Menuwatch: Bantam, Helmsley, North Yorkshire

11 May 2022 by

Diners can expect good food and a good time without the fuss at this Yorkshire restaurant. Chef and co-founder Sam Varley talks about his culinary ethos

Sam Varley, chef and co-owner of Bantam, a new neighbourhood restaurant in Helmsley in North Yorkshire, states on his website that he is "delighted to be back in God's own country". Hailing from a Pennine village in West Yorkshire, Varley and his family are keen on producing, cooking, eating and discussing food.

He has a CV that includes Fitzrovia, a restaurant in the St Kilda area of Melbourne, Australia, followed by a role at Duck Soup and sister restaurant Raw Duck in London. Naughty Piglets in Brixton followed before heading up to the west coast of Scotland to work with James Ferguson at the Kinneuchar Inn in Fife. The ethos at Bantam is local, seasonal food. "We allow what's coming into season to guide the menus and create dishes where those ingredients can shine," Varley says.

"While I if course want the food to be delicious and of a high quality and attract repeat customers, I don't want it to take centre stage. I'd much rather people were having a laugh, drinking good wine and enjoying themselves rather than dissecting each dish and wondering how we made it."

Pheasant agnolotti in brodo, wild garlic oil
Pheasant agnolotti in brodo, wild garlic oil

The chef says he is influenced by his previous roles but wants to create menus that cater for all sorts of occasions and people. "I like the idea of a solo diner on one table having a flatbread and a glass of wine, while there's a big celebratory long lunch on another table."

He adds: "There are two one-star Michelin restaurants within a five-mile radius, so there's definitely a culture of good food in the area, and I'd like to think we can start to be mentioned in the same conversation as them, just with a slightly more casual way of going about things. I like to imagine a couple going for their big tasting menu meal one evening, then coming to us for their lunch the next day, and in doing so having a great weekend of food in North Yorkshire."

Varley and his sous chef Shane Leadley work together to produce dishes such as buttermilk chicken, green chilli and lime mayo (£11) and roast hake, paprika chickpeas, marinated peppers and saffron aïoli (£17). They recently collaborated on a dish of pig's head croquettes, made by Varley, with a rhubarb brown sauce inspired by Leadley (£5). Another recent dish, of smoked eel from an artisan producer in Devon served with a horseradish crème fraîche, pickled rhubarb and soda bread, is a good representation of Varley's cooking, he says.

Jerusalem artichoke cured egg and truffle
Jerusalem artichoke cured egg and truffle

The restaurant's simplicity is exemplified by a dish of anchovies called Taberna Basaras(£5). "It's inspired by a bar in Bilbao in Northern Spain, and the quality of the anchovies comes through – it's the first thing people notice if they order it. I think if people enjoy the anchovies, they are going to enjoy the rest of their meal as it represents how we do things at Bantam."

Varley put the restaurant together on a "shoestring", so the flatbreads are cooked in "an ancient pizza oven that still works for now," says Varley. He has a few new bits of kit on the shopping list, including a Konro grill.

Local food and drink suppliers include the Little Pig Company, which breeds Berkshire pigs. "The quality of the meat is fantastic. It's quite a dark meat, and not overly fatty but the fat is superb," he says. Vegetables are sourced from Newfields Organics, with purple sprouting broccoli making an appearance last month.

It follows that desserts are also produce-led and seasonal, with "sound classical techniques," with dishes such as crème caramel with Earl Grey prunes (£6). This season the chef is looking forward to experimenting with birch syrup, which they will be tapping themselves.

There is a small wine list, where Varley has chosen and tried the majority, "so the front of house team tend to ask me if someone wants to know which wine would go with their food."

The restaurant will soon have been open for a year, during which it has been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand. It seems the people of North Yorkshire are content with somewhere to eat that is relaxed and simple with high-quality ingredients.

8 Bridge Street, Helmsley, North Yorkshire YO62 5BG

www.bantamrestaurant.co.uk

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