I know a place which you will never forget -trust me -

I know a place which you will never forget -trust me - when I attend marketing meetings, we are told only to tell customers so much. Tempt them to come and then tell them the rest. This is good advice most of the time. On this occasion it would be completely unfair not to tell locals and other people who have never had the experience where it is . Okay you may read this and stay well yes we take Anna's advice and we will stay there too. In normal circunstances I would be a bit miffed, but if you do all I can say is if you do enjoy it . The people who own it and those who work there are so kind to me. If I cant repay the favourite now and again it all gets a bit one sided. I will tell you at the end, if you havent already guessed where it is. I have been going here for over 50 years now and seen landlords come and go. - clue no 1. The present owner has just celebrate 27 years of running this fine place. Fine indeed it holds a Michellin star. Situated just outside Helmsley on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. It is essentially an Inn with Rooms serving ‘modern Yorkshire’ food made primarily from locally-sourced seasonal ingredients, such as local game, North Sea fish and fresh herbs from its own kitchen garden. Wines and beers are carefully selected to compliment the dining menu, whilst service is knowledgeable, but friendly. Add to this the atmosphere of an Inn with hospitality steeped into its very timbers for a proper treat. So then it is to decide what to have. The other lunch time I had the market menu and Jack opted for dishes from the menu. I was in such a laid back mood I didnt want to go through the menu thinking oh yes I would like that, oh no I think this sounds amazing, but oh wow this is just up my street .I left it for the chef to decide the menu of the day for me. Then Jack had forgotten his specs so I had to go and choose for him. He was very pleased with what he ate, so I think I made the right choice. After we ordered it wasnt long before some warm spelt bread came with baked salted breadsticks which must have been 2 foot long. Accompanied with olive oil,balsamic and whipped Triple Cheese with herbs. Give me bread and I am happy. My starter was East Coast Mackeral -that was so fresh it just melted in my mouth .It was served with Elderflower, Pickled Gooseberries and cucumber and pineapple sorbet. Typing this reminds me, I wonder what my gooseberries are doing. I will have to take a look. Gooseberries were once a forerunner of rhubarb They seem to have be lost in the rhubarb fenzey which when I was young it was just boring old rhubarb. As children we used to watch with intent as they rose up through the straw in the old chimney pots my Grandad sat over them to encourage them to grow longer stalks. Then my friend Derrick and I used to have rhubarb fight using them as if they were swords ... weird children that we were back in those days. And sometime I used to walk about with a large rhubarb leaf on my head as if it was a hat fit for Ascot. The drawback was they did wilt pretty quickly. Sorry I have diversed from our food. Jack, I felt would like the Signature Dish established in 1996 of which clue 2 is a book title - "Black Pudding and Foie Gras . I actually am the lucky owner of one of these books as I understand they are now out of print. The Chef wrote another book which you can buy is called Loose Birds and Game. A multi-award-winning Game cookbook which includes stunning flavour combinations and recipes for Poultry, Game and Fish served at the Michelin-starred inn is certainly worth buying. Jacks' starter was Grilled Black Pudding and pan fried Foie Gras with Pickering Watercress ,Apple and Vanilla Chutney and a Scrumpy Reduction. For my main course it was a Yorkshire chicken skewer with a mango ,chilli and coriander salsa I am not really a fan of corinder as I always think it taste a bit like soap but it wasnt "soapy" at all. Who ever had put this together made it look so pretty it was certainly a work of art - food porn .... or did I mean Pern food clue 3 Jacks' main was something very special Skrei Cod ,now this is not any old piece of Cod -this is fished from the deepest waters above Norway. I just had to try it to say I had had Skrei - how glad I did -it was amazing. It was served with Whitby crab ,Earth baked Jersey Royals,White Asparagus,Coastal Herb pickings and a Black Truffle sauce. When I saw the word Whitby I thought back to when I was in my 20s when ..here come clue 4the landlord used to say "Whitby ,My Beloved Whitby" - he was a great friend of ours, who is no longer on this Earth's plain but is remembered with great affection .Dummer {Ian] Otterburn was captain of the local cricket team then and used to wind the poor fellow up by calling him the Red Mullet I will contiue with the rest of our meal another night as I am sure we are all full up now. Or you are so hungry you are going to raid your fridge until you can travel to where we were. And did you guess where we were .... There is only a couple of stars that shine brightly on Earth. This one is in the North Yorkshire countryside and it is The Star at Harome as it is only a 15 minute drive.. For anyone staying with us and wanting to go to dine at the Star, we are happy to drive you there. .