> Features

Pipe and Glass Inn review

Pipe and Glass Inn review

by Isaac Parham 15 January 2015

James Mackenzie's Pipe and Glass Inn is one of a handful of pubs in the UK to hold a Michelin star, Isaac Parham took the trip to East Yorkshire to experience it for himself.

More from this series:

I’m just about old enough to remember pubs before the “gastro” prefix was permanently attached. What halcyon days: a bland lasagne, curly fries and a few limp strands of lettuce - yours for just £3.99. This may sound sneering but I’m only half-joking; because, actually, it was fine; not good, but fine. Besides, these were the pre-smoking ban days, and who wants to tuck into textures of rosehips or whatever with wafts of fag smoke eddying up your nostrils?

These days, though, every two-bit boozer that opens or reopens is proclaiming its repertoire of butternut squash risottos and propa bangers and mash as “a modern take on classic British cuisine”, albeit, wait for it, “with a twist”. Always with a twist. Often there’s no twist.

Yet occasionally there are pub restaurants (let’s avoid that word shall we) that do offer something worthy of the affixation, and these places, readers, are meccas – paradises where haute cuisine meets pub grub. And deep in rural Yorkshire, over frostbitten moors and round the corner from an emphatic gothic church, I find my own personal nirvana – James and Kate Mackenzie’s Pipe and Glass Inn.

The Pipe and Glass Inn
James Mackenzie
White chocolate and cranberry bread and butter pudding
by James Mackenzie

You don’t find this place by accident; a few miles short of Beverley in a village called South Dalton, it is well off the beaten track. It is sustained, instead, by a fantastic reputation among locals and its one star listing in the Michelin Guide. On this particular Monday lunchtime it is thriving, with barely enough room for our Ford Fiesta to slot in among the Range Rovers and Mercs (it attracts that kind of visitor, too) in the adjoining car park.

Inside it is blessed with all the qualities you would imagine – open fireplaces, brassy pumps etc. – but is not quite your typical country pub. You see, Pipe and Glass is a grand old property, and beyond the bar there is further seating to be found in the main dining room, upstairs private dining room and even overnight accommodation available in a duo of rooms charmingly named “Thyme” and “Sage”.

It says something, then, that there is only just enough space for us to eat in the bar after an interminable few minutes spent hawking round those eating their desserts like hungry grim reapers. Covers here are clearly prized (we really should have booked ahead), and from the eat-me menus it is easy to see why. Smoked mallard salad with crispy duck heart croutons, Liquorice panna cotta, Chocolate and juniper pudding – to put it mildly: James Mackenzie’s food plays to our basest of epicurean desires.

After much deliberation I choose a savoury cheesecake to start. Confected from sour goat’s cheese and a surprisingly sharp beetroot glaze the flavours are mild, but not meekly so – more of a gentle warm-up for the hammer-out-of-the-park dishes to come.

The main is a generous brute, bequeathing palate-pleasing gifts in the form of tender strands of venison wrapped in suet pastry, a quenelle of salt-baked swede and an onion; just an onion, yes, but roasted to yielding beauty with flashes of sage. It makes for a straightforward combination, but held together by juniper the effects are practically transcendental.

The less said about the dessert the better, but only because it is so good it taunts me to have to write about it. Moist, rich, treacly, sharp, warming – that’s about all I can muster, though I must concede (succinct) praise to the gorgeously frothy custard: bloody good.

James and his wife Kate, who looks after front of house, took on this historic pub in 2006, and like James’s former employer and co-brewer Andrew Pern at The Star Inn, have built the business up slowly, winning the star in 2010.

While there are grander plans afoot, with an improved garden and rooms soon to be added, the pair do not seem intent on creating an empire here. There are no plans (that I know of) to roll out a string of Mackenzie pubs across East Yorkshire promising “Modern British with a twist”. Instead they concentrate all their energies on delivering highly-skilled yet accessible food coupled with reassuring service.

And that's a formula that requires no twist at all.

Comments ()

Pipe and Glass Inn review

 

Please enter text

Comments must be less than characters

Change your username in user settings to something more personal.

