Travel to Yorkshire and Dinner at The Box Tree

After less than 24 hours, it was time to leave Bath. We were sad about this, as we had clearly not allocated enough time to explore and relax in such a wonderful town. But, we were headed to Yorkshire (specifically, Bradford and Esholt) to celebrate the marriage of our friends Kate and Jimmy. Kate was my friend in college, and she introduced us to Jim many years ago when they were visiting the states. Since Jim and Aaron support the same soccer club, they were fast friends. Their wedding on Saturday was our reason/excuse to come to the UK. But today (Friday, May 27, 2016), we just had to get to their neck of the woods. I'd also managed to find a Michelin star restaurant not far from where we were staying, so we'd throw that in as well. Yes, I know it's odd that we didn't eat at any of the dozens of Michelin starred restaurants in London. We had plenty to do there, though. This portion of our trip was supposed to be slower.

Cardiff to Esholt

We had a 4-hour train ride from Cardiff to Leeds. Once in Leeds we needed to find a local train to Shipley, and then get to our hotel, the Hollins Hall Marriott Hotel & Country Club. There's really nothing around this hotel other than golf courses and the tiny village of Esholt—which just so happened to be where Kate and Jimmy had lived up until a week ago, and where they were having their wedding reception. Perfect. At Shipley, we figured we'd get an Uber. Well, Uber kept canceling or having no cars available. Then maybe a taxi? Yeah, they wouldn't stop for us (turns out, in Yorkshire you need to go into a grocery store and use a special phone to call the taxi if you can't make local calls?). So we found a bus stop. And waited for probably 30 minutes. Kept trying to get an Uber. No Uber.

Eventually, the bus came, and it stopped right in front of our hotel. No joking, this is exactly what we saw when we got off the bus. 

We found the English country side!

We hiked up the hill to the hotel (surprisingly, the bride drove by in her jeep as we were walking—she would be staying here tonight as well). We checked in, showered, and just relaxed for a bit before having the desk call a cab to take us to The Box Tree, located in nearby Ilkley. (We live in the countryside, so a 20-minute cab ride counts as nearby.)

Dinner at Box Tree

This is an old-school English restaurant. We walked in and were asked to take a seat in the Salon, and offered a drink. Then we received some canapés. The restaurant had low-lighting everywhere, so many of our pictures fail to adequately show the food and facilities. Sorry, but we're not about to be "those diners" that use the flash!

While enjoying these small bites and sipping some champagne, a couple in jeans and sweatshirts wandered in, inquiring if there were any tables available. Just an FYI, if you want to visit The Box Tree, they have a dress code and reservations are recommended. The couple was escorted outside.

After the canapés, we were escorted upstairs to a completely empty dining room that had four tables. Were they hiding us away from someone?

Never to fear, the table behind Aaron would be filled with some young, rich Europeans. They were very loud. Obviously not British. But look how pretty the butter is on our table!

We ordered the tasting menu, which was six courses with wine pairings. This was our introduction to English fine dining service. It's very different from the United States, where servers speak with you and tell you a story about your dishes, checking on you often. Here, the servers would deliver the dish, tell us what it was, then scurry away. They would remain hidden from sight (on purpose—there was a cloth divider between the dining room and the serving area) until it was time to clear the plates and deliver the next course. Jimmy assured us this was totally normal and that Brits don't like to deal with servers during dinner.

Looking back over this menu makes me laugh. Aaron and I are used to "weird" food. We tend to frequent restaurants that play around with molecular gastronomy and avant-garde techniques and flavor combinations. But we apparently have very little knowledge of traditional British food terms.

The first course was smoked butternut squash and crowdie goats curd. Yes, we are in England. The goat curd is hidden from view in the bottom of the dish.

Next, a smoked ox tongue topped with wild garlic and morel mushrooms. When I was young I never thought I'd eat ox tongue and enjoy it. This was served with a Chardonnay.

The fish course was next. This is a lemon sole, with grapes, broccoli puree, and potted shrimps. What on earth are potted shrimps? Apparently it's a British thing, and they preserve them in butter. This dish was served with a quincy, which apparently is a French wine. We speak the same language, but we're so out of our element!

On to the meat course. Shoulder of milk-fed lamb, spring vegetables, jus d'agneau. This was served with a South African red wine.

Palette cleanser - bitter chocolate sorbet. Yes, it tasted like chocolate.

For dessert, a granny smith apple soufflé with calvadoa sauce. Served with a muscat. I love my dessert wine!

We had the artisan chocolates with coffee to round out the meal. The more immature among you may be amused by the chocolate arrangement.

While waiting for the check, we took a few photos. We were seated in front of a fire place that had an amusing cat statue on top of it.

After dinner it was time to call it a night. Thanks, Box Tree! The meal was excellent, and a wonderful instruction on traditional British food and service.

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