Cabin stays have become more and more popular, thanks to the scandi “hygge” trend and our lust for cosy campfire vibes. We’ve found some of the best cabin lodge breaks in the UK, including self catering accommodation in forests to unique holidays in the countryside.

Tinwood Vineyard Lodge, West Sussex

Simply standing on the decking of the cabins on tranquil Tinwood Estate might be enough to make you feel tipsy. Tucked on the edge of the South Downs National Park, Tinwood is renowned for its fine sparkling wines, and the estate’s three neat wooden hideaways gaze out across the serried rows of vines. The cabins are crisp and contemporary in design – think wooden floors, white walls, big sliding patio doors. They’re also comprehensively kitted out, with king-size beds, Jacuzzi baths, barrel saunas and, naturally, a fully stocked wine fridge. If you want to know more about the estate’s brut, blanc de blancs and rosé, you can book vineyard tours, where the winegrowers themselves will walk you around the grounds before talking you through a tasting.

From £175pn (vineyard tours extra); sleeps 2; tinwoodestate.com

Read our full review of Tinwood Estate lodges here

The Blue Cabin by the Sea, Berwickshire

The first task here is finding the place: drive an hour south of Edinburgh (check out the best places to eat and drink in Edinburgh), park up, chuck your bags in a wheelbarrow and walk, via a tunnel, to reach the beach. There sits this cute cornflower-blue bolthole, tucked into the grasses above a tiny traditional harbour – which the cabin raises funds to maintain. It’s the sort of place to spend days rockpooling, shore-strolling, bird-spotting and, if you dare, wild swimming. Owned by an architect-sculptor couple, the cabin itself is small but thoughtfully designed and creatively decorated, from the vivid-green boxed beds and Orkney chairs to the iron-seaweed cupboard handles and extensive library. Outside a small veranda looks over the sea, the ideal vantage for watching the fishermen who go out every weekday, and who’ll sell you crabs and lobsters direct from their pots for a couldn’t-be-fresher seafood barbecue.

From £800pw; sleeps 4; bluecabinbythesea.co.uk

Cedar Falls, Monmouthshire

This bijou but bonny wooden-shuttered bolthole is named for a nearby waterfall – and you may well leave the place quite well-watered yourself. Cedar Falls is tucked into the leafy garden of owners Edward and Tori, who also run the award-winning Kingstone microbrewery in nearby Tintern; the brewery often hosts tastings, and samples are available to buy. Tori offers private bread-making classes too, so you can spend an afternoon baking a variety of styles and flavours, and then eat the spoils for breakfast the next morning, either cosied up in the woodburner-heated open-plan living room or out on the little deck, which gazes down the Wye Valley (read our guide to the Wye Valley here).

From £90pn; sleeps 2 (plus 2 kids); canopyandstars.co.uk

The Arc, Cambridgeshire

A wood-burning oven, an alfresco firepit, antique saucepans, jars of spices, a whole library of cookbooks and every utensil you could name… The Arc may be compact, but keen chefs will want for nothing here. Owner Lotte, a trained nutritional therapist (and bookable for cooking courses if you like), will even leave a selection of local goodies – bread, jams, a lemon drizzle – to start you off. Or you can pop to one of the nearby farm shops or farmers’ markets for supplies. The cabin itself is bright and cheery, with pale walls and wooden beams enlivened by colourful crocheted throws, vibrant textiles and twinkling fairy lights. The latter lace the veranda too, adding extra magic to an evening meal eaten outside looking over the fields and the lazy River Nene.

From £120pn; sleeps 2-4; thearccabin.co.uk

Riverside Lodge, Herefordshire

This timber-clad rustic-luxe cabin sits on a stretch of riverbank midway between Hereford and Hay-on-Wye but feels completely removed from the rest of the world. There’s no TV or internet here; you’ll hear only trickling water and tweeting birds, and maybe the frothing of your private hot tub. Foodie options are varied. Owner Katherine can organise fishing rights (at extra cost), so you could be cooking your own catch in the large outdoor kitchen, with its gas barbecue and pizza oven. The perfect accompaniment is a drop of Herefordshire cider – embark on the local ‘Cider Trail’, which links 16 of the best producers, or pop to the award-winning Orgasmic Cider Company, whose extensive orchards are only a few miles away.

Swot up on your cider knowledge with our ultimate guide here

From £167.50pn; sleeps 4; qualityunearthed.co.uk

Check out our best BBQ recipes here, including:

• Ultimate vegan burger
• BBQ buffalo chicken thighs
• Miso-glazed ribs
• Beer-braised lamb tacos
• Home-smoked brisket

 

Tinhouse, Isle of Skye

This lonesome shack does what it says on the, er, tin, but in the most stylish fashion. Winner of many architectural awards, its simple tin-clad exterior hides a cool, modernist inside, with white wooden walls, cement floors and, best of all, generous windows so the wild Skye coast seeps in. It’s well placed for windswept walks, dolphin-spotting boat trips and visits to ruined castles. It’s also well placed for foodies. Two of Scotland’s best restaurants are close by: Michelin-starred Loch Bay (read our restaurant review here) is less than 20 miles away while The Three Chimneys, voted number 28 in the Top 100 UK Restaurants Outside London in 2018, is only five. If you’d prefer to eat in, make the short walk downhill from the Tinhouse to Meanish Pier, where fresh seafood can be bought direct from the fishermen.

From £895pw; sleeps 2; tinhouse.net

For some of the best places to eat and drink on Isle of Skye, click here

The Old Apple Shed, Kent

Used to store apples and cherries up to the 1970s when the land was a working orchard, then left to slump into its surrounding meadow, this little black clapperboard shed has now been transformed into a shabby-chic cabin for two. A woodburner, board-games, flower-flecked curtains and an iron-framed bedstead strung with fairy lights all help create the cosiest of atmospheres. Expect to find a home-baked cake waiting on the apple-crate coffee table too. Outside you might find Toast, the New Forest pony, grazing on your doorstep while two beehives are hidden across the field – you can buy a jar of their honey if you like. Bethersden village is a five-minute walk, with its two country pubs, village shop, artisan butchers and deli; Biddenden, England’s oldest commercial cider producers and vineyard, is only five miles away.

