A Break in The Sun

The Sun Inn, Kirkby Lonsdale, was the venue for a much awaited and hard-earned weekend break recently, and in stark contrast to a sadly predictable visit to The Fenwick Arms, this was one pub cum restaurant that had got it absolutely spot on in almost* every aspect.

Kirkby Lonsdale has long been a favourite destination for a day out but with days off being in such short supply recently it had been a while since I had sampled its delights in any meaningful way.

So I was very pleased to be able to secure a room at The Inn and also book a table in the restaurant for the Saturday night. As it turned out, the Dining Room was a tad formal so I opted for a table in the bustling bar. Very popular with locals it seems, and consequently with a great buzzing atmosphere, this was my sort of place to eat.

The seasonal menus are augmented by several specials and crammed with local produce. The menu screams fresh and prepared to order, and we were not disappointed. Starters of Butternut Squash Risotto and "Short Ribs of Beef in a mildly spiced sticky sauce" were superb, and my main dish of "Slow Roast Belly of Foragers Free Range Pork with Apple Jelly, Lyonnaise potato and red cabbage" was to die for. My companion's "Honey Roast Duck & Peach Sauce with Lyonnaise potatoes and braised leeks, pine nuts & apricots" was, reportedly, beautifully tender and moist.

I was too full to sample the local three counties cheeseboard - with the location near the borders of Yorkshire, Lancashire AND Cumbria, venues in this area have a vast range to choose from, but the next door deli "Churchmouse Cheeses" must be a help in sourcing the best examples from each.

Our wine choice from the impressive wine list sourced by two local companies - one specialising in organic wines - was the 2006 Puzzle Ridge Shiraz from Australia. I was very impressed with this wine especially at just £13.95 a bottle - packed with fruit and not too heavy.

All in all an excellent meal at good value prices in comfortable and welcoming surroundings. What more could we ask for? I will certainly be back.

*The only slightly disappointing aspect of the visit was the pretty dated bathroom facilities in the room which we since understand is the only one left to be modernised and scheduled for the new year, so I will forgive that. Otherwise, hosts Mark & Lucy Fuller have done a great job refurbishing this 17th Century inn since they took over a couple of years ago. Decor and design wise they have achieved an excellent mix of the contemporary and the traditional, creating a very welcoming place indeed.

The Sun Inn is on Market Street, Kirkby Lonsdale. I also ate well at the Snooty Fox, Kirkby Lonsdale (more 'pubby' but none the worse for that!) and The Highwayman - Ribble Valley Inns latest venture - excellent service and top quality pub food. I did not eat well at The Fenwick Arms, Claughton, but that's another story!

What a Nightmare!

I was lucky enough recently to have my first weekend off in six months, and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. I will post separately about the more positive foodie experiences of the weekend - and there were several - but as I found myself just a couple of miles from the scene of Gordon Ramsay's latest TV Kitchen Nightmare - The Fenwick Arms at Claughton, Lancashire - I just could not resist seeing for myself whether any of Ramsay's sound advice to the proprietors of the ailing eatery had rubbed off and resulted in what appeared to be much-needed improvements.

In this programme, Ramsay returned to the scene of a previous kitchen nightmare to see whether his suggestions were bearing fruit one year on. He had banned the obsessive plate collecting, quadruple heart by-pass surviving, debt-ridden landlord from the kitchen, only to despair as he wandered helplessly around his bar like a lost child, oblivious to the needs of his customers. Together they had launched the "Campaign for Real Gravy" in a desperate publicity stunt for the establishment, which was rooted in the 1960s in both decor and eating experience. I was very curious as to what it was really like.

Sadly, the result was probably one of the worst and certainly the most laughable pub 'dining' experiences in my life.

First of all, at 12.30pm on a Saturday lunchtime just days after having received reasonably positive national TV coverage, the dingy, cluttered pub was empty save for one lone drinker at the bar and our two hapless hosts. In the bar we ordered drinks, then food from the grubby sandwich menu, and were asked whether we "would like to be shown to our table now?". Ridiculously formal for what was to be a simple beer and sandwich lunch. We opted to sit at a table in the bar instead, but felt like naughty schoolchildren for insisting on doing so.

From this vantage point however, we witnessed the most appallingly unprofessional behaviour from the landlady who proceeded to regale the lone drinker with a breakdown of her staff, with a potted criticism of each one thrown in at such loud volume it was impossible to ignore. (Emma, I'm sorry but you are apparently seen as a continuing source of tension due to your RAF background and English degree! How could you!). Oblivious to her audience the landlady continued to opine that the TV coverage would more than likely result in people walking in and "treating the place like a pub"! Well pardon me for doing just that - perhaps it was the sign into the car park saying "real pub food" that confused me.

