Guest columnist JO KELLY visits a pub which is helping to put Malton on the food map.

THERE’S something of a food renaissance going on in Malton, with Tom Naylor-Leyland, heir to the Fitzwilliam Estate, leading the charge and aiming to make Malton the Food Captial of Yorkshire.

He has backed free parking in the town centre, arranged food markets and the annual food festival, opened a cookery school and is the property owner of the New Malton, a grade-II listed building in a corner of Malton Market Place.

The building began life in the 18th century as the Whip Inn, then Mrs M Blanchards refreshment rooms in the 1930s and more recently a café and tapas bar and is now a dining pub in the hands of Anthony Gillham and Gemma Williams.

The collection of rooms on various levels, wooden floorboards and grey flagstones is appealing, as is the rustic assortment of solid wood tables and chairs. There’s a fire in the main bar with a stash of newspapers and the welcome is exceptionally friendly.

While Gemma takes care of front-of-house duties, Anthony is busy in the kitchen with his team, where he uses locally sourced ingredients – including free-range Yorkshire meat and eggs – to create a menu designed to appeal to everyone. The menu changes regularly, in keeping with the seasons and all food is made on the premises.

We visited for a quiet, late Saturday lunch and found a bustling pub filled with people enjoying some great home-cooked food.

A long list of mains brought out plenty of old pub favourites: steak burger and chips, beer battered haddock, sausage and mash, ploughman’s and pie, plus there was a sandwich menu and an offering of “lighter things”.

We both opted for the burger and found it to be the best pub burger my husband had had – ever. High praise from a chef.

The real ale choice though was more limited, but changes are regular and 99 per cent are Yorkshire. There were three real ales available at the time of our visit and all were well kept, clean and refreshing – Acorn Brewery’s Barnsley Bitter, Great Newsome Brewery’s Hops in the Spring and Pennine Brewing Company’s Ale Trail.

Barnsley Bitter, 3.8 per cent abv, was a bit malty for my taste, almost a malty caramel. As Great Newsome’s Hops in the Spring implied, it was a very “hoppy” ale, produced from 100 per cent British hops. The brewery is based near South Frodingham, Hull, and was established on a family farm in 2007.

The amber ale of the Pennine Brewing Company was a clear favourite, but lighter ales are my preference. The firm is based in Bedale, and currently brews three times a week.

Anthony is originally from Yorkshire and Gemma, North Wales, and they have more than 20 years of experience with at least 17 of those in award-winning pub/restaurants for Brunning and Price Ltd.

They worked at Sutton Hall, Macclesfield, which, while they were there, was listed in Sawdays Guide, the Michelin Guide, the Good Beer Guide, AA Guide and the Good Pub Guide, achieving Cheshire Dining Pub 2011.

In 2013, the New Malton has celebrated inclusion in the Michelin Eating Out In Pubs Guide. “This is the one guide people strive to be included in,” said Gemma. “You get this listing purely on merit and it is really good for us.”

Her thoughts on their winning formula are everything you want from a dining pub. “We serve good food, good drink, we enjoy consistency, provide great service and the staff are very friendly,” she said.

We could not argue with that.