Forge

The story

Forge Darlington – Michelin-Starred Tasting Menu at Middleton Lodge Estate

Forge

On the 200-acre Middleton Lodge Estate near Darlington, Forge occupies what were once the estate’s farm buildings. Today, those stone walls house a tasting experience that head chef Jake Jones and his team have built around the landscape itself. The cooking is modern cuisine, but the ingredients are rooted in Yorkshire: grown on the estate or reared nearby, with foraged additions from the surrounding countryside.

The restaurant holds a Michelin star, a recognition that speaks to the precision and ambition of the kitchen. Jones brings experience from some of the UK’s most noted restaurants, and at Forge he has shaped a menu that changes with the seasons. Each course is designed to tell a story of the estate’s 200 acres. Dishes such as Baron Bigod with pickled walnut, medlar, and birch syrup, or Amsterdam carrots with buckwheat miso and foraged greens, give a sense of the kitchen’s direction: inventive, but anchored in the place it calls home.

Diners choose between six- and ten-course tasting menus, with vegetarian and vegan versions available. The atmosphere is sensorial and timeless, as the restaurant describes it, with the original farm buildings lending a quiet, grounded feel. A walled garden supplies much of the produce, and the estate’s commitment to sustainability extends from the kitchen to the land itself — Forge also holds a Michelin Green Star.

Forge is open Thursday to Sunday evenings, with a Saturday lunch service. It is a restaurant that rewards attention: to the plate, to the season, and to the Yorkshire landscape it aims to translate into flavour.