Penrith restaurant named in The Good Food Guide’s top 100

Penrith’s Four & Twenty restaurant has been included in The Good Food Guide’s list of Britain’s 100 best local restaurants — one of only four in Cumbria.

There were more than 37,000 public nominations for the list. All the restaurants included in it were then checked out by anonymous Good Food Guide inspectors, travelling all over England, Scotland and Wales, to compile the final list.

This is the first time that Four & Twenty has made the guide, and it is also currently listed in the Hardens restaurant guide.

The complete list includes city centre locations, as well as suburban and rural offerings. Typically, best local restaurants have been geographically located in classic “neighbourhood” locations, but The Good Food Guide’s team of inspectors found that connection to the community is far more important than the restaurant’s address. 

Four & Twenty is owned by James and Rebecca Cowin, with James working as a chef along with Steve Angel, and Rebecca doing front of house duties.

James and Rebecca said they are incredibly proud of what they have achieved and delighted to have been listed in the top 100 local restaurants. “This is a great reward for all the work our small hard working team have put in over the years,” they said. “We would like to give a big thank you to our amazing team — George, Steve, Kate, Alasdair and Sophia — and a massive thank you must also go to our customers for all their support over the years and, of course, everyone who took the time out to send a nomination to the guide. We would also like to thank our amazing suppliers for delivering us the best that Cumbria and the North has to offer.”

James described Four & Twenty’s food as modern British, using as many local ingredients as possible, and he said: “We try to do high end food in a more comfortable setting. We don’t go in for pomp and ceremony; we want things to be more relaxed — we want the restaurant to be somewhere we would feel comfortable popping out for lunch.

“I love food and cooking and would not want to do anything else,” added James, who, after leaving Penrith’s Ullswater Community College, studied catering at Carlisle College and was named Student Chef of the Year in his final year. He then worked at the prestigious Sharrow Bay Hotel at Ullswater for two seasons before joining his dad at Mrs Miller’s restaurant, based at Hazel Dene Garden Centre, Culgaith, where he worked for 18 years, and which also featured in The Good Food Guide.

He and his brother then took over what was the TSB Bank in King Street and opened a bar called Blue Jay Way, which, 10 years ago, became Four & Twenty. James and Rebecca, who met when Rebecca was working at Blue Jay Way, have been at the restaurant full-time since 2019.

Rebecca, who is Penrith born and bred, has a degree in forensics, but opted to work with James in the restaurant. “I have a love for food and wine — and myself and George have just completed a wine course,” she said.

Looking to the future, James said: “We like the vibe we have here. We like to be seen as approachable. We just want people coming in, having a nice meal and giving us good feedback.”

The other Cumbrian restaurants included in the top 100 list are The Kirkstile Inn and Sportsman’s Rest, near Slaggyford; Kysty, at Ambleside; and The Yan, at Grasmere.

The list is published on www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk