Why I love Hospitality!

Olly Longbottom, Restaurant Manager, Star Inn, Harome

September 2025

In this article, written by Olly Longbottom, Olly explores his love of food, drink, hospitality, working hard, the importance of community, and the amazing career that hospitality can give you.

Scenic views with good food using local produce and proper hospitality in Rural North Yorkshire isn’t that hard to come by… Having grown up and being in and amongst it for 6 years now, I know how versatile and impressive Yorkshire hospitality can be. There is an abundance of pubs with good beer, roaring fires and friendly faces. Hotels serving afternoon tea in the lounge and cafes with homemade cakes and pastries.

I started at the Fairfax Arms in Gilling East, coming off the back of travelling the world. I went in to get a part time job, and I have come out with a career. Working here I began to learn how important local life is to a businesses like these, ensuring your regulars can get a good pint and a bag of crisps is not hard but is certainly a priority! Pulling pints behind a busy bar gives you a real buzz and building relationships has never been easier!

After a couple of months out in Austria at the European Bartenders school gaining a degree in mixology, learning a few (hundred) cocktails, plenty of après ski and meeting lots of new people, I soon found my way back to North Yorkshire. The Pheasant Hotel in Harome, with 16 bedrooms, a swimming pool and a contemporary dining restaurant, being thrown in at the deep end was one of the best things to happen to me! Learning the way a hotel operates, changing beds, the art of breakfast service and the big one… weddings!

Showcasing another exceptional area of Yorkshires finest, organising someone’s special day comes with its pressures but the relief and feeling of a successful wedding is a real high. Working here gave me the organisational skills and the ability to think quickly that I needed to step towards management.

Working closely with the owner is massive to building a good work ethic and gives you a real sense of personality in the workplace, it’s something I will always stand by when I one day have my own place.

A couple of hundred yards up the road, another top class showcase of Yorkshire’s grub, the 1 Michelin Star Inn at Harome, my current venture as assistant restaurant manager. Trust me when I say there is no place quite like this to learn and become part of a serious team! 28 years of the current ownership – a Mr Andrew Pern, true local legend, once again reminding us how important it is to look after those around you.

Locals here will supply you with the goods, some of the most talented chefs around will make it taste like something you couldn’t even imagine, followed by a fine wine pairing by the team finessed with some theatre served on our handmade crockery, eat drink and enjoy!

All these things make life in hospitality so interesting, to me it’s a massive incentive to meet the people who ‘do it’ – the farmers, the wine makers, the distillers and so on… Connecting with people because of what they create and bring to your workplace is always interesting.

So, “what has made me successful to date?”

• Being flexible
• Be willing has helped me to get involved
• Learning fast, naturally becoming better at making decisions under pressure
• Being approachable
• ..and imagining I’m always looking after my parents and that you want to give the best of the best helps me feel like I am at my highest level.

Connecting with people pushes me to engage, and learn about others, and joining the YNY Hospitality Junior board has helped me develop that even further, meeting similar like-minded people is fantastic.