From £120pn; sleeps 2; theoldappleshed.co.uk

Check out our best apple recipes here, including:

• Classic apple crumble
• Apple and blueberry pie
• Toffee apple cinnamon buns
• Easy tarte tatin
• Toffee apple cake

Kudhva, Cornwall

An off-grid glampsite near Trebarwith Strand, Kudhva means ‘hideout’ in Cornish and this former quarry site truly immerses you in the natural world. Among willow groves and dense woodland are tree tents and four kudhva – compact, futuristic cabins on stilts designed by Ben Huggins of New British Design.

Each cabin has its own firepit, or you can cook in a shared kitchen. At nearby Hilltop Farm Shop stock up on locally made wines, beers and gins, Davidstow cheddar, clotted cream and sourdough (check out our guide to sourdough here). Slightly further afield, Boscastle Farm Shop sells homemade quiches, pies and cakes, and has a butchery selling meat from its Ruby Red cattle.

If you prefer a less DIY approach, seafood specialist Tan & Mor and boutique caterers Beautiful and the Feast will send chefs to cook for you on site. Breakfast hampers can also be arranged and monthly Sunday Services see Kudhva combine locally sourced food and cocktails, with music from local DJs.

Cabins sleep two and cost from £122 per night

Click here to read our full review of Kudhva

One Cat Farm, Ceredigion

Just south of Aberaeron, One Cat Farm is home to four cosy cabins. These heated, grass-roofed ‘dens’ blend seamlessly into a buttercup-dotted field. Inside, comfy double beds are topped with woollen blankets, and hammocks swing outside in the sun-dappled shade. Showers and toilets sit at the top of the field, as does a communal kitchen, home to a mini honesty shop offering marshmallows, Fentimans ginger beer and bars of NOMNOM chocolate.

Stop off at Watson and Pratt farm shop, in Lampeter, to stock up on tubs of creamy Neal’s Yard Dairy yogurt, and country loaves and croissants from Lampeter Bakehouse (and at Aberaeron for scoops of honey ice cream from Hive). In the evening, watch the sunset from an outdoor wood-fired bath, then sit by the fire pit with mugs of fresh mint tea as the sea mist gently engulfs each den in a mystical haze.

Cabins sleep up to four and cost from £160 for two nights

Click here to read our full review of One Cat Farm

Babington House, Somerset

If you’re seeking a rustic hideaway but don’t want to rough it, The Cabin at Babington House is a neat solution. A two-bedroom wooden lodge (adults only), set overlooking a lake, it may have a wood-burning stove and a kitchen that’s a lotta Little House on the Prairie but, beneath the country styling, it’s every bit as pampering as the hotel’s other rooms.

There are two bathrooms, a kitchen supplied with grocery basics and the best hotel drinks tray we’ve seen (including craft mixers). Guests can also wallow in the hotel’s spa, outdoor and indoor pools, fill up on (free) afternoon tea pastries, or book in for dinner in the restaurant – think charcoal-grilled meats, or Cornish plaice served with sweet little shrimp and a buttery lemon sauce.

The Cabin sleeps four and costs from £565 per night

Click here to read our full review of Babington House

Words by Sarah Baxter, Ellie Edwards, Rhiannon Batten and Hannah Guinness

Images by George Fielding, Rhiannon Batten

We head to Stedsans in the Woods, a restaurant in the forest with cabins and a floating sauna on Lake Halla (a two hour drive from Gothenburg and a few hours drive from Malmö, just across the bridge from Copenhagen). Read our review and find out the plans to expand Stedsans In The Woods…

Stedsans In The Woods is an ongoing project from Mette Helbæk and Flemming Hansen, who recently sold their Copenhagen home and rooftop restaurant, Stedsans ØsterGRO, and moved their family just across the water to a seven-hectare plot of forest next to Lake Halla in West Sweden.

The focus of Stedsans ØsterGRO was to make guests happy through sharing food and bring them closer to nature through the use of fresh ingredients and simple cooking. The couple have taken this idea to the next level at Stedsans in the Woods, where they have succeeded in creating an idyllic, food-centred experience, with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Arriving at Stedsans in the Woods, we highly recommend setting aside an hour or so to soak up the surroundings and get into the tranquil way of life before dinner. Read a book beneath the trees on the boathouse bench, take the floating sauna (lit with iconic Solstickan matches, used by the Swedes since 1936) on a little adventure to the middle of the lake, or search for the best spot in the house – a sun-soaked rock beyond the trees at the water’s edge, with a view that inspired the Stedsans in the Woods logo, a little illustration of trees reflected in the water (ask Flemming how to find it!).

The field-to-fork approach at Stedsans in the Woods

Stedsans means “a sense of location” in Danish, and here you truly get a feel for your surroundings – guests eat and sleep in tents under the stars, drift in the lake inside the floating sauna, and pluck ingredients from the wild to create daily-changing menus that cherish the best of what is available where you are at that precise moment.

Whenever they get the opportunity, Mette and Flemming utilise what nature has already provided – the forest floor is carpeted with blueberry plants, wild flowers and rock piles covered in edible moss. Ingredients are plucked from this fairytale floor hours, if not minutes, before being served in vibrant dishes. Take the forest flower salad, for example – a stunning plate of freshly picked leaves, carefully assembled by chef Caarl Kindblom’s intricately tattooed hands. Sweet broccoli-like kale flowers, nutty white rucula flowers and tiny yellow dill flowers (these have the fragrance of Szechuan peppercorns), are dressed in a subtle elderflower syrup and vinegar with crisp toasted buckwheat.

