The Pipe & Glass

[Gary Marshall]

Well i was convinced i'd started a thread on the pipe and glass but i can find no trace of it, i know i have a few half written reviews scattered over various hard drives but a lunch last friday prompted me to make sure i finally complete a write up.

The pipe and glass is the first venture from James Mackenzie and his partner kate, they were previously head chef/restaurant manager respectively at another favourite of mine the star at harome, and indeed this is where i first met them through my visits (and after hours drinking).

The pub is a large spot near beverley in east yorkshire and i think once had a good food reputation which had waned over the years and was ripe for a restoration under the new owners, and despite the place apparently losing a lot of its original features in a fire many years ago, they have done well to make an iniviting eating and drinking space.

the bar is not massive but the rest of the pub is, so that if you have booked a table in the restaurant you are swifted pointed in the direction of a great reception room complete with wood burning stove and the memorabilia from james and kate's foodie travels worldwide, from the oak room to hells kitchen.

there's a seasonally changing menu and a specials board chalked up in the bar and the reception room (you can eat in the bar and like the star there are no reservations taken here) and the menu is where i am noticing the major changes with each visit.

When they opened we were busy with our pub so i didn't get to go until they'd been in action for a good six months, initial reports and indeed press stories were that they certainly weren't gunning for michelin stars and were just interested in running a good local pub with decent pub food.

our first visit suggested that the goals had moved, and subsequent visits demonstrate to me that a star will eventually adorn their already large trophy cabinet (indeed they already have a bib gourmand so are on michelin's list as would be expected given james's pedigree at the star).

The dishes are very much in andrew pern's style of classic british food made with great local ingredients, but they manage to keep their feet on the ground (as we did) by the inclusion of a decent prawn cocktail on the menu (no doubt one of the bigger sellers i suspect) but our most recent lunch saw starters of salmon tartare, salmon scoth egg and a game pasty so there's some interesting and appetite increasing stuff on there too.

the dining room is large and extends to a further conservatory which further looks onto a secluded garden which goes some way to explain how they are managing to serve around 1000 covers a week, and trust me, at this level of cooking that is an almost military style operation.

the wine list is pretty good, there's a fine wine list of some very attractive bottles but the more mainstream stuff is pretty good too, selected by local merchant playford ros (who do the star too) mark ups are not too severe and it's arranged in a customer friendly fashion by style which makes it quite approachable to the oenologically challenged.

our particular lunch was very enjoyable especially after the ravages of a 5.30am finish on new years day i was ready for something restorative, i managed to book a table and luckily it's a fairly straightforward 30 minute drive from my house, the village isn't too hard to find as it's a flat part of the world and the local church has a spire akin to the eiffel tower to mark the location.

I took a swift black sheep in the bar (no laughing at the back) and then took our place in front of the fire for some serious decision making, the salmon referred to above seemed a good 'light' choice and indeed it didn't disappoint showing a good level of execution, a nicely chopped tartare, surrounded by a delicate mirepoix ring of boiled egg with a small quails egg salmon 'scotch egg' . Mrs m had a game pasty, which judging by the fact i had to stab a bit off her plate before she scoffed it says it all. Just remembered there was good bread too, a choice of two from a good bread 'tray' and also some toasted poilane to accompany the salmon.

For mains we both had the fish pie, quite historically (or not) the first fish pie i've ever had (a particularly poor version forced upon my brother and i as children has never left it top of my agenda) but hey, at 38 if you can't open your mind to new things when can you?

This is where i thought the changing of gear became apparent again, now you can find a fish pie in the brake brothers ready to nuke catalgue and it appears on menus up and down the country in earthenware bowls piping hot from the microwave but rarely does it appear in cast iron staub pots with a side of langoustine and fennel salad in its own mauviel copper pot, as it does here. Also the presentation wasn't the highlight, it ate bloody well too!

For dessert i think sarah had a gingery burnt cream, although i wouldn't bet my life on it , i had a treacle tart that was decent but the egg nog ice cream elevated it.

Taking it easy on the wine front a £19 bottle of spanish chardonnay seemed to do the trick, and total bill was around £90 with the pies being £16 each, the prices are very reasonable given the ingredients utilised and the staff costs for turning out food like this, it is not far off star quality food but it is 20 - 30 % cheaper if our average bills from the two are any sort of guide.

so highly recommended, it could get a star this year but that might be a little soon, and in any event the place is pretty much rammed most services as it stands so god knows how a star would change things (and locally after they got the bib most thought tht was a star anyway!) but if they continue with the current tragectory i'd be suprised if they weren't etoiled in the 2010 guide.

[BertieWooster]

HAve they got the rooms open yet.? There really is NOWHERE to stay in that area. We ended up in Driffield. Never again.

