Bashall Barn Wins National Award
BASHALL BARN HAILED THE FUTURE OF ON-FARM RESTAURANTS
Bashall Barn in Clitheroe, Lancashire, has been awarded the best on-farm restaurant award from the National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA). Selected by judges for its innovative and exciting food offer, the winner was announced on Tuesday 26 January at Farm & More, the farm retail sector’s national conference.
Bashall Barn is unique; provenance with a contemporary edge. The space is large and bright, with huge windows, chrome fittings, block colours and quirky animal paintings. Diners can visit one of three distinct dining areas; the restaurant, offering the best of seasonal Lancashire fine dining, including an impressive self-service salad bar; the coffee shop, for homemade scones and teacakes to toast over the wood burning stoves, or the ‘Sundae School’, for a scoop of the farm’s award-winning ice-cream. Visitors can see the live animals at a viewing gallery, watch ice-cream being made, honey being harvested, sauces and chutneys bubbling away and beer brewing.
Simon Barnes, M. D. commented, “‘This isn’t food miles its food feet… I think customers have the right to know the provenance of their food, ask the brewer how he makes his beer, the honey maker how he keeps his bees and watch the chefs in the kitchen cooking shepherd’s pie for the restaurant, as well as the ready meals that we are now famed for.”
The new Bashall Barn experience has been a hit with customers since opening in March 2009. Under the eye of Henk Van Heumen, with 40 years of experience in the Lancashire food scene, there is more planned for 2010; laying hens, homegrown vegetables and herbs, and opportunities for customers to get their hands dirty in both field and kitchen. The successful themed nights will continue, and bookings are being taken for parties and weddings.
Cavan Scott, BBC writer and former editor of Countryfile magazine, was on this year’s panel of judges “"What the team at Bashall Barn have created takes farm catering to a new level. Here is the kind of dining experience you would only expect to see on the highstreet. Slick, sophisticated and fantastic fun, Bashall Barn is a unique foodie destination and has raised the bar for farm retailer’s everywhere. Pioneering work." .
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For more information:
Bashall Barn, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 3LQ
Contact: Simon Barnes Tel: 01200 428964 www.bashallbarn.co.uk
FARMA, Rita Exner or Gareth Jones: 0845 45 88 420 www.farma.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
The National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA) is a 700-strong farmer-owned co-operative that represents and supports direct sales to the consumer in all its forms: farm shops, pick-your-own farms, farmers’ markets, box schemes and internet sales.
The FARMA Awards are peer-led, judged by former award winner and farm retail experts. In the initial stages, applicants submit a detailed entry form followed by FARMA sending in a ‘mystery shopper’ to the farm shop, the finalists are then selected; in next stage, all finalists are visited and assessed by the team of judges before the winners are selected by the panel.
Judges look for an award-winning combination of commitment to food, farming and the environment, a head for retail and management, customer-focused attitudes, and the ability to bring these elements together in creative and inspirational ways.
To see more Lancashire Award Winners click here