If you have time before dinner, ask Flemming if you can join him on a foraging expedition. Venturing deep into the forest, we were rewarded with gigantic ceps (and also the discovery of a secluded lake down the other side of a wooded bank). Only an hour or so later, the mushrooms were sautéed in butter with tarragon and a sprinkle of aged Parmesan and served for dinner, true field to fork style.

A small permaculture farm provides chefs with other ingredients – the fruitful garden is a patch of carefully organised chaos, with bergamot flowers growing alongside grassy goosefoot, and sorrel climbing next to medicinal plants. There’s an impressively intricate “insect hotel” (this helps to provide piney, flowery honey), and a pen that’s home to chickens and linderöds pigs, a breed that’s half wild boar, half tame and has been brought back from the verge of extinction.

Preparation of dishes at Stesans in the Woods is minimal, to let the ingredients shine. There’s no fancy equipment (not even a blender) in the “yell-free” open-to-the-wild kitchen. Instead, chefs roast meats over an open fire, crush pastes in a pestle and mortar and heat water over a stove. 

Dinner at Stedsans in the Woods

The chefs’ simple cooking techniques create bright and balanced dishes which guests enjoy in an ethereal tent in the middle of the forest. The whole evening is about sharing. Guests sit round long tables on animal skins; passing plates down the table, pouring each other wine and dishing out large platters of food to neighbours.

On our visit, as well as the forest flower salad and sautéed ceps, Flemming and Caarl served a medley of garden kale and cabbage caramelised in brown butter with fresh figs and toasted hazelnuts. Dinners are mostly vegetarian, as the team want to showcase the flora of the woods and mother nature to guests, but there is always at least one meat course. This might be anything from fresh lake fish to moose (a speciality of the region). We tried veal heart, cooked pink with thyme, onions and oregano, a rich and gamey dish.

The cheese course was also kept local, with a creamy blue from 45 minutes away on the West Coast, and homemade rye bread ground on a stone in the camp. Finally, Mette and Flemming dedicated dessert to their 83-year old neighbour, who has spent every Christmas of his life in the same house. He’s so thrilled that Stedsans in the Woods has breathed life back into the little Swedish hamlet that he’s happy to regularly provide fruits from his garden. We enjoyed yellow plums on a cream, yogurt and forest honey base with broken pieces of wild cacao bean chocolate and caramelised brittle-like clusters of homemade marzipan and nuts.

Each course was thoughtfully paired with a wine (or non-alcoholic alternatives such as sage tea, elderflower cordial and woodruff syrup). We tried delicate Pouilly-Fumé, complex orange wine grown on malvasia vines in southern Italy, and a sweet wild cacao drink to complement the cheese.

After dinner, it was down to the boathouse to share stories with more free flowing wine around the campfire. With blankets and fur rugs to snuggle up in, the smell of wood burning and the stillness of the lake, this was a moment of hygge if ever we have experienced one.

Cabins at Stedsans in the Woods

When we visited guests were accommodated in bedouin tents, complete with sturdy wooden floors, cosy blankets and glowing lanterns. Now smart glass-fronted wooden cabins are dotted amongst the trees and round the lake, adding to the idyllic cabin vibes that the floating sauna already provided.

The team also has exciting plans to create an innovative “third space” that will be neither outdoors or indoors. A greenhouse will be built directly onto the forest floor so as to provide a natural carpet, and trees will grow up through the atrium-like building, while natural sunlight and the stove will provide heating.

In order to ensure that guests completely relax, a wild spa has been constructed on moveable platforms beside the lake. Mette’s homemade scrubs and oils, a yoga platform and a sawdust sauna all contribute to creating a luxurious wellbeing centre that is in harmony with its natural surroundings. 

With such a tranquil, unique spot and a sincere commitment to bringing guests closer to nature, these plans only promise to make Stedsans in the Woods more magical than ever. We can’t wait to return.

For more information visit stedsans.org

Travel information: visitsweden.com

Photographs and words by Alex Crossley

Here are some more photos from our stay at Stedsans in the Woods…

For more cabin vibes, here are our favourite places to stay in the UK…

Looking for food festivals to visit in October? Here’s our round-up of the best food festivals taking place this month, from an oyster festival in Cornwall to lively Oktoberfest celebrations in London. Check out all of October’s foodie events, here…

Oktoberfest at Flat Iron Square

Join traders at this buzzy foodie hub for a four-day, beer-fuelled celebration this October. There will be plenty of Bavarian fun – live music, fancy dress and flowing beers. Guest beers will include lagers and pilsners from Germany’s Dortmunder Union Vier as well as Oktoberfest specials from British breweries Gypsy Hill, Camden Hell’s and Four Pour. Currywurst traders will join Flat Iron Square’s street food collective especially for the event.

The beer hall will be kitted out with Bavarian flags, long wooden tables and benches to allow plenty of dancing, singing and drinking games (beer pong or beer-fuelled giant jenga, anyone?).

3-6 October, Flat Iron Square, £10, flatironsquare.co.uk

GOATOBER

Turkey-cooking dominates December, lamb takes centre stage in April and, over recent years, goat has taken over October. As the annual month-long celebration of goat meat returns, try goats milk rosewater kulfi or spit-roast goat at pop-up events in London, Bristol, Manchester and Cornwall. New for this year, events will also be taking place across the pond at Huertas in New York’s East Village and Claro in Brooklyn.

Throughout October, cabrito.co.uk/goatober

London Restaurant Festival

This month-long festival highlights London’s thriving restaurant scene. There are two parts to the event – one being the special festival menus that many of London’s most exciting restaurants will be offering in conjunction with bookatable.com. The other is a wide range of restaurant experiences (think restaurant-hopping tours or ‘Eat Film’ cinema screenings).

Our top pick this year goes to Battersea’s Fiume where you can get two courses plus a glass of fizz for £17.50. Click here to read our full review of Fiume

1 – 31 October, londonrestaurantfestival.com

Relais & Châteaux’s Menu For Change

To celebrate Slow Food’s Food for Change campaign, 100 Relais & Châteaux properties will be serving menus that focus on hyper-local produce (and reflect the surrounding environment and local heritage) over the first (long) weekend of October.

