Paradise Foods: Jay Rayner reviews Yorkshire garden centre cafe

Paradise Foods, the Yorkshire cafe led by the UK’s first ever female chef to get a Michelin star, has just received a rave review from critic Jay Rayner.

Hot on the heels of International Women’s Day, this weekend the esteemed Observer columnist published a rave review of Frances Atkin’s charming “restaurant in a shed at the bottom of a garden”.

Opening with “but oh what a shed, and oh what a garden”, Rayner wastes no time in praising the famous chef’s late-in-life venture and explaining why we all need to put Harrogate‘s Daleside Nurseries on our to-visit list.

Mixed in with a little bit of background on her gilded history at the much-loved Yorke Arms – the place where Atkins won and retained her star for well over a decade – in his Observer review he praises Paradise Foods cafe’s solid “Yorkshire portions” whilst name-checking some hearty favourites, such as a mouthwateringly crumbly shortcrust cheese tart layered with onion chutney.

He commends the cafe’s “precise and generous cookery”, describing each dish as having a “muscular centre point” at its heart that is “then dressed and amplied.”

Notably, it’s all starters and mains here. Sides are not an option. And prices start in the late teens.

He then goes on to say that the cafe is “aimed at a Harrogate demographic with time for a good weekday lunch” before adding, as such, that it is “not cheap”.

He explains: “Mains are in the 20s. On the upside these are Yorkshire portions, so you won’t be spending £6 on a side of grilled hispi.” 

Aged 74, Atkins certainly doesn’t seem in a hurry to retire. In fact, Rayner suggests she doesn’t actually know how to. There is a concession for her mounting years, though, and that is a reduced service at Paradise Foods.

Aside from two Friday evening sittings a month, Paradise Foods is open only Tuesday to Saturday for breakfast and lunch – closing at 5pm most days.

Other favourites from the critic include an individual treacle tart, served warm, and a chunky slab of roasted, tumeric-marinated cod resting in a “thick lake of a butter emulsion”.

Rayner also waxed lyrical on a trio of crispy crackling pork belly cubes, paired perfectly with “the smoothest of black puddings”, describing them as standing “in an honour guard” alongside a little stewed apple, some mustard mash and, of course, gravy.

Frankly, it’s enough to make anyone hungry – with or without several hours of garden centre browsing to whet your appetite.

Find out more by visiting Paradise Foods website and viewing the menu here.

Featured image – Paradise Foods via Instagram 

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