Having watched The Great British Menu avidly, we’ve always been impressed by the chef Tommy Banks at The Black Swan at Olstead, particularly as he cooked at the final banquet twice. The restaurant has been voted the world’s best restaurant by Trip Advisor users in their 2017 Travellers’ Choice awards, has a Michelin star and four AA Rosettes.

The Black Swan at Olstead a 16th Century Building With Access Issues….

Two Acres of Land are The Source of Most of The Food – Freshness Guaranteed

Run by Tommy Banks, Awarded a Michelin Star, 4 AA Rosettes & TripAdvisor Best Restaurant in The World.

Located on the edge of the N. York Moors, this restaurant with rooms has two acres of farming land and almost all of the fruit and vegetables consumed at The Black Swan are grown there, so the ingredients are guaranteed fresh. Tommy says of the place,

“We have some great people working here; some real characters with tremendous talent and it’s their coming together that creates something special. We want our guests to feel part of it and experience it with us. It’s not just a job for us, it’s a lifestyle”. Here’s a taster of what he does……

The food is so obviously excellent as offered on the tasting menu at £95/head. Including some inventive cocktails such as ‘Bedstraw Martinez – Hibernation Gin, Sweet Vermouth and Woodruff Syrup’. However, their accessibility is not so good, here’s what they told us,

“The Black Swan is an old building built into the hillside with the bar and toilets on the lower level and the restaurant on the upper level. Both levels are accessible externally by a wheelchair. Internal access is by a staircase and there is no lift.

Four of the bedrooms are on the ground floor and accessed on one level from the car park although there is a final section of about 15m of gravel. It is about 50m from reception to the bedrooms. The rooms do not have any particular facilities for disabled access other than walk in wet room showers. There is a 5 inch step up into the bedrooms with no ramp available. The width of the bedroom and bathroom door in the room is only 29 inches which in the past has been too narrow for certain wheelchairs.

There are no disabled toilets on site. There are no grab rails throughout any bedroom, bathroom or toilet. “

Once in The Black Swan Access Appears OK But No Disabled Toilet

A Cosy & Friendly Experience

Food So Obviously Excellent – Lamb With Fermented Turnip & Mint

Cake From Acorn, Chicory Root and Lovage.

We still want to try the food even though it sounds like access is a challenge. Old buildings are no excuse for bad access, as we all know. It sounds like some minor improvements, such as grab rails in the bedrooms & bathrooms, could make the accommodation habitable for some wheelchair users and those with ambulant disabilities. Let’s hope they take notice of this review??? In the meantime an unaudited 2 BBS Ticks is all we can award.

Blue Badge Style

We Re-Define Disability With Style

Black Swan, The, Olstead

Black Swan, The, Olstead

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