In the UK and Ireland, five properties are taking part. Hampshire’s Chewton Glen will be serving vegetarian dishes made using produce from the New Forest (expect mushroom served with goat’s curd, confit eggs produced on nearby Flambard’s Farm and garden herb gnocchi).

In Cornwall, Idle Rocks chef, Guy Owen, will be creating a feast using foraged elderberries and damons, collected in woodlands six miles away.

In North Wales, guests of Palé Hall’s Gareth Stevenson can enjoy organic Rhug Estate lamb and Tyddn Teg celeriac with cobnuts and garden herbs.

In Dorset’s Summer Lodge, Steven Titman will be showcasing line-caught mackerel with wasabi aioli made with produce from the Dorset Watercress Company.

And in Co. Kerry’s Sheen Falls Lodge, diners with chef Cormac McCreary can try pine panacotta and verbena financier, made with pine and verbena found in the hotel’s grounds.

4 – 7 October, relaischateaux.com

Welcome Italia

If you’re an Italophile you’ll want to put this British celebration of Italy’s food and drink in your diary. A three-day festival at London’s Royal Horticultural Halls, it pairs chef demos (Matteo Riganelli, Marco Scarparo and Piero Amico among this year’s line-up) with a chance to buy  direct from from a range of Italian producers; try olive oils made in Palermo and grappa produced 30 minutes from Udine.

5 – 7 October, welcome-italia.co.uk

These are our best Italian recipes including:

• Spaghetti carbonara arancini

• Lamb ragu pappardelle

• Ricotta gnudi with sage butter

• Italian baked meatballs

• Almond and Amalfi lemon cake

The Golden Spurtle

A porridge-making championship in the Cairngorms? We’re in! This annual festival, now in its 25^th year, attracts oat-lovers from around the world to the village of Carrbridge this month. Participants will compete for the title of champion porridge-maker and there are strict rules: porridge can only be made from untreated oatmeal, water and salt.

Expect bagpipes, local produce (including some of the region’s finest whiskies), and plenty of opportunities for taste-testing. And, if you can’t make it to Carrbridge but your daily breakfast could do with upping its game, take a look at some of the exotic porridge recipes on the championship’s website (anyone for sticky toffee, or Bakewell tart?).

6 October, goldenspurtle.com

Feast on the Farm

Head to Buckinghamshire’s Peterley Manor Farm for a weekend of chef masterclasses, workshops and local artisan food shopping. Try lemon and ginger marmalade from Larkins Larder, sourdough loaves from Baker’s Dozen and small batch gins from Campfire Gin. If you have family in tow, make a day of it joining one of the hands-on workshops for children, from seed-sowing to Swedish bun-making. On both the Friday and Saturday nights, chef Atul Kochhar will be cooking an Indian supper club feast including tandoori chicken, bombay aloo, dal makhani and bhapa doi – a baked yogurt dessert.

6 – 7 October, peterleymanorfarm.co.uk

Falmouth Oyster Festival

Whether you’re a newbie or a know-it-all when it comes to seafood, head to Falmouth Oyster Festival and you won’t be disappointed by the seafood on offer. Meet top chefs from the area (including Masterchef: The Professionals’ Dale McIntosh and Mark Devonshire of the Cornwall College), enjoy a full programme of live music, including the annual Grand Oyster Draw and Parade, or crack and slurp as fast as you can in the shucking competition.

11 – 14 October, falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk

Wells Food Festival

England’s smallest city will be celebrating Somerset’s finest produce in a big way during this family-friendly, one-day festival. Graze your way around the artisan market, trying sourdough bread from Lievito Bakery and fresh pasta from Bristol-based Little Hollows Pasta, or grab dim sum from Ah-Ma’s in the street food section.

Other activities include the Charlie Bigham Discovery Zone where food education will be the focus. Or, if you fancy trying to break a world record, join in with the making of the largest recorded dish of sauerkraut (made using over 300 kilos of cabbage, no less).

14 October, wellsfoodfestival.co.uk

Dartmouth Food Festival

If you want to track down some of the South West’s finest produce, Dartmouth Food Festival isn’t a bad place to start. From small-batch peanut butter made by Cliptop Kitchen to Salcombe’s hand distilled gins, it is a showcase of some of the region’s best ingredients, and finest restaurants.

As well as the exhibitors, the not-for-profit festival will see James Whetlor of Cabrito Goat talking to Peter Greig of Pipers Farm about whether there’s a way in which meat-eating can be good for both humans and the environment, while Freddy Bird and Mitch Tonks will be discussing how customers shape and influence restaurants.

19 – 21 October, dartmouthfoodfestival.com

Norfolk Restaurant Week

Head to Norfolk at the end of the month for this celebration of local restaurants. Over 12 days, restaurants across the county will be offering special lunch and dinner deals; head to the Dabbling Duck in Massingham for a seasonal menu, or the Titchwell Manor Hotel for fine-dining.

A festival within a festival, Norwich will be hosting its own restaurant week at the same time, offering special deals such as two courses for £12 at St Andrews Brew House and three courses for £23 at modern bistro and wine bar, Bishop’s Dining Room.

29 – 9 November, norfolkrestaurantweek.co.uk

Looking for restaurants in Seville? Want to know where to eat in the southern Spanish city? Local food writer Shawn Hennessey and travel writer Aoife O’Riordain share their insider tips for the best restaurants in Seville, along with where to find the best tapas, vermouth and paella.

Best tapas restaurants in Seville

The spiritual home of flamenco, Seville is also the birthplace of tapas. One of the best ways to experience Seville’s fabulous gourmet scene is to engage in your own little ‘tapeo’ –  a relaxed wander around some of its many bars. You can also ask for a media ración or ración, which are larger than a tapa.

Eslava

Sixto Tovar’s Eslava bar is at the forefront of innovative tapas in Seville. Park yourself at the counter for must-try honey pork ribs and award-winning huevo tapa, along with a recommended wine. There are plenty of traditional pork and fish dishes, too, and manchego ice cream to finish.

