Olivia Potts

Forget London – why foodies are flocking to the North

  • From Spectator Life

If you only read restaurant reviews, you might be forgiven for thinking that the North is a culinary wasteland: despite a few intrepid reviewers venturing further than the Watford gap, restaurant reviewing remains firmly London-centric.

But there is life (and culinary prowess) beyond the outer zones of the London underground. Last month Moor Hall in Lancashire was named ‘National Restaurant of the Year’ at the prestigious Estrella Dam National Restaurant Awards.

When it comes to the top spot, this is nothing new: Moor Hall has retained the top spot since 2019, when the last awards took place. The awards are voted for by UK chefs, restaurateurs and food writers, and following a break in 2020, during a year in which the pandemic forced restaurants to close, reopen, close again, and perform whiplash pivots, the awards returned for 2021.

_Moor_Hall_guinea_hen_sweetcorn_beetroot_and_blackberry.jpg
Guinea hen with sweetcorn, beetroot and blackberry, Moor Hall

This is no London exodus or spill-over

Despite Moor Hall’s previous top ranking, the 2019 awards were dominated by London restaurants. But the tide has turned. For the first time, there are more restaurants in the north of England on the prestigious list than from London. Of the top five restaurants in this year’s awards, only one isn’t Northern – Clare Smyth’s Core in Notting Hill came in at number three. In second place is The Angel at Hetton in North Yorkshire, headed up by Michael Wignall; at number four is Kenny Atkinson’s House of Tides on Newcastle’s quayside, and at five, is Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume in Cartmel.

For those of us living (and eating) in the North of England, this success is probably no surprise: the Northern culinary scene has been going from strength to strength – and none of these restaurants are new. Moor Hall opened under its new ownership in 2017, House of Tides back in 2014, and L’Enclume has been lauded since its opening almost 20 years ago.

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Olivia Potts
Written by
Olivia Potts
Olivia Potts is a former criminal barrister who retrained as a pastry chef. She co-hosts The Spectator’s Table Talk podcast and writes Spectator Life's The Vintage Chef column. A chef and food writer, she was winner of the Fortnum and Mason's debut food book award in 2020 for her memoir A Half Baked Idea.

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