THe food is very, very, Pern-like as you say. If you don't like The Star, you won't like the Pipe and Glass.

[Gary Marshall]

didn't see any sign of them, they would be very useful.

yes, but if you don't like the star then you should really be in a harvester not taking up valuable space at the P&G

i think the P&G does have a bit more appeal to the less foodie element than the star does, to many it's just a nice place to go, a function of its size which makes it less threatening i think to the more casual restaurant goer

[dkps_2000]

Sentiments very much echoed Gary, it's my Dad local place to eat (well not the most local but the best in the locality) so I've been many a time. I love the Smoked Haddock and Pearl Barley Risotto with Parmesan Crisp. I had partridge last time I went which was great, I'll be going again next time I'm visiting my Dad (hopefully soon!)

[Kropotkin]

I'll echo Gary's comments too. The Pipe and Glass is very local for me and it's been a pleasure to see their standards climb ever-upwards these past three years. We were last there on New Year's Eve and their buffet was both excellent and extremely generous - and an event enjoyed by most of the village, as far as I could see.

The best accommodation options are in and around Beverley (Lazaat, just south on the A164 is the best bet). Driffield is mired in a late-1970s time-warp... which some may like, but I don't think I could stay there either!

[Gary Marshall]

New Year's Eve and their buffet was both excellent and extremely generous - and an event enjoyed by most of the village, as far as I could see. 

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well good on james and kate for putting on everyone's favourite food - free

my local always does a free drink on xmas day , the people that crawl out of the woodwork....

[Kropotkin]

It was £40 a ticket actually, but very good value at that price - particularly given all the top-notch seafood on offer, champagne, mulled-wine and some very tasty, tiny haggis, tatties and neeps tartlets that kept on coming... what's not to like???

[Gary Marshall]

sounds good

[Gary Marshall]

Another very pleasant evening at the pipe and glass on friday night with guest glutton, simon from dos hermanos up north researching for his next book .

We started with a swift pint of 'old boot' at the boot and shoe, ellerton a little local pub of my acqaintance whilst mrs m did what women do before they go out of a friday night.

eventually we were safely ensconced in the pipe and glass, with a pint of black sheep and the roaring fire for company, looking at the specials board and menu eagerly.

mrs m had the same as me on my last visit, a salomon tartare and with a quail scotch egg and fish pie to follow. I had smoked haddock risotto with poached egg and parmesan crisp with steamed venison pie to follow and simon rabbitt rissoles and the pie too.

once in the dining room we started on the excellent home made bread and a NZ riesling, greed made me eat more bread than was strictly necessary which came back to haunt me, mrs m's starter was as good as mine last time. my risotto hit the spot with plenty of unctous yolk to mix into the brothy risotto, and i'm always a sucker for parmesan crisps.

Then james kindly sent an intermediate course out of deep fried lindisfarne oysters and jerusalem artichoke puree, wow very meaty oysters! they went down very well , and i began to regret my bread piggery.

On the mains front the fish pie delivered again, this time with a crab salad rather than fennel and lobster. The venison pie was a good example full of meat with a good crust and crucially supplied with a little jug of extra gravy.

the thought of dessert was becoming an issue by this point but a selection of 3 fruit flavoured home made fruit vodkas from the kitchen helped make a hole in 'trou' fashion (apologies) so we felt able to at least have a selection of desserts to share the cinder toffee ice cream and lemon posset with stewed rhubarb, both personal faves.

with a bottle of portugese red the bill came to just shy of £50 a head , so again good value for the cooking and ingredients on offer.

mrs marshall did the decent thing and drove us home, and indeed back to my local but oddly couldn't be persuaded to wait for us to have a couple of nightcaps, so we proceeded to have a couple of nightcaps and a taxi home, back to the welcoming arms of mr calvados and a less than clear head on saturday morning.

Luckily we had fish and chips at the magpie on the menu for lunch to restore normality.

the dos hermanos verdict here.....

http://www.doshermanos.co.uk/

[Gary Marshall]

HAve they got the rooms open yet.? There really is NOWHERE to stay in that area. We ended up in Driffield. Never again.

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next project is a cookery school, rooms to follow but didn't sound anytime soon.

[Gary Marshall]

just realised i did't post an earlier meal here, so here it is, with yesterday's lunch to follow....

4/9/09

One of the many things i like about the pipe and glass is that it is unique amongst most of the decent places in my locale that it opens specially on bank holiday mondays (they are usually closed). hence it is becoming a regular haunt of said days off.

Last week no exception, an odd day weatherwise that looked like a proper indoors day turned out to be very warm but over cast which on arrival at the P&G saw us confronted with a front lawn full of punters, people drinking and eating al fresco in the UK, who knew?!

