Gusto Restaurant and Bar, Settle, North Yorkshire

Gusto Restaurant and Bar is based in the Shambles, a building with a very long history. The restaurant though is somewhat more modern, as it only opened two years ago, but in that short time has already established a name for great food in a friendly and intimate atmosphere.

The owners, Paul Knapton and Philippa Hanson, make you very welcome from the moment you step through the door. Also there to greet you is their chef, Luke Birchall, who has worked with some of the best chefs in Yorkshire – and it shows! Within four months of completing his training at Bradford College, Luke was already winning prizes (in the Hotelympia Competition) and this enabled him to get a job at the award-winning Shibden Mill Inn (Two AA Rosettes) near Halifax under the tutelage of Head Chef Darren Parkinson where Luke learnt the sort of practical real-life skills that they can’t teach you at college.

We enjoyed Luke’s cooking and Gusto’s ambience so much that we ate there twice in a week. We can highly recommend the garlic mushrooms and the marinated olives for starters (the marinade had fresh herbs and an aniseed flavour – delicious). We had four mains over the two visits – a tasty pan-fried vegetarian gnocchi in a spinach and Parmesan crème sauce with a blue cheese crumb topping, and a duo of pasta in a light home-made tomato sauce poached with a fresh marinière (shellfish with white wine and herbs ), pan-fried trout fillets “with whatever you fancy” (Liz chose roast potatoes and fresh veg) and a salmon steak with new potatoes and fresh vegetables – drizzled with a lemon and caper butter. They were all cooked to perfection and absolutely delicious. The desserts were equally tasty – the caramel cheesecake especially so: sweet, light and completely yummy. The house red was excellent, as was the draught Moretti beer. Moreover, the prices were very reasonable. Good food at a decent price – we’ll definitely be going back there again.

If I’ve tempted you into trying Gusto, do phone and book beforehand, as there’s only room for around 20 people and it is very popular (T: 01729 824 929).

And if you’d like more information about Settle, see our recent blog article about the town here.