The independent shopper: Josh Barnes

We’re based in the Cookery School at Swinton Estate near Masham in North Yorkshire. This is perfectly set up for our countertop delivery of my cooking style, which is a bit of a mix of the classic with the modern. Chef’s Table is all about seasonality with a menu that changes every week and it’s driven by the ingredients we can source from the estate – especially the fantastic game – and from the local Yorkshire area. 

Everything is pretty much right on our doorstep as the estate itself is 20,000 acres – that’s plenty to inspire our menus! Swinton is a bit of a food lover’s paradise, and we have an ‘estate to plate’ ethos across all of the restaurants, including Chef’s Table. 

It’s very important for us to work closely with all our suppliers of Chef’s Table ingredients.

The menu at Chef’s Table is very ingredient led and even though this changes weekly, we don’t have to go too far for anything we need. What we can’t source from the Estate itself, we get from brilliant local suppliers.

As we’re prepping each dish in front of our 12 guests, we talk about producers and suppliers of different ingredients that are going onto a plate. We describe what it is that guests are about to eat, including where the produce has come from and, if relevant, the people involved in making or supplying the ingredients. We’re proud to celebrate the best of Yorkshire during every service. 

We work with Cryer & Stott who are local cheese producers and suppliers based out of Castleford. They do some pretty exciting, really mature cheeses and make cheese for the Royal family. 

Then there’s Thornborough Cider about five or so miles away – like us, they’re located on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales (near Ripon). This is a small batch craft cider made from local apples, all from a small barn. We serve Thornborough’s Prosecco-style cider in a flute glass as a fruity and aromatic sparkling welcome drink (and it’s on the drinks menu, too).

And where Swinton ends, the farmland of R&J begins – their farm in Nidderdale is called Waterford Farm.  They are a family bovine farm and butcher who are very passionate about beef, so when we can’t source our own from the Estate, we buy our beef from them.

We try to meet up with our supplier teams at least a couple of times a year to try new produce and see what they have happening. 

Our menu is changing all the time anyway, and we will always try and use the Estate produce as much as possible. Where we can’t, we fill in the gaps with artisanal suppliers and responsible sourcing is something that the whole Estate is committed to.