In 2016 Hambleton Hall retained its Michelin star for the 35th year and its place in the Good Food Guide’s Top 50 restaurants for the 27th year.
The Michelin guide is arguably the world’s highest accolade for chefs and restaurants, so it comes as no surprise that the UK’s best regarded hotels and restaurants hold the stars in high esteem. Hambleton Hall has held its star since 1982 and was voted by the guide’s editors as worthy of retaining is again for 2017. Tim Hart is proud to have retained a single star for longer than any other UK restaurant and recounts “After a recent tour of Britain’s top ten restaurants Aaron concluded that fashion had moved inexorably against elaboration. He decided to modify some of his dishes in two new directions which I fully support. He scrutinised every dish for unnecessary additions and complications and took them away. Next he toured the county looking for new sources for ‘key ingredients’ to see whether he could find anything better.” This quest for perfection year after year is a key factor in retaining a top spot.
At the Good Food Guide, each position is earned by the editor’s appraisal and strength of reader feedback. A top score of 10 means “perfect dishes, showing faultless technique at every service; extremely rare, and the highest accolade the guide can give”. For the 27th consecutive year, Hambleton Hall scored an entry in the Top 50 listing and is one of only 24 restaurants to consistently appear since opening in 1980. Elizabeth Carter, Good Food Guide editor writes: “His enthusiasm and finesse burn as brightly as ever. A simpler approach recently is yielding dividends in terms of the lack of presentational distraction on the plate, allowing ingredients their star roles.”