about us
We are a small team who share a love of good food and wine
Andy, on the left above is our pastry chef, Nicola has been helping me to look after our customers for 18 years, Heston is a rather famous chef (but not here I'm afraid); I am the old man in the green shirt. Naseem, our brilliant head chef is second from the right; the big guy is Babak ~ Naseem's number 2...
The picture was taken at the British Museum on 17th June 2008, at the annual Which? awards, when Heston Blumenthal announced that we have been voted the 2009 Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year
Our shared 'foodie' philosophy is quite simple...
Food is a product of its environment (French farmers call it 'terroir') ... I have spent a good part of the past quarter century seeking out farmers and other suppliers who understand and respect their terroir...
The food we serve should clearly taste of what it is; every element in a dish should be on the plate for a reason. A dish achieves perfection if it tastes best when all of its elements are sampled together.
What's the Italian connection?
We are not an Italian restaurant. I am from Durham, Naz is from Mali, Babak was born in Tehran and all of the rest of the team are local.
I was introduced to the uniquely refined culture of Italian cuisine in the mid 90's, since when I and my senior team members have explored Italy's restaurants and vineyards from the Alps to the Islands. What we offer has been influenced by what we have learned when travelling...
Our 'pan Italian' style is different from most other places; if you choose to wine and dine here please be prepared to accept us as we are!
... and why are we called ramsons?
Ramsons is the old English name for wild garlic ~ which thrives in the cool moist climate of the West Pennine valleys.
Around 200 years ago the name of our locality was shortened from Ramsons Bottoms (Wild Garlic Valley) to Ramsbottom.
If you take a country walk around here in April there are places where you can almost be overwhelmed by the intense aroma of garlic...
. ... so ramsons restaurant is the wild garlic cafe!
For table reservations please call
017 0682 5070
For other enquiries contact us