Bodeguita Casablanca

Tucked around a corner from Seville’s Cathedral is the sophisticated tapas restaurant, celebrated for its prawns in garlic, whisky tortilla and potato salad tapas.

Adolfo Rodriguez Jurado 12, bodeguitacasablanca.com

El Rinconcillo

With its aged bar and azulejo-tiled walls it’s no great surprise to find that this is one of the city’s oldest tapas bars, first opened in 1670. Sample salmorejo, a soup from Córdoba made from bread, tomatoes and garlic, and croquetas.

Gerona 40; elrinconcillo.es

Bar Las Terasas

Stop for a drink at this atmospheric bar in the buzzing barrio Santa Cruz. Order a Cruzcampo beer or a glass of wine and a plate of expertly sliced jamón ibérico de bellota, cured ham from black-footed pigs fed on acorns – they say you should be able to hold a good plate of jamón upside down.

Santa Teresa 2; 00 34 954 213069

La Flor de Toranzo: Start by finding a space at the zinc bar and order a few tiny sandwiches of warmed chorizo orpork and apple (corner of Jimios and Joaquin Guichot; andalunet.com/trifon).

Enrique Becerra: Cross the street to sample a house speciality, albóndingas – lamb meatballs with mint sauce.

Best bars in Seville

Premier Sherry & Cocktail Bar

Sherry is Andalucía’s most iconic wine, yet is often misunderstood. Versatile and fascinating, there’s a sherry – or sherry cocktail – for everyone. Let José and his expert team at the Premier Sherry & Cocktail Bar help you discover yours.

Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre

Pre-lunch is the traditional time for vermouth, and at Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre it’s made in-house by owner Estebán, using a sherry wine base and his own secret herb recipe. Try it served over ice with a snack of jamón. 70 Gravina, 00 34 619 470 784

Lama La Uva

Boutique wine shop Lama La Uva has an excellent selection of regional wines to sample or take away, and English-speaking owner Ana Linares is happy to arrange small, casual tastings. She also sells artisanal olive oils and preserves, and can slice and vacuum-pack top-quality hams and cheeses for you to take home.

Best cafés and breakfast spots in Seville

Bar Europa

A quick coffee, a glass of freshly pressed orange juice, and a slice of olive oil-rubbed toast is the classic Sevillano breakfast. This narrow bar with pretty tiles and local punters is the ideal spot.

Siete Revuelta 35, bareuropa.info

Suitcake

Take a break from sightseeing with merienda, the Spanish equivalent of afternoon tea, at Suitcake, a quality café and pastry shop that makes everything on the premises. Try the chocolate truffle cake with orange, or a lemon curd palmera.

Horno San Buenaventura

This historic spot, first opened in 1898, is one of the city’s classic addresses. A café, restaurant and delicatessen it’s a great spot for breakfast. Order a café con leche and a freshly baked croissant in the shadow of the Cathedral.

hornosanbuenaventura.es

Confiteria la Campana

Stop for a coffee at this renowned pastry shop and choose between its delectable array of handmade sweets and cakes.

Sierpes 1/3; confiterialacampana.com

Best restaurants in Seville

Fargo Restaurante

At Fargo Restaurante, in Seville’s trendy Soho Benita neighbourhood, you’ll find locally sourced organic meat and fish, and a terrific selection of regional wines. The menu changes weekly, so check with owner Yann for what’s fresh from the market.

La Moneda

Tapas are not the only way to eat out in Seville. This classic old-school restaurant specialises in seafood from nearby coastal towns like Huelva. Don’t miss the coquinas – fingernail-sized clams sautéed in garlic and olive oil.

Almirantazgo 4, 00 954 223642

Best food markets and shops in Seville

Feria

Seville’s oldest market, Feria, is the preferred option for local chefs. Try tapas in the new food court, set in a magnificent fish hall, or eat delicious seafood at La Cantina, which boasts a 13th-century church wall as part of its terrace. Plaza Calderón de la Barca

Salsamento

A modern version of the traditional abacería (food shop with a small bar), at Salsamento you can relax with a drink and some chicharrones de Cádiz (like pork scratchings) while deciding what to take away with you from a range of quality charcuterie and seafood preserves.

Triana and Taller Andaluz de Cocina

A two-in-one experience, at Taller Andaluz de Cocina you can combine a Triana market tour with a hands-on cooking class with chef Victor and his team. Learn how to cook dishes such as spinach with garbanzos, or authentic paella, with ingredients fresh from the market, then enjoy the fruits of your labours.

Metropol Parasol food market

Nicknamed ‘the mushrooms’ Metropol Parasol dominates the Plaza de la Encarnación with its futuristic-looking wooden structure. Underground is a museum displaying some of the city’s Roman walls and artefacts while above it is one of Seville’s best daily food markets. Make sure you visit the stalls selling jamón de ibérico bellota; it can be vacuum packed to take home (from €60-120 per kg). On the upper levels, Gastrosol is home to a café and two tapas bars as well as a 30-metre high walkway for panoramic views.

Plaza de la Encarnación; espacio-metropol.com

Seville Concierge walking tour

Ex-Londoner Peter Tatford has called Seville home for the past 15 years. He combines a love of history and local culture with his knowledge of food and wine, offering a variety of informative walking and tapas tours that will get you started the way you mean to go on.

sevilleconcierge.com

Where to stay in Seville

Corner House

Doubles at the Corner House, in the buzzy Alameda de Hércules, one of Seville’s most iconic squares, start at €50, room only (thecornerhousesevilla.com).

Hospes Casas del Rey de Baeza

The HOSPES CASAS DEL REY DE BAEZA (Santiago 2, Plaza Jesús de la Rendención, hospes.es. Above) is a charming hotel housed in a beautiful 18th-century ‘corral de vecino’ (characteristic of the city, these are apartments built round a courtyard) in the barrio Santa Cruz. Doubles from €135, room-only.

