It’s one of Lancashire’s newest and tastiest restaurants and it’s run by celebrated chef Sean Wrest. We went to try it out
They say the best things come to those who wait. And boy have the people of Goosnargh had to wait for the once empty building, now occupied by the Ye Horns Inn, to be brought back to life. This former coaching inn has been welcoming locals and travellers since 1782 – but it had been left empty for some years waiting for a buyer, and then for its carefully considered refurbishment. The locals were thirsty.
Step in Sean Wrest – Yorkshire chef royalty who worked at Tommy Banks’ celebrated Roots restaurant in York and gained it a Michelin star – who decided which side of the Pennines his bread was really buttered on. He’s taken on the gorgeous rural inn with fiancée, Samantha Haigh, another hospitality hero and former Tommy Banks star, who was restaurant manager at the Michelin star Black Swan at Oldstead. And aren’t we glad they made the move, we're certainly the better off for it. I visited for lunch, the day after their official opening – one of those gloriously sunny Lancashire days that can’t help but put a smile on your face. Being in those early moments of service, you’d expect – and forgive – the odd slip up. But there was not a bit of it. From the moment Samantha greeted us to the moment we left, this was hospitality at its best.
Chic, carefully put together interiors that don’t betray the building’s history – huge fireplaces, cosy nooks and a private dining area providing a special but unfussy place to set up for an evening – are the perfect pairing to the food coming from the kitchen.
The Horns’ menu is small and ever-changing with a healthy dose of food provenance you would expect from a team of talented chefs; Sean and Samantha are joined by Lancastrian head chef Tony Bee who has worked in three Michelin star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Maze by Gordon Ramsay and head pastry chef Anton Johnson, another Yorkshire pilgrim who also worked at the Black Swan and at the celebrated The Man Behind the Curtain in Leeds.
There were five dishes in each course – starters, mains and desserts – to choose from on the a la carte menu, each making the most of the seasons and ingredients from some of the county’s best producers – Mrs Kirkham’s, Lancashire Game, Preston’s Thomas Moss Fruit and Vegetables and gins from nearby Goosnargh Gin and Wild Fox Distillery.
Starters of duck egg served with peas, asparagus, morels and hollandaise and ox cheek with a Roscoff onion, curry sauce and lime pickle set the pace for what was to come. Perfectly presented, the taste measured up to the anticipation of every bite.
Seriously impressive mains of cod and chowder sauce, peppered with moreish mussels, squid and smoked butter and barbecued short rib, black garlic, potato terrine and delicate shallot rings meant we almost didn’t have room for the final course. Almost.
And just when you think there is no way of improving on perfection, the trifle – presented in an unexpected way and tasting like the very best trifle you could imagine – and baked Alaska with lemon curd, pastry ganache and merengue rounded off just about the best afternoon of feasting you could hope for. This, of course, comes at a price. With drinks, lunch cost around £135. But every mouthful was worth every penny.
While there has been a significant shift from pub to dining destination, they have not betrayed the locals and there is still a cosy pub area and lovely outdoor seating which gets bathed in sun. It may have taken a while for the Ye Horns Inn to open its doors again, but it was worth the wait.
Ye Horns Inn, Horns Lane, Goosnargh, Preston. PR3 2FJ
www.yehornsinn.com
