Legacy at The Grand remains just the refined, cool and comfortable space you would expect with plenty of attention to detail in evidence. I particularly appreciated the bespoke printed welcome card on the table complete with York on a Fork logo! There are three variations on the menu which range from £100 to £130 per person, of these we went for “Steel” which is named in honour of the rail industry coming to York and playing a key role in the history of The Grand, which was built as railway offices. This menu plotted a route through many courses of which three required some input from me, while my companion opted for the vegetarian version, making an interesting contrast throughout the evening. As is customary for this style of dining, we kicked off with a trio of snacks presented on bespoke tableware before a soft pillow of bread arrived with flavoured butters that packed in The Grand’s own honey from hives on the roof given a twist by black garlic, as well as a cultured butter dusted with seaweed powder. All this was an effective prologue to the meal alongside a glass of sparkling wine before the first course arrived bringing together bream tartare and jalapeno sorbet with notes of bergamot. This one was packed with clean flavours and neatly presented with some pops of colour from edible flowers to break up the appearance. An intimidatingly large scallop was next across my palate topped with a generous topping of caviar and an earthy backdrop of turnip to bring counterpoint to that sweet scallop.

This was all an impressive start before the pressure shifted onto me to make a decision between spiced monkfish with Thai red curry or pasta with Baron Bigod, which being one of my favourite cheeses proved too hard to resist. The candy shaped pasta was topped with a foam and slices of truffle, an indulgence that didn’t take me long to polish off. Next up, another branch in the decision tree came down to braised King Edward potato or sweetbreads cooked over charcoal. It’s a while since I’ve treated myself to a Thymus gland (actually let’s stick with sweetbread, much more appetising sounding) so I went in that direction and was rewarded with a lustrous sauce covering a tender piece of meat that carried the kiss of smoke from a Konro grill. The penultimate decision came down to Halibut or Lamb loin, with the former garnering my allegiance this time, thanks in part to the promised pickled mussel and fennel notes that would accompany it. This was one of the stars of the evening with perfect fish cookery complemented by a rich fennel cream and a gentle prickle of sharpness from the mussel.

Moving through to sweet dishes the pre-dessert found me presented with Annabel’s Strawberries which are always a thing of beauty, brought to life by ginger and vanilla here with a citrus zing. Finally I went for chocolate with a suitably lustrous touch of gold leaf matching the indulgence of the environment, making this a lovely end point, fittingly giving me the choice to choose chocolate over cherry, which is something I’m not a great fan of. This rather proved the concept of the hybrid Tasting/A la Carte concept which I thought was executed superbly, with well thought through choices and some interesting dishes with produce not seen often enough….I’m looking at you Thymus! It’s also noteworthy that my companion felt like the vegetarian version was no poor relation, with potato, beetroot and celeriac all featuring to great effect. I’ve noted before that Legacy at The Grand seems to have overcome the slightly tainted perception that seems to attach itself to restaurants in hotels outside of London; this is further evidence that Ahmed and the team are continuing to build on an already strong offering with a winning blend of innovation and common sense.

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We arrived for our booking eager and laden with several bags for the food bank. Even with a decent donation, we were still up on the deal thanks to this enormously generous offer from LNER. With our names checked off, we took our seat in the Cookery School which had been subject to a remarkable period transformation, complete with a “conductor” who introduced the occasion and the dishes. Dinner would be three courses which had been chosen to represent the past, present and future of food on LNER trains, complete with matched drinks for each course. First up was a dish taken from a 1920’s on-board menu: chilled pea soup with watercress and slow cooked sole served with honey and lemon-infused dry gin cocktail. The contrast between the buttery, rich morsel of fish and the cool refreshing soup hit the spot with a generous spiking of black pepper through it for contrast, and the drink was refreshing and sweet – very enjoyable if not something I would usually think to order.

The main followed quickly with chicken at its centre on a bed of creamed potato with plenty of chanterelle mushrooms and a disc of beetroot for colour as well as obligatory pea-shoots for presentation. A few years ago I was lucky enough to spend a day heading to London and back with Virgin Trains to try their food and I was pleasantly surprised, but if I was served this on a train, I’d be even happier! Tender chicken and creamy, rich potatoes with mushroom notes all came together nicely and formed into a comforting dish that would accompany a homeward commute nicely.

For dessert we pushed forward to the future, with the LNER chefs playing around to ponder what the future of on-board catering might be… such as a mushroom panna cotta made using 3D printing! OK, so this wasn’t actually 3D-printed, but as a proof of concept it worked just fine with pear and ginger jelly tempering the creamy mushroom notes.

To some extent everything you’ve just read is irrelevant on the basis that this isn’t an ongoing concept, but I think it worth sharing on the basis that it’s a large company trying to do something different to celebrate its heritage while supporting a worthy cause in The Trussel Trust. Thanks to all at LNER for putting their money where my mouth is and hosting the event!

