Legacy at The Grand, York celebrates first anniversary

Legacy, a small and intimate space serving a tasting menu aimed at passionate foodies, opened its doors a year ago to great fanfare in the Grand hotel, the former railway headquarters on Station Rise.

Looking back at his time at the helm head chef Ahmed Abdalla said: "It's amazing to see how it's gone over the past year, we just seem to go from strength to strength.

"August has been the busiest month we have had since we opened, with record numbers of bookings. We are getting a lot of foodies coming to see us from all across the country.

"I think what separates us in particular is being in this amazing property and the intimate feeling.

"From October we will be extending our opening hours, opening from Wednesday-Sunday from October 1 from 6.30pm-8.30pm."

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Inside the restaurant

In July Michelin-starred chef Kevin Bonello from Malta joined the Grand as its executive head chef after a career stretching back more than 20 years.

Prior to joining the Grand, he served as the Culinary Director at Xara Collection of hotel and hospitality businesses in the Maltese islands for 21 years, and has worked with the likes of Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay.

"There is no doubt that it's a rough industry," said Kevin.

"But it has so many pleasures, meeting customers being chief among them, I like the one to ones and getting to know people.

"York is a lovely place and Legacy has become a destination in its own right."

Michelin-starred chef Kevin Bonello (Image: Pic supplied)

During his tenure at Xara, Kevin played a pivotal role in elevating the culinary offerings and establishing Xara Collection as a leading hospitality brand and his team were awarded a Michelin star - one of only five restaurants in Malta with such recognition.

He said he has hopes of Legacy, which has already been mentioned in The Michelin Guide - following suit - "We will always aim for that, it's not easy, but it's not impossible."

The Grand's bars and restaurants and cookery school employ about 90 people with the brand working closely with York and Doncaster Colleges to nurture new talent.

Kevin said: "There is a shortage of quality staff, you need to find and bring on the younger generation. I was brought up that you lived to work and I used to work very long hours, but that doesn't work any more - you need to find the right balance and the industry is having to adapt and change."

To mark Legacy's first anniversary, The Press was invited by Ahmed and his team to sample the experience, and so, we joined diners on a fully booked Saturday night.

Ahmed at work in the kitchen (Image: Supplied)

We sampled the eight-course tasting menu priced at £120 with matching wine pairings starting at £60 per person with drinks selected and poured by restaurant manager and sommelier Derek Scaife.

Proceedings kicked off with a glass of crisp English sparkling wine to accompany a trio of beautifully presented and mouthwatering mini appetisers.

The appetisers were in addition to the eight courses that followed and at the end of the night, when we thought we were beyond capacity, we were served a superb cheese plate too.

Derek poured specially selected wines to match each course, which began with a Parkerhouse roll which came with delicious goats cheese and chive and dill butters.

My partner had chosen the vegetarian menu, and while I tucked into the Whitby crab, he was served honey glazed carrots with sea buckthorn and crispy buckwheat.

The incredibly tasty crab was accompanied with avocado, calamansi (a type of lime) and apple, with the fruity flavours cutting through the shellfish perfectly. The carrots didn't fail to impress either - drizzled as they were in honey harvested from the hotel's own bee hive perched up on the hotel.

The following courses came at a steady pace, giving us plenty of time to enjoy and marvel at the flavours. I tried lobster ravioli while across the table a Spring pea tortellini arrived.

The ravioli came is a shellfish bisque with pak choi and fennel while the tortellini had a watercress soup, onion and spinach. Both pastas were melt-in-the-mouth and mine was perfect for a lover of all things seafood.

We both enjoyed salt baked celeriac next and while I had my next fishy option - BBQ line caught bass - courgette roulade with dill and smoked tahini was served from the vegetarian menu.

Next up came the stars of the show for both of us. For me Spring Yorkshire lamb and the vegetarian BBQ Hen of the Woods - mushroom ketchup and cordyceps.

The lamb was sheer perfection, served with juicy aubergine, lemon yoghurt and tarragon, while the mushroom cocktail was by far and away my partner's favourite.

The lamb and the Parkerhouse roll (Image: Supplied)

We ended the night with Annabel's strawberry which came with the Grand's own honey and a revolutionary basil ice-cream - which was something I've never come across before and was to die for - the perfect match for the strawberry pud and was a real crescendo.

The delicious dessert (Image: Supplied)

Just when we thought we couldn't eat any more, we were served a cheese plate with homemade crackers and the homegrown honey.

It brought the evening to the perfect close and sent us on our way having had a real treat of a night. 

Find out more at thegrandyork.co.uk/legacy

Chef Ahmed Abdalla at Legacy at the Grand York (Image: Supplied)