Northcote

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Lancashire Landmark for Modern British Cooking

Northcote sits on the edge of the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in the Ribble Valley hills outside Langho. The setting shapes everything: the wide open Lancashire landscape feeds directly into the kitchen's philosophy of championing local, seasonal produce, cooked — as the team puts it — "with heart and soul, visual, elegant, bursting with great flavours and textures."

At the centre of it all is Chef Patron-Director Lisa Goodwin-Allen, whose adventurous approach to modern British cuisine has kept Northcote's Michelin star burning bright. Goodwin-Allen's profile extends well beyond Lancashire — she competed across multiple courses on BBC Two's Great British Menu, becoming the first chef in the show's history to get three courses through to the final banquet, earning four 10s from the judges for her dessert alone. That same precision and creativity defines every service in the restaurant.

The Kitchen and the Cellar

The brigade is built from within. Head Chef Danny Young joined Northcote in 2010 as a 16-year-old apprentice and worked his way to the top position, winning National Young Chef of the Year in 2018 and an Acorn Award in 2021 — recognition given to just 30 of the brightest hospitality talents under 30 in the country. It is the kind of career arc that says something about how Northcote operates as a house.

The wine programme is equally serious. Managing Director Craig Bancroft — himself a Hotel Catey Outstanding Achievement Award winner — oversees a cellar that earned the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and has held the World of Fine Wine Two Star Award since 2016, praised for its balance across regions, producers, styles and vintages, and for being genuinely readable and easy to navigate. Wine pairing is an integral part of the dining experience, not an afterthought.

Dining Formats and the Obsession Festival

The restaurant's main seasonal menu is complemented by a Chef's Table, a cocktail bar and terrace (with pre-orderable oysters), and a private dining room with its own cocktail bar and Champagne terrace. The Gourmet Break — an overnight stay paired with a five-course seasonal menu and Northcote's award-winning breakfast — is the most complete way to experience what the property offers.

Each January and February, Northcote hosts Obsession, one of Europe's most respected gourmet festivals, drawing world-class chefs to cook across a fortnight of themed evenings. The festival has become a fixture on the British fine dining calendar and underlines Northcote's standing as far more than a regional destination.

Voted Best Restaurant in the Great British Food Awards and placed in the National Restaurant Awards Top 100 — part of a landmark year when northern England outranked London in that list — Northcote has earned its reputation not through noise but through consistent, grounded excellence in British cooking.