But then the "food" arrived.

My "Prawns with Marie Rose Sauce" Sandwich arrived naked and devoid of any sauce, and with a limp over-dressed salad and soggy chips; one of the most abysmal plates of food I have ever seen. My companion's cheese and pickle sandwich might have been of less interest to the Trades Descriptions police, but it was equally uninspiring. The breadboard crumbs stuck to the bread merely confirmed that they just weren't interested in encouraging our sort of walk-in trade.

I can only hope that the elaborate gourmet dining menu that the proprietor hold so dear offered more palatable fayre, but sadly there was little evidence of that either. Even the Gordon Ramsay gimmick "The Campaign for Real Gravy" was not in evidence in any inspiring way, save for the banner over the front door - a relic from the first TV show - and a logo on the dining menu, but no cabinet of merchandise etc, which surely anyone with a sliver of entrepreneurial get-up-and-go in them would have latched onto straight away. Certainly the hastily thrown together website seems to have lain dormant for some time.

I happen to live very close to one of Ramsay's early "Nightmare" venues (Bonapartes in Silsden, West Yorkshire) , which never survived the negative TV coverage and closed soon after the programme went out a few years ago. It is now reopened under another name and owner, and is apparently thriving. Sad though it is to see any business fail, one can't help feel that a new broom sweeping right through The Fenwick Arms is the only way forward for that place too.

Yorkshire Producers No. 3 - Brazilian Flavours

I was interested in this article by Andrew Purvis in Sunday's Observer Food Magazine which looked at the various natural produce of Brazil and weighed up whether any change in the world's eating and drinking habits might help save the rainforests. One of the crops mentioned as a potential saviour was the highly sustainable acai fruit. The smoothie company Innocent have recently introduced the acai into its range, and as Purvis wrote:

Irrigated twice a day by the tidal waters of the Amazon, the açai tree requires little maintenance. Prune it occasionally and keep the grove free of weeds and disease, and it will keep producing fruit - eight to 12 baskets in two hours of picking, from a plot no bigger than a large suburban garden. If managed properly, an acre of rainforest will yield 14 tonnes of berries a year.

It is a high-income, low-impact crop for sure, but that is not the only reason it appears in Innocent's portfolio. Açai is also the ultimate superfruit, its reddish skin containing anthocyanins (plant chemicals that neutralise the 'free radicals' associated with disease and ageing) and other antioxidants. Weight for weight, açai contains 60 per cent more antioxidants than the acclaimed pomegranate, 2.7 times more than blueberries and over six times more than strawberries. Beneath its skin is a yellowish fat, making it rich in calories.

This was all particularly educational to me as recently, more out of a wish to celebrate the cultural diversity of Yorkshire than through any sound commercial decision, I had taken a supply of "Brazilian Flavours" jams which included Acai in two of its flavours, paired with both raspberry and banana respectively.

It hasn't exactly flown off the shelves of the cafe or our online store, but now that I know so much more about the provenance and nutritional and environmental benefits of this strange fruit, I will feel much more confident in recommending it to customers. Brazilian Flavours also assert that their Cashew Fruit jam is particularly good with Wensleydale cheese, so that could also be one unusual special sandwich on a future Yorkshire Deli Cafe menu.

Read more about the story of Brazilian Flavours here, or better still visit our online store and try the jams for yourself, and save your own little bit of rainforest into the bargain!

Angel Delight...

... or, Meet the Producers No. 2: Angel Chocolates

Over the six or so months that we had to prepare for the cafe opening, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the preparation was researching the range of producers and suppliers that would provide produce for the cafe menu. Apart from a considerable amount of desk-based research, we also spent time visiting Farmers' Markets and Food Fairs meeting with potential suppliers directly, which was both educational and great fun. During this period apart from firming up the cafe menu we also steadily built up the range of suppliers for the retail side of the operation, in particular having a mind to the online store that was to be our "Phase 2" project.

It was therefore a delight to find during one such visit to Settle's Sunday Farmers' Market that we had our very own small independent chocolate producer in Yorkshire. Angel Chocolates already supplied a number of independent retailers in the county, and they soon agreed to add Yorkshire Deli to that list.


Melanie and Leigh Torrance make their products by hand in beautiful Swaledale, importing the Valrhona chocolate from Madagascar, the Caribbean and South America.



Their five basic chocolates - three dark, a milk and a white - are supplemented by a huge range of variations including white with raspberry and blueberry, milk with peanut brittle and sea salt; dark with crystallised ginger.