Santiago 2, Plaza Jesús de la Rendención, hospes.es

Corral del Rey

Splash out with a night at this super-stylish hotel on a cobblestone street of the picturesque barrio Alfalfa, close to the Cathedral and Alcazar.

c/Corral del Rey 12; corraldelrey.com

Alfonso XIII

Dating from 1929, this neo-Mudéjar-style building is Seville’s grandest hotel. Its restored art deco American Bar is the perfect backdrop for a sophisticated sip before dinner; try a Mimosa – a blend of champagne and orange blossom.

San Fernando 2; starwoodhotels.com/luxury/alfonsoxiii

What else to do while you’re in Seville

Seville’s historic centre is dotted with architectural treasures but the Unesco World Heritage-listed CATHEDRAL is the real showstopper. It was built on the site of an earlier mosque and its iconic bell tower, the Giralda, is one of its predecessor’s only remnants. Around the corner, the stunning former Royal Palace, the ALCAZAR, spans Islamic, Renaissance and Baroque periods through its dazzling azulejo-tiled interior and fabulous gardens fragrant with jasmine and orange blossom.

Stroll down towards the riverbank to the majestic ochre and white PLAZA DE TOROS DE LA MAESTRANZA or bullring, the setting for Bizet’s opera, Carmen. Afterwards head to Calle Sierpes, the city’s main shopping thoroughfare, where the shops reopen in the late afternoon.

Monasterio de Santa Maria Del Socorro

Many of Seville’s convents are known for their handmade pastries and sweets – dulces and yemas. The 16th-century Casa de Pilatos (Plaza de Pilatos 1; fundacionmedinaceli.com) is one of the city’s finest palaces. Scenes from Lawrence of Arabia were shot amid its Renaissance, neo-Mudéjar and Gothic rooms, patios and loggias.

Bustos Tavera 30; santamariadelsocorro.es

HOW TO GET TO SEVILLE 

Return flights from a range of UK airports to Seville start from £50 (ryanair.com).

TRUST OLIVE

Shawn Hennessey has lived in Seville since 1993 and is a certified sherry educator. She is also the founder of Azahar Sevilla, and offers unique food and wine experiences in her adopted city (sevillatapastours.com).

Photography: lonely planet magazine/yadid levy, alamy, ken scicluna/Awbi-images

Check out our travel expert’s guide to Bath’s best independent places to eat and drink in 2018. You will find everything from the top places to get your artisan coffee fix and gluten free cakes, to some of the best places to eat and drink the night away.

Looking for restaurants in Bath? Want to know where to eat in the historical spa town? Our travel expert and Bath local Rhiannon Batten shares her insider tips for the best restaurants in Bath, along with where to find the best coffee, bakeries and gin bars.

Best simple contemporary restaurants in Bath

There are grander places to eat in Bath (Menu Gordon Jones, The Olive Tree and The Bath Priory among them) but for a no-fuss supper, try these great restaurants

Scallop Shell

A simple seafood restaurant serving up its sustainable catch in various guises, including classic fish and chips (for our full review of Scallop Shell click here)

thescallopshell.co.uk

Pintxo

This Basque-style tapas bar with a pretty garden and a dedicated sherry menu is tucked away in Bath’s theatre district. Order sharing plates of pan con tomate y jamón along with tinned sardines served with bread and aioli before moving onto albóndigas (meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce), gambas al ajillo and fried padrón peppers. A succinct dessert menu offers warm chocolate and almond cake as well as vanilla ice cream, both of which can be ordered individually or together, with a shot of Pedro Ximenez sherry on the side.

Choose your sherry of choice from the dedicated menu and make the most of any sunshine in the leafy sherry garden out back.

pintxobath.co.uk

Noya’s Kitchen

After moving from Vietnam to England at a young age with her family, Noya Pawlyn has become one of the most loved foodies in Bath and has recently transformed her popular Vietnamese supper club into a restaurant. 

As well as serving informal but hearty sharing dinners in the evening, Noya’s Kitchen also opens for lunch, Tuesday to Saturday, offering a thali-style menu, presented as a tray os small dishes that diners eat clockwise, starting with an appetiser such as fresh summer rolls with punchy dipping sauce or a squidgy pork bun, followed by small portions of Noya’s favourite Vietnamese stews and broths, and finally a miniature dessert.

Read our full review of Noya’s Kitchen here.

The Chequers

The place to satisfy carnivorous cravings is The Chequers. Owned by the team behind two other well regarded Bath pubs, the Marlborough Tavern and the Hare & Hounds, this double AA-roseette-winning gastropub offers popular Sunday roasts, 35-day dry-aged rib-eye steaks and superb burgers. It’s also a convivial place to sit and enjoy a pint of Bath Gem ale (50 Rivers Street).

Food at The Hare and Hounds, owned by the same company, comes with some of the best views in the city (that crown looks set to be challenged by the recently opened Packhorse Inn, a community-run pub on the southern slopes of the city with a fabulously set beer garden and a menu overseen by Rob Clayton, of the city’s popular Clayton’s Kitchen restaurant).

Henry’s

For a more decadent dinner, book a table at Henry’s and try dishes such as flat-iron steak with polenta, grilled leeks and pickled shallot or blood orange parfait with poached pear and toasted brioche (there’s also a full vegan menu).

Jars Meze

Try this light and bright contemporary restaurant for simple, home-cooked Greek food, served from the soul.

jarsmeze.com

Olé

A tiny, corner tapas bar with charming, Spanish staff, Olé is tucked in above above Paxton & Whitfield cheesemongers in Bath (a larger restaurant has also opened round the corner).

Settle in with a tabla mixta – jamon de bellota, spicy chorizo rounds, soft salami, pink slices of tender cured pork loin, triangles of manchego and goats’ cheese, the obligatory quince paste and bread sticks. Then turn it up a notch with fiery paprika-dusted slices of pulpo a la gallega (Galician octopus), tempura-battered, deep-fried aubergine sticks drizzled with dark honey from Malaga, and ensalada de tomato (the ripest raf tomatoes with aggressive minced raw garlic, earthy dried oregano, and the best Spanish olive oil).

