Swinton Estate appoints Josh Barnes as head chef

The Chef’s Table at the Swinton Estate has appointed Josh Barnes as its new head chef.

All of Barnes’ cooking will be performed in full view of the select group of diners joining him for chef’s Table at the hotel.

Just 12 seats will be available for each evening, with Barnes and his sous chef preparing each of the dishes on an eight-course tasting menu in the kitchen, right in front of the diners.

The “inspirational” spread will be prepared in the Swinton Cookery School, which is ideally set up for watch-and-dine presentations.

Barnes joined the estate earlier this month from Goldsborough Hall, which secured an entry into the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland under his leadership.

He had previously served as head chef at the Galvin Brothers La Chapelle restaurant in London, retaining the restaurant’s prized Michelin Star and 3AA rosette status.

At the chef’s Table, the menus will be tweaked to make the most of the ingredients in season, and Barnes will be working alongside the gardening team, led by Dame Susan Cunliffe-Lister, to cultivate everything from fruit to fresh herbs, as well as varieties of mushrooms from the mushroom cellar, around which he can build the day’s tasting menus.

Chef’s Table by Josh Barnes launches with previews from Thursday to Saturday in February, before the official launch on 8 March.

Thereafter, Wednesday to Saturday, and extending to include a Friday and Saturday lunch Chef’s Table from May.

The Chef’s Table offering marks the first of a number of changes for dining experiences at Swinton Park in 2024, with the kitchen at Samuel’s Restaurant currently undergoing a major redevelopment.

Changes are also afoot in Samuel’s Restaurant itself, which is receiving a re-fresh and with new menus being curated.

Swinton Estate is a country estate located in Masham, near Ripon in North Yorkshire. It features a range of accommodations, including a hotel and Country Club, self-catering cottages, and a glamping site known as the Swinton Bivouac.

Barnes said: “This is not for the faint-hearted chef as everything you do is in full view of those who will be enjoying the food moments later. As well as preparing food to the highest possible standards, we’ll be narrating what we are doing so that the diners learn a few hints and tips that chefs use to add an extra flourish to each dish. We have to be prepared to answer questions even when doing the trickiest of steps – a challenge that is repeated at every sitting.

“I’m very excited to be working here where the ‘estate to plate’ ethos flows through all the food offerings. We’ve got a superb kitchen garden just a few steps away, thousands of acres for foraging for wild ingredients, a herd of fallow deer and amazing farmers working the local land. Everything can be served at its absolute best – either fresh from our daily harvest, or ingredients that we have preserved for use throughout the year.”