A Restaurant Worth Travelling To: Forge At Middleton Lodge, Yorkshire
Eva Nemeth
THE CONCEPT
If you’re looking for a far-flung foodie escape, book a room – and dinner – at Middleton Lodge Estate near the Yorkshire Dales. Family run (and we mean that, as we met and saw James the owner around the estate many times during our recent stay), the 200-acre Georgian estate was bought by the Allison family in 1980. James grew up on the estate and has spent the past two decades restoring the 18th-century Palladian house and Georgian outbuildings in an eco-friendly, thoughtful way. The result is a 57-bedroom hotel, two self-catered cottages, two restaurants, a spa – and one of the UK’s loveliest staycation spots.
THE SETTING
Launched just over a year ago, the estate’s fine-dining restaurant, Forge, is headed up by chef Jake Jones, who has previously worked at Simon Rogan’s three-Michelin-starred L’Enclume. Perhaps he was tempted down from Cumbria by the estate’s two-acre kitchen garden, which grows produce throughout the seasons and is used to create the tasting experiences at Forge. While the restaurant itself is beautifully designed (think mullioned windows, natural brickwork and high, beamed ceilings), it’s this outdoor area the chefs are most proud of, as the kitchen garden is one of the main reasons Forge won a coveted Green Michelin star earlier this year. Like L’Enclume, Crocadon and Coombeshead Farm in Cornwall and Skye Gyngell’s Marle at Heckfield Place in Hampshire, this award – according to the Michelin definition – means that Forge “holds themselves accountable for both their ethical and environmental standards, and work with sustainable producers and suppliers to avoid waste and reduce or even remove plastic and other non-recyclable materials from their supply chain.” It’s this ethos that underpins everything at Forge.
GASP PHOTO CO
THE FOOD
At the same awards ceremony, Jake was awarded Michelin Young Chef of the Year for Great Britain and Ireland. Together, the kitchen forages ingredients from the estate's landscape and works with local farmers and producers to ensure low food miles for all their dishes. This is first encountered at the long bar, where guests are welcomed with a cocktail and a couple of snacks – all of which feature these local ingredients. We kicked things off with an alcoholic twist on a bread-and-butter pudding (made using leftover crusts) and a bite of pressed potato, topped with goats’ curd, barbecued asparagus and a translucent slice of guanciale – which started the meal on a strong note.
Diners can choose between ten-course and six-course tasting menus (vegan and veggie options are available), each with an inventive wine pairing. Now in the main dining room, we’re treated to a procession of thoughtful, gorgeously plated courses. There’s homemade bread with three cultured butters. Local Musselburgh leeks come with foraged salad and a wonderfully tangy douglas fir cultured buttermilk dressing. Dry-aged Hereford beef with sourdough, slow-cooked yolk and spring herbs is presented as a delicate steak tartare, where sourdough starter has been crafted into a wafer-thin basket to hold the beef. My favourite savoury course is a just-cooked-through piece of Cornish cod, served with XO, Baby Lou potatoes, onions in fermented gooseberry and a flavour-packed smoked roe sauce.
As someone with more of a savoury tooth than a sweet one, I need to shout out the puddings, which were among my highlights of the whole meal. The bread, miso and caramel tart mastered the balance between sweet and salty; and the Williams pears, poached in red verjus and served with brown sugar sponge and caramelised black sesame is one of the nicest desserts I can remember.
TIM GREEN
THE VERDICT
Across the evening, the estate-to-plate ethos is exemplary. The team has its own bees, and the resulting honey is used in multiple dishes. Last year’s ransoms have been preserved and are now served with hogget, kombu and toasted yeast cream. We hear Jake likes to go out and tap the nearby birch trees for sap, which is then used in dishes such as frozen Baron Bigod with pickled walnut, toasted barley and birch syrup to create a modern, lighter take on a cheese course.
We also loved the use of unexpected ingredients. There’s a memorable early course of lemon and thyme beer bread, served with Old Winchester custard and beer vinegar. And one of the final bites is a preserved blackberry and pink peppercorn macaron, which is both sweet and subtly spicy. At all times, these unusual ingredients never tip into experimental or divisive territory, rather they become a source of joyful surprise – the mark of a skilled chef who’s doing truly great, interesting things at this restaurant.
Tim Green
Cecelina Tornberg
WHERE TO STAY
There’s a lovely selection of bedrooms available across the estate – from chic rooms in the Coach House (where there’s another restaurant and bar), Dairy, orchard and walled garden to self-catered cottages or shepherd huts. Our pick? The pretty double-storey cottage four in the Dairy, which comes with a private hot tub. If you’re staying overnight, make sure to leave time for the hotel’s newest addition, the Forest Spa, which offers treatments and access to various steam rooms and saunas (we loved the one with the window overlooking a field for that real sense-of-place feeling), plus the year-round heated outdoor pool.
HOW TO GET THERE
Trains to Darlington from London take around two-and-a-half hours from King’s Cross station. From Darlington station, it’s a 15-minute taxi journey. If you’re driving from London, it will take around five hours up the A1 or M1.
Middleton Tyas, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 6NJ; Forge is open Thursday-Sunday evenings
Visit MiddletonLodge.co.uk
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