Michelin starred entry to the 2022 Guide, set in a farm location with its own rooms available

Pine is a modern restaurant set on an upper level of a newly furbished area of a farm with an open kitchen, located in Northumberland. It opened in 2021, delayed from the pandemic in 2020 and gained its Michelin star the following year. Head chef Cal Byerley moved over from his previous workplace of Michelin starred Forest Side and also a former protégé of Simon Rogan at Rogan and Co. The menu is a tasting menu only option of approximately 15 small courses set at £120 at time of visit (Feb 2023). I liked this experience for the reasons of being in an accommodating environment, dishes that pleased, good hospitality and I wasn’t bloated at the end or mercifully it didn’t take hours and hours, so I was impressed with the pace as well. It’s a good option to explore for something different and you should be in good hands here.

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North Sea Trout, Elderflower & Sugar Kelp dumpling, trout roe was a lovely start. Even more sumptuous was the Berwick Edge cheese, dry-aged carrot, & pickled lovage gel providing nice smokiness to the cheese. Another bite was diced lobster, pine (naturally), gooseberry, juniper, spruce brown butter emulsion – there was a sensational kick of pine dressing and gooseberry bits at the bottom of this and was a quality offering.

Shiitake mushrooms cooked in beef fat, with rosehip, elderberry and wild garlic provided the spice with pickled shiso adding a very sweet, element to a lovely mushroom course. The snowball turnip was marinated in sake, yoghurt with fennel pollen, fermented plum & fennel honey and shiso. This was a vibrant and tangy dish. mellowed by the yoghurt to temper the sharper elements.

Einkorn Sourdough with house butters came with a fallow deer broth (which had a very deep flavour) lemon, thyme and hen of the woods. The roe deer meatball with sunflower miso jam made from Scott’s pine was absolutely superb – salty, smoky, sweet and beautiful all in one.

Beetroot, cooked inits own juices, made in to a syrup and then re-added came with Doddington’s Cheddar & last year’s walnuts, pickled green nut cheese rind made in to a mousse. The beetroot was so sweet, almost like apricot consistency and sweetness, gloriously light cheese foam. The restaurant should be given much credit here for converting essentially waste in to a significantly pleasurable cheese foam which would otherwise in 99% of cases simply be thrown away.

Garden Juice of crab apples, Bradley’s, mint, sorrel and juniper was a very sweet course (verging on too much sweetness) but was a very good combination at the same time. Next came Monkfish, Fermented white asparagus, kale, sour cream, sugar kelp, rosemary & thyme oil with pumpkin seeds on top. The (very good) fish is sourced from Hodgsons suppliers from the North Sea and was a very nice combination all round of creamy sauce and herb oil.

Dry-aged hogget (1-2 yr old) held a lovely fat content and was served via rump, leg and sausage made hearts livers and shoulders, dry aged to firm up flesh. Artichoke & Magnolia (ginger flavours) sugar kelp from coast Berrick, lamb sage and mint jus with shiitake with oil from shechuan pepper leaves. I loved every element here and this held superb combinations and even the offal and liver sausage were great. A magnificent dish worthy of a higher accolade than its current one.

Next came a sea buckthorn tart, with wild flower yoghurt, wild camomile elderflower syrup, & Barberry. Although small, this was an absolutely lovely bite. So delicate and sweet, soft at the same time and well controlled that the buckthorn was not too sharp as it very often is and can be without proper preparation.

A series of dessert bites and petit fours were served in the cosy lounge area after the meal on request. These consisted of a few treats starting with rhubarb, steamed buttermilk custard, kombucha & fig leaf oil came with a brown butter and apple marigold Madeleine. A Jerusalem artichoke cone with brown butter & parsley root was absolutely superb. A salted parsnip skin, goats cheese & honey from the restaurant’s own bees came with iced caramel and honey comb. This had good texture, a lightness and although not my favourite combination with the goats cheese this was again toned down well. Others included a blackcurrant & elderflower bon bon with white chocolate; caramelised whey biscuit which had natural sourness and black apple candy which had been three month sealed in containers for Maillard reaction, then dehydrated whole and then again pierced and dipped in caramel. After a huge effort, this turned out to be a pleasant little bite.

Overall, Pine provided a very enjoyable dining experience all round with very good dishes, serious attention to detail, unique flavour combinations and attentive service. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an unique dining experience in comparison to most and I am glad they have gained a rightful Michelin star.

Food Grade: 83%