For some diners, roast duck served with olive oil chocolate bonbons followed by peanut ice cream with artichoke caramel might seem like a daunting prospect for the tastebuds. However, at Anthony’s, culinary conventions are being overturned and an exciting illustration of the future of fine dining for foodies in the North is starting to emerge. For this reason, Anthony’s has earned this year’s Excellence Award in the 2005 Restaurant Rémy Awards.

Anthony Flinn builds on the ‘molecular gastronomy’ philosophy of Heston Blumenthal (a Restaurant Rémy Award winner in 2003) of The Fat Duck and the legendary Ferran Adria of El Bulli in Montjoi, near Barcelona (possibly the most talked-about restaurant in the world) by combining kitchen traditions with scientific principles. Savoury and sweet are unexpectedly paired, experimented with and new dining experiences are enjoyed.

Molecular gastronomy may sound like an inaccessible and high-brow concept for food snobs – but here, you will be pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is a relaxed and elegant family affair and the cuisine is simple, uncluttered, expertly executed and unpretentious.

At just 24 years of age, Anthony has a wisdom and imagination beyond his years. Since leaving Huddersfield Catering College eight years ago, he has worked his way up a ladder of Michelin-starred restaurants in Britain and Spain. In fact he is the only English chef ever to have been on the payroll at El Bulli – and his experience shows. Despite earning numerous plaudits for his gastronomic wizardry, Flinn has a more modest interpretation of fine dining. In his opinion, a good meal is quite simply something that makes diners smile.