RESTAURATEURS behind an award-winning gastro pub have announced plans to close.

Richard and Lindsey Johns confirmed they intend to close The Hovingham Inn, saying they had 'been left with no further option but to leave'.

York Press:

Flashback: Lindsey and Richard Johns, pictured with Lady Marie-Noelle Worsley, Martyn and Mary Greenwood and Sir William Worsley when they opened The Hovingham Inn in 2019 after a £500,000 make-over.

Taking to Twitter, they wrote: "Despite our best efforts in continuing to build upon our successes, we have been left with no further option but to leave. We have done everything possible to stay on & do not deserve such treatment. Still open & trading. Thank you for your support."

They added: "Due to unviable conditions, out of our control, we have with great regret made the very difficult decision not to renew our upcoming lease.

"To that end we will be leaving the Hovingham Inn. This is anticipated to be around late spring of this year."

York Press:

Inside The Hovingham Inn Picture: The Press

However, they urged anyone interested in their 'experience and skill sets, to get in touch, adding: "We are now looking to possible fulfilling future opportunities with a very open mind."

The news has been met with dismay from some supporters and well-wishers, with pleas for the couple to 'stay in Yorkshire'.

 

The couple have been in the restaurant industry for many years, starting out at Artisan in Hessle, near Hull, with just 16 covers until 2013, described by leading food critic Jay Rayner as 'Hull’s Angels'.

From there, they joined the pub scene when they ran The Falcon Inn, Withernwick, East Yorkshire, from 2014 until 2016, achieving Holderness’s first entry into major food guides - Michelin Pub Red Guide, Good Food Guide and Good Pub Guide.

York Press:

Inside The Hovingham Inn Picture: The Press

Relocating to Rascills Restaurant in Raskelf, North Yorkshire, they set up their venture from scratch on a working farm, and again won national recognition, before moving to the Ryedale village of Hovingham.

Formerly known as the Malt Shovel, the pub reopened as The Hovingham Inn in Main Street in summer 2019 after a seven-month refurbishment, costing £500,000. 

 

When they first opened The Hovingham Inn, the couple said the pub would be a 'fully independent, owner operated concern,' with Richard cooking and Lindsey overseeing the front of house.

They said it was the opportunity they had been waiting for, for a long time, and hoped to appeal to regular and local customers as well as those visiting from further afield.

Their food offering is locally sourced, concentrated on the modern British classics.

Dishes on their supper menu include fillet of skrei cod, pea & truffle risotto, seasonal greens & herb oil; and fee range pork three ways, 10oz cutlet, sausage roll & fillet, creamed cabbage & bacon, red wine sauce.

Richard and Lindsey have since gone on to achieve a listing in the Michelin Guide and more recently, an entry in Estrella Damm Top 100 Best UK pubs as well as recognition in The Times' Top 30 UK ‘best places for a perfect pub lunch’.