“I have been running pop-up dinners for around eight years and they started as an outlet for me to do my own thing”
Chef David Tait has opened a new restaurant, Plates by Oxalis, in Beverley(Image: Plates By Oxalis)
A chef has opened a new restaurant in Beverley that places an emphasis on quality, locally sourced food. Plates by Oxalis can be found inside The Lairgate Hotel and officially opened on Sunday, March 15.
Chef and owner David Tait crafted the menu after years of experimentation with fine dining. He previously worked in Australia and owned a restaurant in Malton, North Yorkshire, before moving to Beverley.
The name Plates by Oxalis was inspired by the oxalis flower, which David had growing around his doorstep. He said, although it looks like a simple weed, the plant has a surprising “lemony, citrusy taste”.
David said: “I have been running pop-up dinners for around eight years and they started as an outlet for me to do my own thing, whatever dishes I wanted with no restraints.
“I was doing eight-course tasting menus and as I got deeper into that and deeper into trying different dishes and different ingredients, learning about forgaing and fermenting techniques and stuff like that, it took me down this rabbit hole.
“People seem to really latch onto when you tell them someting has come from somewhere they know, or somehwere they are from. I wanted to do that same ethos of a higher level of cooking and service, but local provenance as to where all the ingredients come from.”
David said he wanted the restaurant to be “more accessible” to diners and rather than charging, for example, £100 per head, decided to have a sharing plates format. He said the experience was best described as “casual fine dining”.
Local produce features heavily in David’s menu, such as whole grilled Wansford Rainbow Trout, sourced from Driffield, served with horseradish gribiche, grilled lemon and dill.
The corn-fed chicken comes from Ripon in North Yorkshire. David said he also buys in an entire lamb every week from The Wolds Project, a “small organic farm about 15 minutes away from the restaurant”.
He has also created a plant menu of vegetarian dishes, such as Salt Baked Beetroot, Charred Leeks, and Fresh Burrata. David said because the restaurant is an “independent-chef-run place” customers can expect the menu to change frequently.
“As stuff comes in and out of season, things will come and go off the menu almost on a weekly-by-weekly basis,” he said.
To find out more about Plates By Oxalis, make a booking, or look at the menu, you can visit the restaurant’s website.
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