An ambitious new restaurant called Calluna opened this week at Saltmoore hotel and ‘wellness resort’ near Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast.
The restaurant serves a 10-course tasting menu to a maximum of 24 diners each evening, with a focus on hyper-seasonal food from the immediate surroundings and coastline. Dishes from the opening menu include a mutton doughnut with pickled bilberries; crab, kohlrabi and fermented turnip; and venison from the neighbouring Mulgrave Estate, smoked over bell heather.
Calluna takes its name for the Latin for heather, in a nod to the nearby grouse moors. It is the third and most elevated restaurant on the property after its Brasserie and beach house Pizzeria, from a team led by Adam Maddock (seated in picture), formerly head chef at the Fife Arms in Braemar.
Saltmoore, formerly known as the Raithwaite Sandsend, was opened at the end of 2024 by ex- Love Island contestant Montana Brown and her fiancé, property developer Mark O’Connor, who showed their ambition by bringing in prominent North Yorkshire chef Tommy Banks in a consultancy role for the first 12 months.
Adam says of the new opening: “Calluna is about creating a restaurant that belongs here. We’re surrounded by an incredible landscape, the coast, the moors and the produce that comes from them, and we want that sense of place to run through everything we do. The menu will continue to evolve with the seasons, so what guests experience in October will naturally change as we move through the year. It’s been a long time in the making and I’m incredibly excited to finally welcome people into Calluna.
“I didn’t want the menu to simply reference North Yorkshire for the sake of it, I wanted there to be a genuine connection to where we are. Whether that’s an ingredient, a preservation technique or just the inspiration behind a dish, the landscape gives us a really strong sense of place to work from.
“When something is at its absolute best, we can preserve it and bring that flavour into another point in the year. It allows us to extend the seasons rather than being completely restricted by them.
“With 24 covers, the team can give every table and every plate the attention it deserves, rather than feeling like we’re constantly chasing the next sitting. A tasting menu should feel like an evening out, not something you’re being hurried through.”
Calluna is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, at £125 per person. Diners have the option to eat at the Kitchen Counter.