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Perfectly timed for the start of the British barbecue season, these courses are now running most weekends and let you get to grips with a number of BBQ classics in an attractive, previously under-utilised, outdoor space by the side of The Grand which looks up toward street level. Rather appropriately, the launch event was preceded by weather extreme enough to warrant a reassuring email to the effect that it would be going ahead. The team have done a great job of weather proofing the space though so there should be no worries about the great British weather intervening in your fun.

The launch event started with some hands on pizza dough stretching by way of illustrating the versatility of a barbecue with some members of the audience more successful than others. I dodged the public trial and just settled for a good look at the results. The second demonstration was rather more traditional as we were introduced to some beautiful ribeye steaks. These were cooked back to back on gas and traditional charcoal barbecues, both delivering bags of flavour and smoky character.

I’ve not gone through a course with Marc Williams yet but it’s clear he’s extremely knowledgeable, approachable and enthusiastic. The short demos that we enjoyed were certainly enough to pique my interest in this intriguing new concept. Weber Academy at The Grand Cookery School courses are available to book now.

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Harry Blades, who works within the hotel’s restaurant The Rise, served up a roasted duck breast with a duck confit foie gras bonbon, celeriac purée, red cabbage and apple gel, drizzled in a rich, duck jus. For his second course, he served a mouth-watering chocolate mousse with raspberry sorbet, and chocolate tuile finished with a chocolate and Szechuan crumb, gold leaf and raspberries.

Competing against 79 chefs in the previously completed first round, Blade’s dishes led him to success on the finals day and were highly praised by the panel of star judges and stated: “It’s a great honour to be awarded the Delifresh Young Chef winner this year and I could not think of a better place to have won it than in the hotel I cook for. Our Head Chef, Ahmed Abdalla has been a total inspiration for me, helping me through the many extra hours spent in the kitchen refining my dishes for today. The hospitality industry can be challenging but days and events like this gives us confidence in our culinary careers and how we can grow.”

The competition challenged each chef to curate two standout dishes, to be judged by the expert panel: Terry Laybourne of 21 Hospitality Group; Andrew Pern, Chef Director of the Star Inn & Star Inn the City; Stephanie Moon, TV Chef and Chef Consultant for All Things Food; and Pierre Koffman, one of a select few in the UK to have been awarded three-Michelin stars at his London restaurant La Tante Claire .

The competition and its success are a great highlight to The Grand, York and its culinary offering and ability to nurture talent for the future. Guests are invited to enjoy its various culinary outlets all year round, including the recently launched fine-dining restaurant, Legacy, in addition to The Rise for breakfast, Afternoon Tea and dinner, and the hotel’s cocktail bar 1906. The Cookery School is also the perfect place for guests to put their own culinary skills put to the test with the guidance of Head Tutor, Marc Williams.

Delifresh, an independently owned specialist food service supplier founded in 2002, is dedicated to providing its customers who include Michelin-starred restaurants, hotels, events, and conferencing facilities with the finest and freshest ingredients from its high-quality network of producers.

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I actually took part in a tester session for one of these a few months ago so had some idea of what to expect when I joined up. The equipment and ingredient list arrived in plenty of time to get prepared for the evening’s entertainment, which would be centred around producing a Thai green curry. Rather convenient given that I still have possession of a good amount of quality Thai produce thanks to a recent delivery from Zaap Thai, whose recipe kit I was lucky enough to sample recently. With all my supplies in order, I did my best impression of mis-en-place, in this case featuring a laptop perched on a microwave as a more unusual addition to the setup, I opened a beer and was ready to go.

The lesson started on time and with appropriately high production values, as you’d expect from a Virtual Grand Cookery School, before head tutor Andrew Dixon took the screen and introduced himself. I’ve had the pleasure of several courses with Andrew now and his inhabiting a laptop was no inhibition to his easy and approachable manner, with participants’ microphones remaining open to make sure everyone was at the same point and had their questions answered. Being a good pupil, I’d done a good bit of prep in advance so was able to take things at a more leisurely pace, relaxing with that beer while my classmates caught up.

I’d decided to use chicken thighs (decided might be a strong word for raiding the freezer) as the protein for my green curry and it didn’t take long before we had things simmering away nicely, with time to concentrate on getting some rice well rinsed and ready to go as well as trimming some herbs and chillis with which to decorate our creations. This took place over less than 2 hours, running perfectly to schedule while allowing Andrew plenty of time to answer queries, something he’s extremely able to do with a clear and concise manner and a huge amount of knowledge. By the time we’d finished, all the participants, who’d variously been using chicken, fish or vegetables as the basis of their curry and receiving advice bespoke to the chosen ingredient, had their dinner ready to go – in one case having prepared a meal for six people!

Obviously a virtual Grand Cookery School is going to feel a bit different to standing in a room with your fellow participants, but they’ve done as much as possible in the circumstances to approximate that experience, with the modest £29 price for instruction reflecting that. It would be fantastic to have the option to order the ingredients for delivery, and hopefully once logistical challenges are met this is something The Grand Cookery School will consider. Obviously I can’t wait to get back into a cookery school that includes someone to do the washing up for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and the meal it delivered.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this PR sample experience.

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