They source as much of their meat as possible from Yorkshire farmers and have won many awards for their products.

The business is a member of the national Butchers Q Guild, which represents some of the leading independent meat retailers in the country. Q butchers are unique in that they voluntarily submit their businesses to a stringent, independent audit before attaining membership. They are then subjected to regular audits, spot checks and visits from mystery
shoppers to ensure standards are adhered to. Q membership is one of the meat trade’s highest endorsements of excellence.

John Ellison comments:

Q Butchers support both local businesses like The Old Glen House and local producers. There are less food miles and meat is fresher. Being associated with the Q brand should send a strong message to local consumers that they are getting the very best for their money at outlets like The Old Glen House.

David Carr explains:

We used to have a really big menu with a choice of well over 50 dishes, plus a daily specials board! While this worked well at the time, we have had a long and hard rethink and new, streamlined menus have now been introduced. There’s still plenty of choice, but we feel we are now more effectively catering for the many and varied tastes of our customers -
along with their pockets! What we are trying to do is set standards similar to those found at The Angel Inn at Hetton,
where I worked for a number of happy years. It’s one of the most famous pub restaurants in the land, having won many local, regional and national awards. Those who know The Angel will realise exactly where I’m coming from here. If we build a similar reputation we certainly won’t be going far wrong!

Sample menus are posted in the “food” section.

For our meat, the business relies on one of the best traditional family butchers in the region, Ellison’s of Cullingworth, who have developed and cemented supply partnerships with Yorkshire farmers, many of them right on the doorstep.

Ellison’s, who have won multiple awards for their products, supply the Old Glen House with prime quality local beef, lamb and pork, including succulent steaks, famous sausages and delicious, fully matured rib-eye beef joints for Sunday lunch.
Ellison’s are a member of the national industry-leading Q Guild of Butchers – the Q stands for Quality.

Yorkshire free-range premium pork comes from Anna’s Happy Trotters, of Howden, Selby – the crackling is out of this world. Try it and you’ll see exactly what we mean!

Fresh fish comes direct from sea-to-table via Inshore Fisheries, one of the UK’s best-known independent suppliers of quality fresh and frozen seafood. Inshore has grown from being a small processor to become one of the north-east’s leading seafood wholesalers.

Head Chef David Carr explains:

Our whole philosophy is to develop and cement local supplier partnerships, allowing us to hand-pick the finest quality meat products from recognised British breeds. It also gives us a much greater degree of hands-on control over the whole supply process – coupled with full traceability. It’s all about keeping down food miles – this, of course, also minimises the stress on animals – and helping to rebuild and renew local economies and communities by encouraging people to produce and purchase food locally. We hope to establish our own field-to-plate partnerships with local farmers in the future.

From the north-east, David trained at Darlington Catering College, gaining all the recognised industryrelated qualifications.
He began his career at the renowned 5-star, 2-rosette Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, before moving across the city to become junior sous chef at the Michelin-starred Bath Priory Hotel. David’s career has also taken him to the RAC Gentleman’s Club in Epsom, Slaley Hall in Northumberland, the House of Lords as senior sous chef, and the famous Angel Inn at Hetton in the Yorkshire Dales.

His first head chef’s position was back on home ground at The Arden Arms, near Northallerton. David then gained international experience by working in both Italy and Austria, returning to the UK to spend two years in London delivering a private dining
experience in people’s own homes for some extremely high profile customers. David also spent a season on Gunnerside Estate, near
Richmond, the second largest grouse shooting estate in the country, where he cooked for the likes of Sir Rocco Forte and Lord Peel. However, David had always wanted to be his own lord and master and that opportunity came when he took over at The Old Glen House in July, 2008.
Since then, around £200,000 has been invested to improve and upgrade the establishment, always in keeping with the building’s long and proud history. One major scheme was to completely overhaul the central heating system and David reports that, following one or two teething troubles over winter – one of the coldest in recent years – the system is now working perfectly, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere. This is further supplemented by a log burning stove crackling away in the background in the main bar area.
David’s wife Georgina, a South Yorkshire lass, also helps out both behind and front of house when not looking after the couple’s two children Harvey, 2, and Ruby, 1, and pair of bull mastiffs – Freya and Benson!
David’s father Edwin is also a familiar face at The Old Glen House, heading up the maintenance and groundwork team to ensure that  the interior and exterior of the building and grounds are kept spic and span.

Front of house supervisor Hannah Thorp and bar supervisor Jamie Whitfield are also key members of the team, along with the happy, smiling and efficient young ladies who look after customers so attentively.

David comments:

We have a great team here, who will always go that extra mile to help our customers. In this business, that counts for a great deal.

Here at The Old Glen House, we’re constantly looking at ways in which we can enhance our lines of communication with both present and potential customers. The introduction of our own company blog and newsletter are seen as an ideal way of keeping our valued and fast-growing customer base fully informed about the latest developments in our increasingly successful restaurant and bar.

Since taking over in July, 2008, our recipe for success has been built on our ability and reputation to provide only the best quality food and drink, backed up by customer service levels that, we believe, are second to none. The Old Glen House remains a family-run business, offering tried and trusted traditional value-for-money dishes, backed up by some exciting, innovative – even unique offerings.

While our trade has not escaped the recession, there are now welcome signs of green shoots and renewed confidence, and we look forward to welcoming both existing and new customers. We have an excellent team, all committed to making The Old Glen House experience a very special and memorable one.

Our entire ethos is to provide quality fine dining, coupled with excellent, attentive service. We trust you will enjoy reading our new blog, which gives you a taste of what we’re all about.

We are also keen to promote reader participation and hope you will enter the prize competition we are running in our launch newsletter, as well as providing us with your contact details so we can ensure that you’re  on our mailing list.

Any feedback will, of course, be more than welcome. We will listen very closely to any sensible suggestions or ideas you may have to help us improve all areas of our business and offer improved customer service.