Don’t forget drinks as the booze is just as well considered: think dry manzanilla sherries, white tempranillo riojas and Spanish craft beers (try El Boqueron, made from seawater). Book a table or turn up late (it’s one of the few places in Bath where you can grab a table after 9pm) and eat and drink until you (nearly) fall off the barstools.

oletapas.co.uk

Best cafés and coffee shops in Bath

You’re not going to go short of a caffeine kick in Bath. This pint-sized city is generously served by artisan coffee shops, the best of them including Society Café’s two local outlets, Colonna & Smalls and tiny Mokoko.

Colonna and Small’s

Head to Colonna & Small’s for a serious espresso. The brews, all double shots, change weekly, there are tasting notes for each one (including how the flavour changes when adding milk), and the in-house baristas are all experts (6 Chapel Row).

Which coffee to order: The Gigesa Grade 1 Washed, an Ethiopian coffee with promise of peachy sweetness, hints of melon and bergamot.

Mokoko

With two branches in Bath (a smaller one opposite the bus and rail stations mainly used by take-out customers, and a larger one beside the Abbey that also serves salad and quiche-style lunches) and a bakery cum coffee shop that also does breakfast bowls and lunches at Bristol’s Wapping Wharf.

There are two elements that set Mokoko apart. One is the coffee, which is all single origin and roasted in-house (as well as the usual flat whites and cappuccinos you can choose between aeropress, chemex and syphon filter coffees). The other is its cakes, which are freshly baked at the Bristol bakery, change regularly and usually include a vegan choice or two. Current picks include the cherry cheesecake cruffin and banana and peanut butter cake.

mokokocoffee.com

We asked local baristas where they go for their coffee fix, find out here…

Best tea houses in Bath

If tea is more your, er, cup of tea, you’re also well catered for in Bath. The Tea House Emporium is great for stocking up on loose-leaf teas, as well as pots, tins and infusers, while Comins Tea House is a serene spot to while away an hour or two making your way through its extensive menu of single estate teas or to fill up on cleverly paired food (Sri Lankan hoppers, matcha granola or gyoza anyone?). It also runs regular tea-themed suppers and tastings (read our full review of Comins Tea House here).

Best bakeries in Bath

Best afternoon tea in Bath – Bath Priory Hotel

For a sit-down afternoon tea with all the trimmings, our top pick in the city is the decadent Bath Priory Hotel, especially in the summer when you can sit out on the terrace enjoying smoked salmon finger sandwiches, lemon drizzle cakes and raspberry tarts overlooking one of the best gardens in Bath.

Didii Cakes

If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, head along Walcot Street to Didi Cakes and pick up something from its vast range of cupcakes (peanut butter, Black Forest and passionfruit cheesecake among them), a slice of vegan banana bread or a pear and almond tart to take away and eat in nearby Hedgemead Park.

Bertinet Bakery

For more conventional baked goods, Bath’s most famous bakeries are arguably the city’s two Bertinet Bakery sites (a third outlet is also attached to the Bertinet Kitchen cookery school in Bath). They’re known for their traditionally made breads – sourdoughs, ciabattas, baguettes and foccacias – but if you want a sugar hit look out for their superior twist on a Bath bun, essentially a sugar-topped sweet roll.

The Thoughtful Bread Company

Also good for a posh Bath bun, as well as all manner of other baked goods, is The Thoughtful Bread Company, a sustainably minded bakery and bakery school that focuses on seasonal, hand-crafted breads and cakes. It has been known to barter its bread for homegrown or locally foraged ingredients brought in by regulars and is brilliantly imaginative (one of its signature inventions is a little egg box filled with tiny flavoured breads and dipping oils flavoured with wild garlic and the like).

Best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Bath

Near-neighbour Bristol has long been prime territory for veggie eats but Bath is catching up. If meat isn’t your bag, head to Beyond The Kale for juices, salads, smoothie bowls, beet burgers and Bath Culture House kombucha, The Green Rocket Café for cashew and coconut curries, chickpea and cider stews and salads, Chapel Arts Centre Café for flatbread and salad platters or Chai Walla for veggie Indian street food served from a hole-in-the-wall.

There are also plenty of meat-free options for eating out in the evening, including Sol Kitchen Supperclub. In Larkhall, a 20-minute walk from the city centre, out along London Road (or take a scenic, off-road detour along the canal towpath), there’s a dedicated vegan restaurant, Nourish.

Acorn Vegetarian Kitchen

A real highlight for local veggies, however, is Acorn Vegetarian Kitchen, which serves high-end menus in a sleek, modern space; if the agnoletti with smoked Winchester cheese, king oyster mushroom and layered celeriac and monksbeard is listed, order it. We’ve also had one of our all-time top three desserts here – forced rhubarb with almond amaretto cream, fennel sorbet and almond crumb. The house cocktails are always imaginative, too. Rhubarb vanilla martini, anyone?

And if you want to learn how to cook your own dinner, sign up for a course at Demuths, a specialist vegetarian and vegan cookery school just around the corner.

Richard Buckley of Acorn Kitchen won the title of veggie pioneer in our first olive Chef Awards here…

Best family friendly restaurants in Bath

We’re not fans of children’s food shaped into faces but Dough manages to side-step the silliness while adding just the right amount of cute by shaping subtle bunny ears onto its (otherwise simple margherita) children’s pizzas (read our full review of Dough here).

Other places worth checking out with children include The Scallop Shell (see below) and Yak Yeti Yak, the city’s long-standing Nepalese restaurant, with its cushioned seating area, benign staff and mildy spiced, fun-to-dip momos. The latter has also set up a street food twist on Nepalese food, Phat Yaks, serving hot pots, pakoras, salads, curries and wraps.