Never having been a big fan of milk chocolate I was delighted to find that the 40% cocoa solid product from Angel Chocolates was a silky smooth dream. Even the white chocolate about which I'm afraid I just have a mental block (All those Milky Bar Easter Eggs I got as a kid maybe!) was more than palatable. But it was the three variations of dark chocolate that I was raring to taste. When the sample pack arrived it coincided with a dinner party I was hosting so I was able to garner general feedback on all the chocolates, but I have to admit to keeping some of the dark ones back for later! I kind of knew all along that I would find them irresistible, and I was not wrong.

Angel's own tasting notes do better justice than I can, so these are their descriptions:
Madagascan 64% cocoa solids: A beautiful and dynamic chocolate with strong notes of red fruits, acid/citrus notes and no bitterness;
Caribbean 66% cocoa solids: A a rounded and harmonious chocolate, mild in flavour for a dark, with delicate notes of almond and roasted coffee;
South American 70% cocoa solids: A powerful chocolate with cherry notes, acid/citrus overtones and a long finish.
For those of you near enough to Ilkley to get to the Cafe, Melanie and Leigh from Angel Chocolates will be visiting us on Saturday 24th November to conduct a tasting of their wares.

More details of the full range of products can be found in our online store. All the products make ideal and unique Christmas gifts but the Connoisseur Pack in particular is a superb gift as it comes with tasting notes and scoring chart enabling the recipient and guests to have their very own chocolate tasting party!

PS. For those of you outside the UK or for Brits too young to get the reference in the title to the popular 1970s powdered dessert, Angel Delight, here is an article about the stuff. Isn't the Internet wonderful?

Wines for Christmas

The next of our monthly wine-tasting events at the Yorkshire Deli Cafe is now confirmed for Thursday 6th December at 7.30pm. Entitled "Wines for Christmas", we will be looking at six fine wines from our local wine merchant partners Martinez, of The Grove, Ilkley, and offering a four-course bistro-style dinner to complement the wines.

Tickets for this event cost £24.50 and are available in the cafe or by emailing us with your booking request.

The wines and therefore the precise menu have yet to be confirmed, but will probably comprise one sparkling, two whites, two reds and a dessert wine or sherry. The menu will consist of assorted starters and canapes with the sparkling and whites, a main course with meat and vegetarian options for the reds, a pudding and cheese. Coffee and chocolates are also included.

All the wines will be available to order at heavily discounted prices on the night only.

Our tastings are entertainingly hosted by a local wine consultant Mike Wild, who ensures that the evenings run smoothly and with good humour. No previous knowledge of wine is necessary, just a sense of humour and the desire for a good night out!

Yorkshire Producers No. 1 - Wharfe Valley Rapeseed Oil

It was with a warm and knowing smile that I read last week that Wharfe Valley Farms had won the Deliciouslyorkshire Product of the Year for 2007 for their Cold-Pressed Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil.

Wharfe Valley Rapeseed Oil was one of the first products I sampled when setting up the Deli and I was immediately converted. I have used it both at home and for all our cafe cooking ever since. It is also one of our best-selling products in our shop. It has an almost neutral but subtley nutty taste which allows the flavour of the food to come through, and given its many other culinary and health benefits, its integration into my world was a no-brainer, and I wouldn't be without it now.

In 1984 Geoff and Sallyann Kilby added Oil Seed Rape to their crop rotation on the farm which they had occupied since the 1960s at Collingham, near Wetherby, North Yorkshire, near the River Wharfe from which their company name is taken. With government suport they were able to diversify their farming business and now produce and bottle their own fully traceable, preservative and additive-free rapeseed oil in their purpose-built facility on the farm.

The local free draining fertile limestone soil ensures a prolific rape crop at Wharfe Valley Farms. The plant flowers in May and June and its yellow flowers briefly convert the landscape into a brilliant carpet of colour. The plant can grow up to 6ft in height, and when harvested in July it yields tiny, jet back seeds. These seeds are stored directly behind the press house, from where they are fed directly into the hoppers and very slowly cold pressed to produce oil. This is then filtered and allowed to stand for four weeks before being bottle it by hand on the premises.

Rapeseed Oil has the lowest saturated fat of any culinary oil and less than half that of Olive Oil. In recent years Mediterranean-produced Olive Oil has tended to overtake sunflower and vegetable oils in popularity and has been perceived as a healthy alternative. However Rapeseed Oil in fact naturally replicates a diet of low saturated fat found in olive oil and good essential omega oils normally obtained from fish.

The perhaps more health conscious French discovered Rapeseed Oil generations ago and the product is commonplace on supermarket shelves in that country. However it seems we British have shied away from embracing Rapeseed Oil as a serious healthy alternative to other cooking oils - perhaps due to its unfortunate name. Despite ongoing campaigning and media coverage about the dangers of overeating, the UK as a nation consumes far too much saturated fat which can lead to symptoms such as obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease. Rapeseed Oil has been shown to help reduce such symptoms when it is combined into a balanced diet.