 

(Editing)

>

This comment was edited

Please enter text

Comments must be less than characters

Reply | | Edit | Delete Report

This comment has been deleted

Report this comment

Please state your report in the space below

Please enter text

Reports must be less than 750 characters

loading

>

Please enter text

Comments must be less than characters

(Editing)

>

This comment was edited

Please enter text

Comments must be less than characters

Reply | | Edit | Delete Report

This comment has been deleted

Report this comment

Please state your report in the space below

Please enter text

Reports must be less than 750 characters

loading

>

Please enter text

Comments must be less than characters

Be the first to leave a comment on this page...
...   ...
 

Please enter text

Comments must be less than characters

Change your username in user settings to something more personal.

 

You may also like

Pipe and Glass Inn review
The Pipe and Glass Inn
James Mackenzie
Restaurants with rooms
Restaurant Collection
James Mackenzie
The Pipe and Glass Inn
Michelin star pubs
by Great British Chefs
Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms
Sat Bains
James Mackenzie
Recipe Collection
Restaurants in Yorkshire
Restaurant Collection
10 of the best gourmet getaways for Christmas
by Great British Chefs
Pylon produce: Sat Bains' urban kitchen garden
by Tom Shingler
Whitby food guide
by Isaac Parham
A day at Whitby Crab Company
by Isaac Parham
The Terrace at The Montagu Arms review
by Isaac Parham
Lunch at Cliveden House review
by Isaac Parham
A review of The Driftwood Hotel
by Isaac Parham
Understanding gastrophysics with Professor Charles Spence
by Isaac Parham
Oxford food and drink guide
by Isaac Parham
Coffee: when and how to drink it
by Isaac Parham
Margot and the future of British service
by Isaac Parham
Is the gourmet burger more than a trend?
by Isaac Parham
Paris House brings out the 'Big Guns'
by Isaac Parham
Kitchen cures: British chefs and charcuterie
by Isaac Parham
Tommy Banks: north Yorkshire’s shining star
by Tom Shingler
Lady Betty Afternoon Tea at Betty’s Café Tea Rooms
by Nancy Anne Harbord
Ones to watch: Tom van Zeller
by Nancy Anne Harbord
Leeds food guide
by Nancy Anne Harbord
The Yorke Arms
Frances Atkins
The Box Tree
Simon Gueller
Restaurant reviews
Five-bird roast
by James Mackenzie
Forced Yorkshire rhubarb trifle with rum soaked parkin crumbs
by James Mackenzie
Vegetable and chestnut stew with sage crust and crispy kale
by James Mackenzie
Scarborough woof and seaweed fritters with brown crab mayonnaise
by James Mackenzie
Farmhouse Lancashire cheese, spiced pear and kale pithivier
by James Mackenzie
Wild rabbit, langoustine and Jerusalem artichoke crumble with wild garlic crust
by James Mackenzie
Parsnip, Parmesan and sage bread
by James Mackenzie
Black pudding, scampi and white bean crumble with wild garlic crust
by James Mackenzie
Osso buco of gammon with gooseberry ketchup, fried duck egg and crispy pickled onion rings
by James Mackenzie
Lamb belly fritters with sauce Paloise
by James Mackenzie
Crab sticks
by James Mackenzie
Tomato and mozzarella salad with lovage pesto and spiced gazpacho
by James Mackenzie
Venison tartare with haggis Scotch egg and elderberry dressing
by James Mackenzie
Blacksticks Blue cheese rarebit with pickled walnuts
by James Mackenzie
Venison and juniper suet pudding with girolle mushrooms and ‘clapshot’
by James Mackenzie
Two Chefs ale bread
by James Mackenzie
Gammon cooked in scrumpy cider with Waldorf salad and apple syrup
by James Mackenzie
Pistachio and raspberry Bakewell tart
by James Mackenzie
Chocolate, juniper and sloe gin pudding with damson ripple ice cream
by James Mackenzie
A culinary trip to Toronto
by Isaac Parham
Ale-braised mutton and kidney faggots with peas, lettuce and mint
by James Mackenzie

NAVIGATE

© Great British Chefs 2019