Tom Heywood to open Pignut in Helmsley

The pair, who used to work at The Rattle Owl in York, will open Pignut on 14 June on Bridge Street in the north Yorkshire market town.

They came across the restaurant site while out foraging and walking the dog in February this year and say they had been inspired by a trip to County Kildare-based restaurant Aimsir, run by husband-and-wife team Jordan Bailey and Majken Bech-Baile, the month before.

“They are a husband-and-wife team, the food was really nice, the service was great and we thought they’ve done it so we could too. It ended up just falling into place,” says Heywood. “I’ve always wanted to work for myself. Many chefs want to have their own space, and it just came about like that.”

Named after the pignut plant that is often foraged for by chefs, the ethos of the restaurant will be to use local suppliers and foraged ingredients and work in a sustainable way. It will have a downstairs restaurant that can seat 12-14 covers and an upstairs lounge that will serve wine and drinks alongside a small selection of snacks.

Pignut will serve an 8-10 course tasting menu at dinner, priced at £85, with an additional wine pairing available for £50. It will also serve a four-course tasting menu on Friday and Saturday lunchtimes.

Dishes on the launch menu include Otterburn Mangalitsa pig; Castle Howard Aberdeen Angus; Whitby crab and pignut; chicken liver and soda bread; wild brill stuffed with mussels; and herb fed chicken dopiaza.

A meal will begin with a first course of snacks called wastage, which are made up from all the trimmings and leftover bits through the menu and will range in number depending on what is available that day, according to Heywood.

“The menu could go from eight to 12 courses depending on how much wastage there is in the menu. We called it wastage because it’s important we want people to know what we are all about.”

Heywood says his ambitions for restaurant is to gain acknowledgement from Michelin. “The green star is something that we really want to get. We’d like a Michelin star, but in a way the green star would validate what we do more.

"We just want to create a place where people can come, eat meat and vegetables that are grown in the area and have a nice relaxing meal.”