Hiraeth, an independent pub and restaurant in a small village near Cowbridge, has just been added to the Michelin Guide – despite having only been open for a matter of months.
The Michelin Guide is the world’s most influential food guide; inclusion is considered to be an acknowledgement of a chef’s skills, the quality of food, as well as the overall experience. For Hiraeth, their inclusion also comes hot on the heels of them being added to The Good Food Guide earlier this month and receiving two AA Rosettes in May – another highly respected hospitality accolade.
Hiraeth has charmed critics with its unpretentious approach – offering a monthly-changing taster menu, a classic Sunday Lunch menu, and from August, an à la carte menu which will change daily depending on what’s coming in from suppliers and out of the kitchen garden. All three options can be enjoyed in the restaurant, the large beer garden or in the dog-friendly bar.
Recent dishes on the seasonal tasting menu (£40 short / £70 long) include summer tomatoes with goats curd, basil sorbet, and tomato consommé; slow cooked Welsh lamb breast ravioli with mussels and lamb jus; Brixham scallop with smoked mackerel velouté, celeriac and apple; and a burnt honey parfait with a sesame tuille.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Roast (two courses £30/ three courses £35) includes Welsh feather blade of beef with a parmesan and parsley crust; gilthead bream with samphire, jersey royals and mussels; and pressed belly pork with crackling and an apple, herb and onion stuffing – all served with root veg, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese and seasonal greens.
A close relationship with local farmers and producers means that the menus at Hiraeth are ever changing; for instance, a whole Mangalitsa pig might be butchered in-house and used over a number of weeks, meaning the cut used on the tasting menu may change almost daily so that no part is wasted.
Run by chefs Lewis Dwyer and Andy Aston, the co-owners are over the moon with the recent recognition – especially considering that they only opened the doors at the end of 2022, after raising more than £30k in crowdfunding to help cover the set-up costs.
Andy said, “We really wanted the food to be the hero of what we’re doing here, the focal point, so to be recognised by AA, The Good Food Guide and Michelin within a matter of weeks is amazing – and tells us that we must be doing something right!”
‘We never wanted this place to be about stuffy fine dining and white tablecloths – this is a pub after all, with a 400-year history of being part of the community. So, we’re not into dress codes or any of that – we’re just all about good food.”
The commitment to good food is also about to be taken up a notch, as Lewis and Andy have recently been working hard on setting up an on-site kitchen garden at the back of the pub, which is now growing produce that can be used fresh, or pickled and preserved for use in dishes and drinks throughout the year.
Along with a renovation of the outdoor seating area and a new patio pizza oven installed, Hiraeth’s owners are now enjoying a busy summer season of welcoming new customers through the doors.
Andy explained “We knew we were taking a gamble when we decided to launch a food-led pub outside of a city centre or away from the high street, where there is always going to be more pressure to get people to make the effort to come and see you. Hopefully, this boost from Michelin will be the encouragement that more people need to come and visit us, and see what we’re all about.”
