Leading Lancashire pub/restaurant the Freemasons in Wiswell reopened this week following a short closure to prepare for the arrival of its highly experienced new chef-patron, Mike Shaw. Mike’s task will be to restore the pub to the culinary eminence it achieved under chef Steve Smith, who left last year after 15 years in which the […]
Northcote, the Lancashire boutique hotel and gastronomic powerhouse that hosts the annual Obsession food festival, has been bought by new owners – who have persuaded executive chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen to return just a month after quitting, to a new role as chef patron-director. The acquisition by Yorkshire-based kitchen entrepreneurs Alf and Clare Ellis ends a period […]
Northern culinary powerhouse Northcote has announced an all-star line-up of visiting chefs for the 25th anniversary edition of Obsession, its annual mid-winter ‘Glastonbury of Gastronomy’ in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley. The festival will host more than 1,700 diners over 17 consecutive nights from 24 January to 9 February next year. The 21 participating chefs with 27 […]
Chef Steven Smith, who left the acclaimed Ribble Valley gastropub Freemasons in Wiswell in June, has announced his next move – to head up futuristic Japanese restaurant MUSU in Manchester. Steven transformed Freemasons over 15 years into one of the most commented-on venues in the annual Harden’s survey, which described it this year as ‘a fine-dining […]
Chef-patron Steven Smith has left Freemasons at Wiswell, the fine-dining pub in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley that he has established as a regional star over the past 15 years. Born and raised in nearby Blackburn, Steven plans to open a new venture in the region, although he has no concrete plans as yet. Head chef Matt […]
A major upgrade to The Stafford Collection’s Ribble Valley star has been announced at the same time as the property has released the 2024 line-up for its phenomenally successful Obsession festival. A new single-storey ‘Pavilion’ is to be built in the grounds, to create a 48-cover ‘signature’ destination for Lisa Goodwin-Allen who took over from […]
Booking is now open for the 2023 edition of Obsession, the gastronomic festival hosted each year by Northcote hotel and restaurant near Blackburn in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley. The event runs over 17 nights from January 20 to February 5, and features 20 leading chefs. Star guest chefs include Portugal’s Ricardo Costa of the Yeatman Gastronomic […]
