It’s award success on a plate for The Bay Horse
STAFF at a Tees Valley pub have been popping the champagne corks after scooping a national Michelin award.
The Bay Horse at Hurworth, near Darlington, began trading under new ownership a little over a year ago and has already been handed four top industry awards for its cuisine, which includes locally sourced products from nearby Country Valley Foods and Whitby-based Hodgson Fisheries.
Its latest accolade - the Michelin Bib Gourmand - is awarded for high-quality cuisine at moderate prices. The 2010 Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland has named 28 new restaurants as Bib Gourmands, a move reflecting the continuing trend in the UK’s dining market towards competitive pricing. The Bay Horse also shares its new-found status with Heston Blumenthal’s Hinds Head restaurant, in Bray, Berkshire.
Joint owner of The Bay Horse, Jonathan Hall, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with this award as we are the only new additions in Durham and Cleveland this year - the first and only venue in Darlington to receive it.”
Last year the restaurant received listings in food industry publication The Morning Advertiser's Top 30 gastro pubs of 2009, Michelin Eating Out in Pubs guide 2010 and the forthcoming Sawday Pubs and Inns Edition seven. Joint owner Marcus Bennett, who was previously head chef and proprietor at McCoys @ The Baltic in Newcastle and head chef at The Tontine, said the team was “truly overwhelmed” to receive the award.
“This highlights the quality and price of our food - factors that are so important in the current economic climate,” he added.
The Michelin guide awards a Bib sparingly - only 117 entries in the UK and Ireland made it into the 2010 guide out of 5,500 entries. The award has been given since 1955. Restaurants awarded the Bib Gourmand accolade must have a menu priced at no more than £28 in the UK and 40 euros in the Republic of Ireland.
The name comes from Bib (Bibendum), the Michelin Man, Michelin’s logo for more than a century.
The Bay Horse is a Grade II listed coaching house, dating back to the 1400s. Mr Hall and Mr Bennett bought the venue in 2008 and since then have invested £250,000 in the business, including a state-of-the-art kitchen. A second private dining room - the Seagraves Room - opened in December. The restaurant’s menu features locally supplied food and produce wherever possible, including Grand Reserve local matured beef from Country Valley Foods, which is also based in Hurworth.
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