Review of Hansom, celebrity chef Ruth's Bedale restaurant

The description seems to be applied to anyone who just came bottom in a regional heat of TV’s Masterchef. Yes, they were on TV but when seemingly everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame these days – as Andy Warhol sort of said in 1968 – does that really count?

Exceptions can be made of course. Tommy Banks of the Black Swan, Oldstead, Roots in York and now the Abbey Inn at Byland Abbey certainly fits the bill. He’s won the TV competitions and clocked up the appearances on Saturday Kitchen and been awarded the Michelin stars to prove it.

Ruth Hansom can also be included. Who, you might well ask? Well, that’s a bit rude but I can tell you that while she might not have the same name recognition as the aforementioned Mr Banks, she is the genuine article.

Raised in Darlington, she developed in an early interest in food growing veg in her parents’ garden which logically led to cooking what she’d grown. She found herself hooked.

After taking her GCSEs, an ambition to train as a doctor was swiftly abandoned to go to catering college in London and work in the city’s booming hospitality sector.

A three-year apprenticeship working in the kitchens of the Ritz under the tutelage of head chef John Williams (the avuncular Geordie who you may remember from the ITV documentary series about the hotel) was followed by a series of jobs at other prestigious hotels, restaurants and pubs in and around the capital, latterly as head chef, and a successful appearance on the Great British Menu.

Her journey through the culinary high spots of the capital was littered with awards, Michelin stars and AA rosettes. I think that justifies the celebrity chef tag.

Last year, still not 30, she found herself working as executive chef at Swinton Park when an opportunity came up to take on her very own restaurant – in little ol’ Bedale.

With a commendable confidence born of an enviable track record it is called Hansom.

No disrespect to Bedale – one of the most under-rated towns in North Yorkshire I would say – but it’s an unlikely location for this sort of venture. Just across the Market Place from Hansom is a takeaway called Bellybusters. Just how much enthusiasm is there going to be for fine dining and multi-course tasting menus?

Hansom opened earlier this year in what was the late and lamented Tom and Nellie’s. The stunning refurbishment by the Mason family (of gin fame) of the building that used to house Panetti’s has provided Ms Hansom with a beautiful environment for her new enterprise. Sensibly, she has done little to it.

Currently, it is open Thursday to Saturday offering a seven-course tasting menu and small plates in 16-cover restaurant and the wine bar upstairs. On Sunday there is a traditional Sunday lunch.

Not being fans of tasting menus, we fetched up there for the Sunday roast with three friends and our table was in the front bar area but well away from the front door which a previous experience when it was Tom and Nellies had taught us not to be.

It was a superlative Sunday lunch. Local provenance is the thing here with beef and pork from Nidderdale and Masham, chicken from Wensleydale, asparagus from Spilmans at Thirsk, and sea trout from Whitby cured in Masons Gin.

Historic roast potatoes cooked in duck fat and butter, pillowy Yorkshire puddings, nicely pink, tender and thickly-cut sirloin, properly piggy pork belly and an array of well-cooked and presented veg, including cauliflower cheese (more of which later).

Ms Hansom’s fining dining pedigree was most evident in the picture-perfect presentation of the starters, particularly the sea trout with pickled cucumbers and soda bread, and the asparagus which was accompanied by blobs of creamy smoked cheddar, pickled mushroom and hazelnut.

Desserts were similarly artful. It’s hard to make sticky toffee pudding look like anything than a slab of unguent brownness but this version managed it. The rhubarb and apple crumble was superb and ice cream was provided as an alternative to the traditionalists in the party who thought stem ginger custard was a bit weird (it wasn’t as it happens).

So, all good but there is a but.

The bill for five of us totalled just over £300. That was for four starters, five mains and desserts plus four glasses of wine and four pre-lunch drinks, two of which were soft/no-alcohol. The cauliflower cheese (excellent though it was) had been charged as an £11 extra – two dishes at £5.50 each. There was also a 12.5 per cent service charge which I had no argument with because the service was good – apart from the £24 bottle of cider which found its way on the bill but was swiftly removed when spotted and pointed out.

Is £60 a head too much for a good quality Sunday lunch? The verdict is in the scores below.

Hansom Restaurant and Wine Bar

7-9 North End, Bedale DL8 1AF

Tel: 07938 708604 Web: hansomrestaurant.co.uk

Open Monday-Saturday 5.30-9pm; Sunday noon-4pm

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 9, Service 8, Surroundings 9 Value 5