Lancashires Freemasons at Wiswell, owned by chef Steven Smith, has been crowned the UKs Number 1 Pub in the Good Food Guide 2015, published by Waitrose.1 The Guide, which reviews the best restaurants, pubs and cafés in the UK, will be available on the 8th of September. This is the first year it has featured a ranking of the UKs Top 50 pubs.
In the number two spot is The Hand & Flowers in Buckinghamshire, while the Red Lion in East Chisenbury, Wiltshire scoops position three.
Elizabeth Carter, Consultant Editor of the Waitrose Good Food Guide, explains what makes the Freemasons at Wiswell so special:
In 2008, the Good Food Guide started listing the top restaurants in the UK in order of merit. Now firmly established, a placing in the top 50 is greatly coveted by chefs and restaurateurs. Building on this, for the 2015 edition of the Guide we have listed our top 50 pubs in order of merit, in recognition of the importance pubs play in the current dining-out scene. And to my delight, the list coincides with the award of a Score 7 to a pub for the very first time.
The Freemasons at Wiswell is a role model of its kind, a consistent and likeable country pub with no pretensions or gimmicks, just first-class food and knowledgeable, welcoming service. That it has an army of loyal fans comes as no surprise, for Steven Smiths skilled cooking extracts the best from top-drawer ingredients.
Steven Smith, chef/patron of the Freemasons at Wiswell, comments on his success:
We're absolutely over the moon to have received this honour. We may only be a little authentic village pub in the Lancashire hills but we have big plans and to see them coming to fruition is fantastic. Our food is always our main focus and we firmly believe the quality offering we've created, packaged up in a true pub environment is the reason people return time and again.
The Good Food Guides Top 50 Pub list is a new addition to the Guide, and follows on from the success of its Top 50 Restaurants listing, which is highly regarded by chefs and restaurant-goers alike. Ranging from rustic locals to stylish inns, the list has been compiled from the pubs score in the Good Food Guide 2015, anonymous inspector visits and feedback from the Good Food Guides readers.
Waitrose Good Food Guide 2015, Top 50 UK pubs - embargoed until 00:01am 27th August 2014
1. Freemasons at Wiswell, Lancashire
2. The Hand & Flowers, Buckinghamshire
3. The Red Lion, East Chisenbury, Wiltshire
4. The Royal Oak, Paley Street, Berkshire
5. The Sportsman, Kent
6. The Pipe and Glass Inn, Yorkshire
7. The Gunton Arms, Norfolk
8. The White Oak, Cookham, Berkshire
9. The Butchers Arms,Eldersfield, Gloucestershire
10. The Treby Arms, Devon
11. The Hardwick, Abergavenny
12. The Nut Tree Inn, Oxfordshire
13. The Stagg Inn, Titley, Herefordshire
14. The Star Inn, Harome, Yorkshire
15. The Harwood Arms, Fulham, London
16. The Plough, Bolnhurst, Bedfordshire
17. The Plough Inn,Longparish, Hampshire
18. The Hinds Head, Berkshire
19. The Masons Arms, Knowstone, Devon
20. The Broad Chare, Tyne & Wear
21. The Springer Spaniel, Cornwall
22. The Wellington Arms,Baughurst, Hampshire
23. The British Larder, Suffolk
24. The Sir Charles Napier, Oxfordshire
25. The Pony & Trap, Chew Magna, Somerset
26. The Star Inn, Sparsholt, Oxfordshire
27. The Felin Fach Griffin, Powys
28. The Duke of Cumberland Arms, West Sussex
29. The Richmond Arms, West Ashling, West Sussex
30. The Foxhunter, Gwent
31. The White Hart, Lydgate, Greater Manchester
32. The General Tarleton, Yorkshire
33. The Kinmel Arms, Conway
34. The Wheatsheaf, Combe Hay, Somerset
35. The Five Alls, Oxfordshire
36. The Bay Horse, Hurworth-on-Tees, Durham
37. The Bildeston Crown, Suffolk
38. The Malt House, Fulham, London
39. The Earl of March, West Sussex
40. The Kingham Plough, Oxfordshire
41. The Star @ Sancton, Yorkshire
42. The Black Swan, Oldstead, Yorkshire.
43. Beckford Arms, Wiltshire
44. The Wheatsheaf Inn, Northleach, Gloucestershire
45. The Duke of York Inn, Grindleton, Lancashire
46. The Rummer, Bristol
47. Camberwell Arms, Camberwell, London
48. The Crown, Old Basing, Hampshire
49. Smokehouse, Islington, London
50. The White Horse,Brancaster Staithe, N