Meet our Members – The Wild Plum Coffee Shop

Mother and daughter Hilary and Bethany Haresign are fanatical about food. According to Hilary, Bethany was very nearly born in a kitchen (literally) so it came as no surprise to the owner of Snooty Frox when her daughter chose to train as a chef.
Hilary says “It’s in our blood. My great grandmother was a baker and I used to have my own restaurant. Cooking isn’t just a job for Bethany, she eats, breathes and sleeps food and drink.”
Fifteen years ago Hilary decided to leave the hospitality trade and set up ladies occasion wear boutique, Snooty Frox, but it wasn’t long before she realised that fashion and food could sit hand in hand together
Based in suburban Harrogate, visitors to the shop often spend hours trawling the rails for their perfect special occasion outfit, so it’s not surprising that their customers would be in need of somewhere to get some refreshment and recharge their batteries, and so the Wild Plum Coffee Shop was born.

*Upstairs, downstairs!*
Make your way through the maze of hats and frocks, climb the stairs and on the first floor you will find the Wild Plum Coffee Shop where 22 year old Bethany can be found in the kitchen creating culinary dishes to delight their customers. Using local produce wherever possible, she’s passionate about creating mouth watering flavours from quality raw ingredients, which is plain to see on the Wild Plum’s everyday menu in addition to their daily specials and supper club menus.
Maria, manager of the Wild Plum says “Everything on our menu is made from local ingredients and we have many regular customers who return week in, week out because they love how fresh the dishes on our menu both taste and look. Bethany prepares all of our dishes from quality produce and all of our cakes are made here too. We wanted to join deliciouslyorkshire because we felt they where the perfect partners to our passion for local produce.”

*Something special!*
Once a month the Wild Plum opens it’s doors with Late Night Shopping for their evening supper club. Tickets for these fine dining events are often sold out months in advance, with each having it’s own particular theme.
In August they held a special evening supper for Yorkshire Day which consisted of a 7 course tasting menu celebrating delicious Yorkshire produce.
These events give Bethany an opportunity to display her culinary expertise. Each month she creates the theme, designs the menu, sources the produce and of course cooks the food for their evening dinner guests. Having trained with the likes of Stephanie Moon and The Roux brothers at The Waterside in Bray, Bethany’s passion has been nurtured into a real talent, fed by her flair for creating fantastic locally sourced food.

*A little something to take home!*
Passionate about supporting local producers The Wild Plum also stocks a range of regional foodie treats which can be bought to take home.
Maria says “Many of our customers want to take a little treat home, once they’ve purchased a new outfit in Snooty Frox, so we stock a range of some of our local favourite to die for cakes and fancies.”

The plan for the future is to expand the take home range and really make the most of all the fantastic producers Yorkshire has to offer in addition, of course, to putting the Wild Plum on the map as one of Harrogate’s ‘must visit’ coffee shops.