Good Food Guide Awards: Yorkshire market town named the most exciting food destination in the UK

As the winners were unveiled, a Yorkshire market town was named the most exciting food destination in the UK – Helmsley and the Howardian Hills.

Between the North York Moors National Park, the Yorkshire Wolds and the Vale of York, Helmsley and the Howardian Hills are surrounded by rolling hills, farmland, and many villages.

In 1987 the area was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and in now it has been crowned Most Exciting Food Destination in The Good Food Guide Awards 2024.

One thing Helmsley and the Howardian Hills have become particularly well-known for is the high calibre of restaurants opened in the area.

Andrew Pern’s The Star at Harome was already a notable destination, but in the past 12 months, it’s been joined by new venues.

The Star was opened in 1996 and was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 2021 and has since won numerous awards – most recently it ranked in 8th place on the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs list for 2024.

Mýse (pronounced 'meez') opened in the summer of 2023 and was shortlisted for Best New Restaurant alongside another situated in the area, The Abbey Inn at Byland.

Mýse is situated in the main street of the village of Hovingham in a 19th-century inn, formerly the Malt Shovel, and owned by Chef and Sommelier team, Joshua and Victoria Overington.

The restaurant boasts of serving “locally reared meat, sustainably and locally sourced seasonal produce and a passion for all things Yorkshire”.

The Abbey Inn is a nineteenth-century, historic inn transformed into a relaxed country pub with rooms, overlooking the historic ruins of Byland Abbey in North Yorkshire.

Chef Tommy Banks describes the restaurant as: “A proper, country pub serving up reimagined classics with our signature Oldstead style.”

These aren’t the only notable restaurants in the area, The Plough Inn, The Pheasant Hotel, and Tommy Banks’ The Black Swan are all within miles of the area.

Just six miles away is Rievaulx Abbey with Liz and Paul Jackson’s Hare Inn at Scawton close by.

A former 12th-century inn, the couple have turned it into a restaurant with four bedrooms, serving a multi-course tasting menu.