AS with the Michelin commotion, it’s best not to get your hopes up. With no Greater Manchester presence in last year’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs we weren’t holding our breath for the 2019. There’s always our Lancashire hinterland to be proud of – in 2017 it boasted five entries, reduced to three in 2018.
The county's back up to five this year with the Assheton Arms at Downham returning at 40 and the White Swan at Fence near Burnley soaring back at 19 – which seems more like justice for chef Tom Parker’s amazing cooking which has since won the village pub a Michelin star.
Stosie Madi (bove) and Kathy Smith’s The Parker’s Arms at Newton-in Bowland near Clitheroe has slipped from eighth to 16th but fellow old stager The Freemasons at Wiswell near Whalley has crept up a place into the top three, having consolidated its position in the top 5 over several years. Surely a Michelin star has to come the way of star chef Steven Smith (main image).
The fifth Lancashire Top 50 Gastropub is The Cartford Arms near Preston, which remains at No.40.
Stephen Harris’s Michelin-starred Sportsman at Seasalter in Kent has topped the list for the fourth time. Full list here.