Inside the UK’s best gastropub that was devastated by blaze just two years ago
BRITAIN’S best gastropub has been restored just two years after it was destroyed in a devastating fire.
A suspected arson attack completely gutted The Star At Harome, a Michelin-starred restaurant, in November 2021.
But the quaint 14th Century village pub near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, has now been completely rebuilt.
The restoration saw its 4ft deep thatched roof, exposed wooden roof beams and a roaring open fireplace brought fully back into working order.
And just four months after reopening it’s already been named Britain’s best gastropub by the global Big 7 travel guide.
The remodel came with a £2million receipt and followed “many meetings with the conservation authorities,” according to its owner Andrew Pern.
Photographs of the interiors show exposed flagstones and tartan décor by the bar area.
In the restaurant elegant place settings are lit by individual table lamps.
On a shelf behind one seating area the pub’s Michelin awards are displayed.
The pub has been handed numerous accolades since it was taken over by chef Pern 26 years ago.
It won its first Michelin star in 2002 after Pern created his “rich man, poor man menu” featuring his signature dish of black pudding and foie gras.
It held the star for nine years until 2011 and regained it in 2014.
Pern added: “The old Inn has been put back much as it was, revealing some previously hidden features, and conserving some of the charred roof timbers in acknowledgement of the latest episode of this much-loved C14th Inn’s history.
“To get to number one in such a short space of time after the pub was virtually burnt to the ground and verging on derelict.
“It has certainly risen from the ashes again now – a new beginning for us all.”
Firefighters were called to the gastropub just after 10pm on November 24, 2021.
The fire ripped through the straw roof and destroyed most of its supporting frame.
The pub reopened in November 2022.