The Angel

www.angelhetton.co.uk

This was a return after more than ten years, a bittersweet visit tinged with great sadness. I had called a week or so beforehand to arrange my visit and was greatly saddened to hear of the sad and untimely death of the founder, Denis Watkins, who had been the driving force behind the Angel name, both known and appreciated across the land and highly featured among restaurant writers and food enthusiasts alike.

Denis had always made an appearance in the dining room towards the end of the evening when we first visited The Angel nearly twenty years ago; the restaurant was some forty five minutes drive from our home near Clitheroe in Lancashire. The Angel name was already known, the late Russell Harty used to mention it in his column in The Sunday Times as well as being positively covered by numerous newspapers and magazines for the quality of the food on offer.

Here I was, many years later, visiting on an August Monday lunchtime with Audrey, mother in law, to see how the place had changed, if at all, almost paying a degree of homage to the vision of a man who had been a driving force behind the growth and development of the gastro pub in this country.

Changed it is appeal and welcoming attitude to visitors? No, certainly not, the initial changes in leadership have been seamless. But there are major changes, certainly from the good old days when summer evenings of delight were spent at this remote part of Yorkshire, summers were the chosen time for us to visit because the roads could be hazardous in the depth of cold northern winters. Those changes can be easily seen, as they are valuable additions to the building itself, see in the form of a Wine Cave with a veritable sea of world options on offer and, a number of beautifully crafted rooms offering accommodation for visitors to the area. We were given the opportunity to view one of the rooms, neatly and carefully decorated but very homely, the sort of individual room with character, with all the requirements close to hand, and facing The Angel, what a view!

We were eating at the bar within The Angel, a traditional bar with a large old gleaming oven overlooking the main dining area, with a selection of photographs of the area as well as the staff gazing over us as we perused the menu. In addition to the bar menu we were given there are daily specials on the board as well as a selection of wines and champagnes by the glass. Rarely have I seen so many reserved signs in a country pub, and on Monday lunchtime. Alas this was The Angel and, thankfully, one of the signs on the corner table ensured that Audrey and I could dine after our entertaining journey.

First on the menu was the Angel Moneybag, a long time favourite for regular angel diners, both in the bar and in the dining room. Audrey chose this,

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