop in for afternoon tea or dinner after dancing through the Dales, the Secret Garden – with its lovely food, charming history, and breathtaking location – is sure not to disappoint.

 

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The Forge restaurant is part of the beautiful and rambling 200-acre Middleton Lodge estate. Its owners, James and Rebecca Allison, have worked hard to gradually bring the previously dormant estate back to life. They have meticulously restored and renovated many of the original buildings and added a forest spa, complete with a pool. With a focus on peace and tranquillity, Middleton Lodge offers a number of boutique accommodations which visitors can find down winding paths fringed with bluebells and shaded by big-leaf native trees.

The estate offers two restaurants: The Coach House serves delicious food all day in a relaxed setting, and The Forge offers fine dining every Thursday to Sunday evening. If the latter’s menu were a piece of music, it would sing a classical tune. Head chef, Jake Jones, wishes to create a dining experience inspired by the land and the beauty of imperfection. The estate has a large vegetable garden planted with a medley of seasonal produce. While James’ brother and cousin, both farmers, supply the estate with a consistent supply of hand-reared beef, wild game and free-range chicken.

If you choose to stay in any of the beautifully renovated accommodations, with vaulted beamed ceilings and graceful Georgian windows, you can expect to experience a slower pace of life. The estate is geared towards respite – more in tune with the melodic step of nature than in the colourful rush of a tube-station stop.

Walking among fig and apple trees in the soft, aromatic air, perhaps makes it easier to feel relaxed here than in other places. Even if you only stop in for one evening to enjoy dinner at The Forge – where the old stone walls absorb quiet conversation and the handmade pottery glows rockpool blue on tables of sanded timber – you’ll be glad that you did.