Andrew Pern, who recently celebrated his much-loved gastropub's 20th anniversary, told The Morning Advertiser (MA) it felt "absolutely bloody amazing" to have claimed the top spot.
He said: "I couldn’t be happier. For me personally it’s fantastic – we’ve been through some highs and lows but the staff, myself and everybody... it’s an absolutely fantastic accolade. It’s not just me, I’m at the forefront and the face of the business but it’s all the troops behind who do a brilliant job."
Team effort
"From the chefs in the kitchen to the front of house, to the KPs to the housekeepers and the gardeners, it’s a team effort and that’s what I’m really proud of."
Pern's pub lost its Michelin star in 2011 but, after much hard work, regained it in 2015 and has retained it ever since.
He added: "I think we’re very driven people as Yorkshire folk, and we don’t like losing. When we lost the star I was going through a difficult time domestically but we rolled our sleeves up and we got on with it."
Consistency
Pern continued: "Steve Smith, my head chef, is fantastic – mate, work partner, he’s part of the family – and everybody else, they’ve been there a long time and I think it’s the consistency of the work they all put in as a team. We’ve been at Harome for 21 years. To lose a Michelin star, we were right down in the doldrums so to come back and win, to be the top pub in Britain is absolutely bloody amazing to be honest."
Stephen Harris's Kent pub the Sportsman came in at second place, while Josh and Holly Eggleton's Somerset pub the Pony & Trap rose from fifth to third.