Rapeseed Oil contains the lowest saturated fat content of any oil - less than half that of Olive Oil. It has 10 times more Omega 3 than Olive Oil, is a good source of Vitamin E and is high in monounsaturated fats. the oil contains no artificial preservatives and is trans-fat and GM free. It is suitable for a variety of diets – not least vegetarian, gluten-free, Kosher and Halal.

Given the obvious health and dietary benefits of this natural product, there seems no reason not to start using Rapeseed Oil in place of your usual cooking oil. I can thoroughly receommend Wharfe Valley's Rapeseed Oil as a superb example of the genre. Even the contemporary shape of the clear glass bottles and their rape flower labelling have been carefully designed to allow the light to shine through the beautiful golden oil.

Wharfe Valley Rapeseed Oil - my cooking oil of choice both at home and at the Yorkshire Deli Cafe, and is available to buy on our shelves, and in our online store here.

Cafe Update

My new season's resolution is to blog more often, so as we face our first long cold wet winter at Yorkshire Deli, here's just a quick update & summary to start with. I then intend to begin a series of posts each focusing on a different supplier or producer that has played a part in our first six months of business, as well as recipes from the cafe menu.

In general terms the first six months have been a great success. The cafe side of the business is very weather dependent, so the sunnier days - which mean we can use the outside tables increasing our capacity by over 50% - have obviously been the busiest. But we tick along on the cold and wet days too - as I type the rain is coming fast and horizontally at the window in front of me but the cafe is nearly full.

Our menu has evolved over the summer but is now changing again as the colder weather arrives, and people want less sandwiches and more hot food. We already produce a couple of hot homemade soups and main dishes every day, with a new addition being home-made pies. The first of these - Meat and Potato Pie - sold like, well, hot cakes yesterday, and will be a mainstay of the menu through the winter. In general I probably over-estimated our customers' sense of adventure, but in contrast I am always amazed that the most obscure or unusual sounding soup combinations all sell well - Cauliflower & Walnut or Smoked Haddock and Cheddar Cheese anyone?

Our new breakfast menu has been well received, helped by some excellent feedback from members of the local web forum ilkley-more.com, as well as being well-supported by staff from a number of local shops and businesses. Here again, however, the traditional bacon rolls and poached egg dishes are far more popular than our innovative local healthy Dales breakfast with Nutty Granola and Organic Apple Juice. Hey ho. lessons learned all round.

The first couple of evening events have been very successful too. We now plan a monthly dinner and wine-tasting focusing on a different wine producing country or region each time. Our next event - "Wines for Christmas" - takes place on 6th December. For £24.50 we will offer six wines from local merchant Martinez, four courses including assorted starters (to match with a sparkly and two whites), a gamey main dish for the reds, dessert (sherry or dessert wine) and cheese, as well as coffee and local artisan chocolates and lots of good cheer. Anyone interested should call us on 01943 817387.

Two events have seen me producing food all in one go for 30 and 16 covers respectively, which would have scared me to death a year ago but which was only mildly irritating due to the limitations - physical and equipment-wise - of our kitchen. I will be happy to be a proper chef in another life given a proper kitchen.

Staffing has settled down into a regular team who I hope will be with is at least through the winter. We were probably over-staffed in the early days but we now know exactly when our hot spots are and have planned accordingly, and I am very happy with the team that has emerged. So much so that I am finally getting a weekend off in a couple of weeks, and have no qualms about leaving the place in capable hands for a day or two. This will be my first break of more than a day since May, and well-earned it is, even if I say so myself!

Our suppliers have for the most part been reliable and helpful, and those that haven't have been ditched for better things. One such disappointment came from a company who boasts on their website: "We find our small customers are as important as our large clients for enabling us to keep pace with market trends, and whatever the size of your operation you can look forward to the best in personal service." Bollocks I say. We were too small for them and they let us down badly on one occasion too many, so we ditched them for - as it turns out - better things.

However most have been very supportive, and I will start trying to repay the compliment by featuring each of them in a separate post starting very soon with the award-winning Wharfe Valley Rapeseed Oil.

Orders are starting to trickle in to our online shop too, and I am hopeful of a brisk hamper trade both online and in-store. That will supplement our sales income a little before Xmas, so we just need a few ideas to liven up January and February trade now. Any suggestions?

Hope all is well out their in food blogging land - sorry I haven't had time either to update this one as often as I would have liked, or equally to keep up with even my favourite fellow bloggers - I look forward to catching up on both counts.