GETAWAYS • North Yorkshire
Once a run-down village pub, The Black Swan now ranks among the north of England’s top dining spots, with a tasting menu of foraged and fermented produce to rival any in London. It’s all thanks to the Banks family, farmers who took over the 16th-century Oldstead pub in 2006, reviving it into a food destination that’s won countless accolades over the last 20 years.
Nowadays, chef and farmer Tommy Banks has a food empire that ranges from fine dining restaurant Roots to casual pub with rooms The Abbey Inn, online pie shop to food delivery business Made in Oldstead, along with several restaurants at the hot new luxury resort, Saltmoore. But the jewel in his crown is The Black Swan at Oldstead, the original pub with rooms where head chef Alice Power now looks after an outstanding tasting menu (lunch £135 per, dinner £175).
The meal starts with cocktails and canapés in the downstairs reception area, which could be any old Yorkshire pub. The food, though, is not your average pub fare. There are snacks of smoked eel with fennel pollen and Beluski caviar, or roe deer with beetroot and blackcurrant, alongside lemon verbena martinis and Oldstead dry vermouth.
Then it’s up a rustic staircase to the main dining room — all uneven floors and low beams — for a series of courses culminating in the season’s meat. That might be Dexter beef from the Banks’ own cattle, or Herdwick hogget, served multiple ways, the belly paired with fermented turnip and smoked potato, the saddle with courgette, and the sweetbreads with black garlic, lovage and mint. Everything is grown and reared on the Banks’ farm, and there’s a fermentation operation to rival that of Copenhagen powerhouse Noma. Choose from three wine pairings: the ‘experimental and adventurous’ (£85 per), the ‘grand and classic’ (£150) or, for a true blow-out, the ‘rare and exceptional’ (£320).
As for the rooms, it’s laid-back luxury, with antique wooden furniture, Yorkshire-made blankets and cushions, and freestanding cast-iron baths. Breakfast is a treat of the Banks’ mangalitza pork sausages, black pudding, and eggs, plus Oldstead yoghurt, granola, toast, and preserves. There are packages including bed, breakfast, and dinner at The Black Swan — plus an optional stay at the nearby Abbey Inn — but booking a few months ahead is recommended, as both restaurant and rooms sell out quickly. –Laura Price
→ The Black Swan (Oldstead) • Rooms from £200.