York’s most commented-on destination, and some would argue its best; it’s Jeff Baker’s “tremendous”, “innovative” cooking that makes it of note, though – the setting has “all the charm of an IKEA showroom”, and the “studentish” service can be “dire”.
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It may be a “very good restaurant serving generally inventive, flavourful food at a really decent price”, but that it serves most of its food on trendy slates inspires the ire of the Observer’s man who – after an entertaining slagging off of poncy eating surfaces – reveals that he likes his plates “flat, white and round”: why? “I dunno. They just seem to... work”. The plates, however, are seemingly emblematic for an over-fondness for “gimmicks” here. But despite much weighing of the merits of individual dishes, we are told that: “if there were more places like this in Britain’s towns and cities, there would be a skip in my step and a song on my lips and a killer scar on my chest from where they’d gone in to perform the heart bypass on account of my overindulgent eating habits”.
Jay Rayner (27th October 2008)
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