The historic 19th century drovers’ inn, situated in one of North Yorkshire’s most picturesque villages, is a new entry in the Good Food Guide and the Michelin Guide and has been named as one of the 12 best restaurants in Yorkshire by the Daily Telegraph. The Owl, in the heart of the North York Moors National Park is a pub-with-rooms run by Yorkshire-born chef Sam Varley and his team. Sam, who previously ran the acclaimed Bantam restaurant in Helmsley, said: “We only opened here at the end of November last year, so we are really pleased to get this recognition.
I have a wonderful team supporting me and they must take huge credit for what we have achieved so far. “Ever since we opened, there has been great support from the local community and also from our former regular clients from Bantam. We have been bowled over by the generous comments and feedback we have received and it is wonderful to see this very special inn buzzing again.
” The Good Food Guide’s entry praised the Owl as: “A place to come for unfussy food and a comfortable bed for the night. Whether you eat in the stone-flagged bar in front of a warming stove, the dining room or the splendid terrace on sunny days, you'll find crowd-pleasing dishes such as chicken, leek and bacon pie, steak with Roquefort butter or seasonal pot-roast grouse with parsnip cream, elderberry sauce and game chips. “Back in the day, cheap monkfish was often passed off as scampi; nowadays it’s a luxury fish and Sam Varley’s.