Sensible folk that we are i had already anticipated a busy service and called to book a table in the resto at 1.30, and determined to enjoy my time on arriving early, resisted attempts to get our order on early and enjoyed a pleasant half hour in their little pre-restaurant lounge.

My starter was a hornsea lobster caesar salad with anchovy beignet and quails egg, I thought this lacked a bit of sauce, but that may be my personal preference for things drowned in caesar dressing when i make it myself, the anchovy was also a bit too salty for the dish, so it was a bit out of balance but there was plenty of lobster and well cooked quails eggs. Sarah had a crab starter that i completely forgot about as i was engrossed in sorting out my salad.

For main i had a herbed chicken breast with some air dried ham, and potatoes bonne femme, it also came with a nice buttery beurre blanc -y sauce around the edge , the ham had been fried and was very crisp and the chicken not overdone as i had thought it might but came very moist, perfectly cooked. the cubes of potate, tiny onions and bacon sat in a little pot on the side, all made for quite a pleasant little feast that i washed down with an 05 giradin rully 1er cru at £25.

Since their original wine supplier playford ros was taken over by my old supplier house of townend they have switched supply to au bon coeur and corney and barrow and have put together a good looking list both literally, in a nice bound horizontal format and vineously (sp) with some nice wine introductions about producers etc, it certainly shows a lot of time has been lavished over it rather than a quick whizz through a suppliers wholesale list.

Desserts were a yorkshire burnt cream for me and parkin ice cream and chocolate cinder toffee for sarah (her main was a decent ploughmans)

With a few beers to start we escaped at just over £90.

It looks like there will also be some rooms opening shortly, 'autumn' is the launch date of 2 swish sounding suites, which i'd like to try at some point. Not sure if that's overtaken the cookery school or they are doing both.

Still one of my favourite places.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Gary Marshall (log)

[Gary Marshall]

a pleasant afternoon out yesterday , a few pints in the gait at millington, a nice locals pub very bustling on sunday lunchtime, with an eminently drinkable golden ale then on to the pipe and glass for a sunday lunch. We had a 3.30 table and by the time we arrived at 3.45 lunch was still in full swing, it's a busy place. menu is quite comprehensive for a sunday, a couple of roasts plus a few others from the ALC and a specials board too.

I had a nice salmon dish to start, something i don't eat too much of nowadays but often do at the P&G, it may be the presence of salmon 'scotch eggs' that do it, this was a mix of the scotch egg, smoked and hot smoked salmon, and it was very good indeed.

my main of roast pork with black pudding forcemeat came with a nice piped mash plus, good roast potatoes, red cabbage and courgettes with walnuts, a nice diversion from carrots! extra gravy and yorkshire puds were provided for the greedy. Among the best sunday lunches was the tables conclusion.

I finished with an old favourite of cinder toffee ice cream with chocolate cinder toffee, a very enjoyable afternoon.

on the wine front we took it steady with a spanish white from marques de riscal very drinkable at £17 and a montepulicano for the mains, about £22.

we had a quick tour around the new suites which will be opening shortly, they do have a magnificent views over parkland and have been designed as such with nice patio areas with chimneas and full length glass doors to make the most of it, only 2 at the moment but more to come in future years, along with cookery school.

[Gary Marshall]

along with michelin, they've had a visit from Jay too....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/21/pipe-glass-inn-restaurant-review

my next visit is next sunday, the last meal of the condemmed man heading to work in london!

[Gary Marshall]

Well despite the lack of write ups, i assure you the pipe and glass remains in my top 3 favourite places and they've just been announced as michelin pub of the year 2012, well done to james, kate and the team, quite an acheivement!

[Kropotkin]

And further to these plaudits I'll add (given recent debate about cancellation fees) that I booked a table for 8 colleagues recently at the Pipe and Glass and the deposit was a mere £10 per head (forfeited for cancellations within 24 hours). Good on them!

And what are your top 3 places then, Gary?

[Gary Marshall]

I have a cancellation tale too, i was trying to book a large table for a family bash, even my non foodie brother and wife love it, had a variety of calls with them to find a date and was asked for a deposit, no problem. My mother called to make the final confirm and pay the deposit, this time james answered the phone and said 'we know Gary, no need for a deposit' haha!

My favourites in no particular order..

The pipe and glass

The st vincent arms sutton upon derwent

Star at harome

Pheasant at harome.

No surpises there, i'm quite stuck in my ways!

Casual red chilli, akbars, aagah in york/a64

[Bapi]

Casual red chilli, akbars, aagah in york/a64

This is how I invariably feel after a day out with you. Talking of which - are we sorted for December?

Sorry, back on topic- I really need to get to the Pipe & Glass. Everything I have seen and read makes want to go there, and with any luck, thanks to Mission Control, that should now happen before Christmas.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Bapi (log)