A COMPANY which is hoping to open an upmarket bar and restaurant in Malton’s old town hall will showcase its plans at the town’s food lovers festival.

Stew and Oyster Ltd, which operates four bars in the Leeds area, has been granted a licence for the building in the centre of Market Place.

Previously occupied by Malton Museum, the Grade II-listed building underwent a major restoration by the Fitzwilliam Malton Estate, but has since remained empty.

Tom Mountain, operations director of Stew and Oyster, said: “We now have a licence for the premises and are currently in talks with the Estate and also looking at changes required to the building.

“During the food festival we will be holding a pop-up bar in the town hall so local people can find out more about what we do and it will also give us the opportunity to get to know what Malton is about.”

Malton Food Lovers Festival, which will take place on May 27 and 28, is once again sponsored by Inntravel, Yorkshire street food brand, Hog & Beyond, pastry producer, Yorkshire Baker, and the National Farmers’ Union.

Inntravel will be joined by Yorkshire Baker in sponsoring the festival’s cookery theatre, which will be headlined by celebrity chef and British-Jamaican reggae musician, Levi Roots.

He will be joined by a line-up of culinary names at the festival, including new Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith.

Simon Wrench, head of marketing at Inntravel, said: “We are thrilled to be supporting the Malton Food Lovers Festival for the second year running. Local food, and especially Slow Food, is an important part of our holidays, so to be able to support the growing band of artisan producers in and around Malton by

Andy Mayer, Yorkshire Baker operations director, added: “Yorkshire Baker is delighted to be sponsoring Malton Food Lovers Festival for a second consecutive year.

“It is fantastic to welcome so many food tourists to Yorkshire’s Food Capital and we are looking forward to showing them the gourmet, handcrafted all-butter pastries that we produce here in Malton.”

To book your place at the Malton Food Lovers Festival NFU Kitchen Question time or any of the celebrity chef demonstrations, visit www.maltonyorkshire.co.uk/tickets

l A food festival consultation for any interested parties takes place tomorrow (Thursday) at 5.30pm at Harrisons Bar & Grill (formerly The Yard) Market Place.

The sessions are aimed at local businesses who want to learn about road closures and access arrangements across the festival weekend and the organising team will be on hand to answer any other questions.