Leyburn, British, Traditional Restaurant Guide

“This inn is a gem” overlooking a picture-postcard Dales village green, and “the food is excellent – on a warm sunny day it’s a joy to sit outside, eat well and relax”. Originally a shooting lodge, it became a drovers’ inn in 1840, and is within walking distance of Jervaulx Abbey where the Cistercians developed Wensleydale cheese!

Ruth Hansom’s name has regularly cropped up in a series of launches in London in recent years, and till last year she was head chef at nearby luxury hotel, Swinton Park. Here the Darlington-born chef launched in 2024 under her own name, with a 16-seat venue occupying a stylishly refurbished venue on the market place of a picturesque North Yorks town. You can dip your toe in the water from the small plates menu or go for a more ambitious seven-course tasting menu at £75 per head. No reports as yet, but this should be one to watch.