Heft
Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria
Cumbrian native Kevin Tickle was Simon Rogan’s head forager at L’Enclume then head chef at Forest Side in Grasmere. Heft lies halfway between his two former employers, which he runs with his wife Nicola (front-of-house). The name refers to the seriousness of the operation – an 11-course tasting menu is all that’s on offer in the dining room in the evening – but it's also an old Cumbrian word for sheep returning to the same fells for grazing and shelter generation after generation; a reference, perhaps, to what remains of the village pub where locals can return for soup by the fire in the front bar. There’s no doubt, though, that the restaurant is the true destination here, a low-key room of generously spaced Scandinavian-style furniture enclosed by ancient whitewashed walls and, on the other side, an open kitchen partially visible to diners. Some courses are delivered by chefs through the gap in the wall but most by smartly turned-out young locals. An opening shot of ‘Gotty’s squeaky cheese’, a lozenge of Matt Gott's halloumi glazed in thyme honey, sets the tone for much of what is to come – proudly Cumbrian ingredients supplied by producers the Tickles know personally, and transformed into what readers have called 'an intensity of flavour' that transcends the seasonal and local tags. For while there are the expected north-west staples – damsons from Nicola’s home patch of the Rusland Valley, Herdwick hogget from Town Head Farm in Grasmere – Tickle isn’t restricted by location: Suffolk’s brie-like Baron Bigod comes atop a tiny square of sourdough crumpet piled with frilly shards of crunchy onion. Courses arrive in quick succession, so the sensation is less of a tasting menu and more of a constant flow of miniature deliciousness. A dinky bowl of chawanmushi-style egg custard is flavoured with richly savoury oxtail and thyme and topped with an enoki mushroom. Mussels are skewered on a sort of giant toothpick, glazed in XO and mead to deliver a wallop of umami, all smeared with ‘chip shop curry sauce’ that is far more sophisticated than its inspiration. Scorched monkfish tastes smoky but the creamily textured flesh shimmers with a pearlescent sheen. High Newton might not offer the prettiness or prestige of either Cartmel or Grasmere – there’s neither a priory nor a world-famous poet – but in Heft it does have a dining destination in its own right rather than a detour from the well-trodden foodie path (plus five bedrooms due to open later in 2023). An 'exceptional-value' four-course lunch also wins praise, and they serve a mean sausage roll in the dog-friendly bar, along with pizza on Wednesday nights, local cask beer, a good selection of wine by the glass – and Sunday roasts. No wonder everyone leaves impressed, whether they’ve come from down the road or the opposite end of the country.
Image credit: Jenny Jones
Dining Information:
Separate bar, No background music, Outdoor dining, Credit card required
High Newton, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6JH
