Andrew Pern to open brasserie at York Minster Refectory this spring
Pern, who is director of The Star Group, which runs The Star Inn at Harome, which reopened last year after suffering a devastating fire, and The Star Inn The City, is overseeing the restaurant build. Joshua Brimmell, executive head chef of the Star Inn the City, will be in charge the development of the menu and all food and hospitality functions at the venue.
The main ground floor of the new brasserie-style restaurant and cafe is located in the Grade II listed former York Minster school, which closed in 2020, the main building of which was built in the 1830s. Taking the space in which school pupils and staff ate their meals and hosted school concerts, the open refectory hall dining room will seat 60 covers and will also have a bar area.
The upper floor, which was the school's old science labs, IT suite and geography room, will have space for private dining and small functions, such as weddings.
The front entrance of the York Minster Refectory will have a takeaway kiosk offering drinks, cakes and snacks during the day and can be closed off at night for restaurant dining. The existing stone floor of the front entrance has now been lowered and is being relaid to make it level access throughout.
"The new kitchens on the ground floor - food prep, cooking and pot wash areas - are starting to take shape and have come together much more rapidly than even we had hoped for,” says Pern.
"This will be an accessible-to-all brasserie-style restaurant cafe that includes a daytime takeaway element, daytime and evening dining along with a mixture of smaller function, lounge and private dining rooms.”
More details of the menus will be revealed in the coming weeks when the restaurant will be able to take bookings.
"We have been developing the concepts and the building designs for the last two years, which was a major challenge during Covid for everyone involved,” says Mike Green, GEM Construction’s chairman and joint director and partner in the new venture.
“Bringing the building back to life again is a significantly bigger challenge - but one we can't wait to get finished as it will realise the dream of a truly fantastic new restaurant and Minster Park in the heart of York."
