We love the Courtyard Dairy near Settle. They have an amazing selection of British cheeses, displayed and sold in a lovely old farm building, surrounded by fields and with amazing views across this part of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sharing the same site is Buon Vino, a wine merchant specialising in natural, often organic, wines and offering about 800 to choose from.
Late last year a third foodie venture opened on the site. Rind is a restaurant majoring in wood-fired pizza with British cheese toppings - although they also offer cheesy starters, a well-stocked cheese board and some desserts. All the cheese comes from Courtyard Dairy and there is a wine list supplied by Buon Vino.
Rind is part of The Cheese Bar, a group of 6 cheese-centric establishments - the other five are all in cool parts of London. So Austwick, in the Yorkshire Dales, is now officially cool.
On an overcast mid-August evening, we shared a couple of the unusual pizzas. The first, Carbonara (served without Guanciale of course), had a Mascarpone base with chestnut mushrooms, black pepper, two egg yolks and a topping of Old Winchester (similar to Parmesan). The second, 3 Cheese and Walnut Pesto, also had a Mascarpone base, with Kirkham’s Lancashire, Somerset Mozzarella, St James Ricotta, Old Winchester, walnut pesto and rocket. They were both absolutely delicious.
My glass of Montepulciano helped it all down and we finished off with lovely coffee, supplied by local roasters BlindMan Coffee.
In fine weather there are outside tables with stunning views across the Dales, but sitting inside was lovely too, with the huge picture window giving a similar - but warmer - view. Maybe we’ll try the outdoors next spring.
But I think we’ll be back before then.