Visit Malton’s Food Lovers Festival and gorge on the finest food in the North

I’M sitting in the Chapter Two Bar in Malton sipping on a Sloe- motion gin and tonic.

And I’m still eating — a giant All American Bar from The Yummy Yank — despite spending two days gorging on the finest food in the North.

It’s all due to the efforts of local aristocrat Tom Naylor-Leyland, who has been busy turning the town into Yorkshire’s food capital.

Once a year Malton closes its roads and comes alive for the Food Lovers Festival.

Now in its 11th year, there are more than 100 stalls packed with local produce.

With demonstrations from Michelin-starred chefs such as James Mackenzie and Tommy Banks, live music and street food galore, there is something to tickle your taste buds.

Food markets also run every second Saturday. And permanent town favourites include Malton’s Groovy Moo ice cream parlour in Talbot Yard and nearby master pâtissier Florian Poirot for the tastiest macaroons.

I stayed at the newly refurbished Talbot Hotel, owned by the Naylor-Leylands, and with its spacious rooms and reasonably priced menu it makes for the ideal getaway with or without the kids.

You can sample an array of locally distilled gin, including Yorkshire-made Sloemotion, at Maison Du Vin or a glass of vino.

And if making food is more your thing then be sure to book into a course at the Malton Cookery School where you will be taught everything from how to perfect a dinner-party menu to whipping up a heavenly dessert.

If you’ve got a taste for Malton, be sure to check out its boutique music festival MeadowFest on July 20.

I can safely say that I left town with a stuffed belly . . . and an urge to rejoin a gym.