Van Zeller

I spent many happy summers in West Riding when my parents took us to spend time in an uncle’s house while his family were on holiday in more exotic locations. Most days we set out from our base on the outskirts of Otley in the trusty family car of the time, be it a Hillman Super Minx Estate, Fiat 124 or Vauxhall Victor 1800, to explore the surrounding towns. Our travels took in places like Knaresborough, Robin Hood’s Bay, Fountains Abbey, Malham Cove, Harry Ramsden’s main restaurant at Guiseley, Ripon, York, Harrogate and the Worth Valley Railway although strangely never Leeds. Consequently, Yorkshire is a part of the country that I have quite a soft spot for and I regularly divert through the county when back in England.

This trip was winding down with a day to spare between Nottingham and a final day in Manchester ahead of flying out. Based on revisiting the family holiday agenda, checking out the Worth Valley railway seemed like a good use of a sunny late August day. The choice was steered somewhat by one of Zoe Williams’ reviews in the Telegraph in late July where her description of Van Zellers in Harrogate sounded right up my street.  A drive up from Nottingham with a stop for early lunch in Harrogate before heading to catch the last Haworth to Keighley train seemed just the ticket.

Van Zeller is on a pedestrianised street in the Montpellier district in Harrogate and sits amongst art galleries, boutiques, jewellers and antique stores. This part of Harrogate is charming with its elegant stone buildings including the Victorian Royal pump room and the legendary Betty’s Tea Rooms, together with the many immaculately tended gardens and Valley Park. The restaurant is in the extensively bow-fronted ground floor of a two storey terrace property. The first thing that greets you as you walk through the door is a life-size photo of the chef and part owner Tom Van Zeller. A local boy, he started his career at Betty’s Tea Rooms and spent time with Raymond Blanc, Pierre Koffmann, Simon Gueller and Tom Aikens before opening Van Zeller in 2009 with his business partner David Moores of Pied à Terre and L’Autre Pied in London.

The restaurant has dark hardwood floors throughout. The bay window is down a few steps from the main dining room and is deep enough to accommodate two tables and is the ultimate venue for watching passers-by. The tables in the L-shaped dining room are fully laid with white linen tablecloths and a full service of china, cutlery and glasses. There is a small bar at the end of the room that backs on to the kitchen. There is capacity for 32 diners in the whole space. The soundtrack over lunchtime featured big band music but it was pitched at a low enough volume that it barely registered.

The three-course lunch menu is available Tuesday to Saturday. There are three choices for each course and the menu items change regularly due to the change in available produce with each season.

The breads, served warm, included a slice of crusty sourdough and a delightful onion roll.

With the order placed, it was a pleasant surprise to be given an amuse bouche that combined salt cod and potato mousse, pea sorbet and a caper and gherkin salsa. This was a totally stunning take on fish and chips and the flavours were exceptional. The mousse was fantastic and the combination of pea sorbet with the salsa a total delight. The use of toasted breadcrumbs topping the dish was a wonderful touch. 

The belly pork and squid with watermelon, basil, sesame and tapioca was another excellent dish. The confit pork and tempura squid were both fantastic and packed full of flavour. The squid ink purée was flavoured with lemongrass that gave it a delightful piquancy. The warm charred watermelon added juicy sweetness and the diced watermelon and tapioca garnish was lovely too. The pork crackling added a nice crunch while the sesame snow added a subtle nuttiness. This was superb.

The main was the Van Zeller take on grouse. It was served with roots, brambles, girolles & liver parfait and a celeriac purée. This was interesting in that it came across as more traditional in term of flavours and overall approach than the other dishes. The grouse breast was really lovely but I found the leg a touch too gamey. The vegetables combined kale, carrots and parsnip and the addition of parsley lightened things nicely. The parfait in the thin pastry shell was a delight. The blackberries kicked in a nice lightness and sweetness. Overall this was lovely but was not the equal of the previous courses for me.

The pre-dessert kicked things back up again. It combined a pine needle mousse, cocoa nibs and a blackcurrant confit. The mousse was wonderfully light and it combined really well with the cocoa. The star of the dish was the blackcurrant confit hidden under the lightly flavoured blackcurrant granita. This was a delight.

The main dessert was a vanilla parfait with strawberries, tonka bean, elderflower and ricotta. This was a lovely dish combining fresh flavours throughout. The elderflower ice cream was the star of the dish although the vanilla parfait was almost as good. The saffron custard added a honeyed tone to the dish. The ricotta was deep fried and then dusted in a cinnamon sugar to add a spicy depth. I’ve never liked cinnamon but its subtle input here was great. All in all this was a really nice dish.

Van Zeller totally vindicated Zoe Williams’ positive review. The food was exceptional throughout and really good value. The front of house staff were more focused on being efficient than friendly although they were very helpful with questions. Van Zeller and Harrogate is well off the beaten track of where I tend to go in England but it’s definitely a place I’ll always look to find an excuse to get back to.

As a footnote, a Google search showed a Van Zeller review by Tracey Macleod in the Independent in 2011 where she was concerned that even though she was invited to review the restaurant by Tom Van Zeller he had not acknowledged her as she left. It seems they’ve learnt from that review because as I was leaving Tom Van Zeller came out of the kitchen and thanked me for visiting. This was a good way to set the seal on a really great lunch.

Overall Rating – 4.5/5