Or head out to Hartley Farm, between Bath and Bradford on Avon, and fill up on eggs benedict, pulled lamb flatbreads or a Sunday roast before browsing the shelves of its farm shop – or letting the children loose in the play area.

Ice cream, of course, is another classic route to keeping the kids happy. Swoon Gelato opened in Bristol last year and its seasonal gelatos and Swoon on a Sticks (think artisan Magnum) have gone down so well that it’s just opened a second branch in Bath. Current guest flavours include cremino, a heady whirl of vanilla, chocolate and coffee but regular varieties include that children’s holy trinity of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.

Best bars in Bath

Bath has no shortage of bars. From quintessential dining pubs like The King William and The Chequers to real ale pubs like The Raven and The Bell, microbrewery The Bath Brew House, The Electric Bear Brewing’s tap room, and The Dark Horse craft cocktail bar, whatever your poison you’ll find it in Bath. Don’t miss Pintxo, a Basque-style tapas bar with a pretty garden and a dedicated sherry menu. Three new(ish) spots deserve special mention, however, as they’re offering something genuinely different.

The Canary Gin Bar

Don’t miss this dedicated gin bar, which offers up to 200 gins to choose from. Try the new Bath Gin (£7) – it’s flavoured with 10 botanicals including burnt orange peel and cardamom, and Thornbury’s 6 O’Clock, mixers included.

thebathgincompany.co.uk

Corkage

A wine bar and bottle shop – now with two locations in the city – that sells some extraordinary wines by the glass and serves imaginative small plates alongside them (its marinated octopus with smoky, lemon-infused hummus is legendary). It also does pre-bookable wine events and guest chef nights.

Read our full review of Corkage here.

Chapter One

An indie-owned pub that’s stripped back and slightly out of town but has a welcoming fireside, board games, a range of handmade Scotch eggs and an ever-changing choice of craft bees (it also hosts tap takeovers in partnership with breweries like Kettlesmith, from nearby Bradford on Avon).

chapteronebath.co.uk

Le Vignoble

Tucked away in Milsom Place, this chic wine bar is a colourful spot to gen up on your grape knowledge. Make the most of eight state-of-the-art Enomatic wine machines, home to 32 changing wines available by the taster, glass or bottle.

With empty bottle lights dangling above your head, it’s the ideal place to sip through your favourite vinous regions. A Sex, Drugs & Rock ’n’ Roll riesling didn’t disappoint with its famously dry mineral finish, while a salty Azorean white had us challenged and delighted in equal measure.

There’s plenty of local gin, craft beer and cider, too – and the staff are super-knowledgeable. There’s also tasty tapas to help soak up the booze, the highlight of which was the toasted Bertinet sourdough topped with 15-month- aged comté, warm honey, apricots and pistachios.

levignoble.co.uk

Best food shops in Bath

If you’re in search of a crate of local food and drink to take home, the easy way to do it is to get one delivered from Taste of Bath. Or, for non-perishable foodie souvenirs, make your way to Mr B’s Emporium and Topping & Co. for cookbooks, Magalleria for obscure indie food magazines, and Rossiters and Kitchens Cookshop for cookware.

If you’re self-catering in Bath, let someone else do the shopping for you and pre-order a delivery of Bertinet bread, Easy Jose coffee, Ivy House Farm milk and more from Three Bags Full. Or, make a beeline for some of Bath’s best independent food and drink stores – among them The Fine Cheese Co. and Paxton & Whitfield for cheese, and Wolf Wine, The Tasting Room and Independent Spirit for booze.

Bath is also home to various markets, including Bath Farmers Market, which takes place at Green Park Station every Saturday morning and draws some of the region’s best small produce traders. You can pick up a wedge of Westcombe Dairy’s tangy Somerset Cheddar or try a pint of Dick Willows’ proper West Country cider (Green Park Station).

On the third Sunday of the month between March and October there’s also the Independent Bath Market  for high quality baked goods, cheeses, charcuterie, preserves and pickles.

Best place to stay in Bath for foodies

Berdoulat & Breakfast is a smart, two-bedroom b&b, set in a Georgian townhouse, and a definite step up in the style stakes. Not only have its photographer-architect owners, Neri and Patrick, revamped the building (originally designed in 1748 by John Wood the Elder, architect of Bath’s grand Circus crescent among other honey stone beauties), they’ve also remodelled the traditional guesthouse breakfast.

Neri was born in Istanbul so, alongside granola or bacon and eggs, you can opt for a Turkish breakfast of orange juice, coffee, pomegranate salad, flaky cheese pastries, figs, honey-drizzled ewe’s cheese and baked eggs with sage.

Where to eat near Bath

The Bunch of Grapes deserves a heads-up here. Although it’s not in Bath but in Bradford-on-Avon, 20 minutes’ drive away (or a 13-minute hop by train) it’s travel editor Rhiannon’s top pick in the area at the moment for a date-night dinner or lunch, drawing an unusually dashing line between decadent and unfussy.

A bar, café and restaurant with a pretty oriel window, an unusual ceramic fireplace and an impressive collection of vintage cocktail glasses, its owners lived in southwest France for several years and they’ve brought with them an expert knowledge of handcrafted wines and wood-oven cooked pissaladieres alongside a small plates menu (think roast aubergine tartine with sweet red pepper and goat curd) and French-influenced Sunday lunches. Check the website for steak nights, guest chef dinners and special seasonal menus.

Looking for hotels in Beaminster? Want hotels in Dorset? Read our hotel review of The Ollerod hotel in Dorset, formerly The Bridge House Hotel Beaminster.

What is the hotel’s USP?

The Ollerod – a Dorset (check out our guide to the best places to eat and drink in Dorset here) dialect word for cowslip – is the creation of chef Chris Staines (formerly of Bath’s Abbey Hotel and of Michelin-starred Foliage at London’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel) and his partner Silvana Bandini (formerly of The Pig Hotel, outside Bath). A renovation of what was previously the Bridge House Hotel, in the chocolate box town of Beaminster, the Ollerod is a great base for a weekend escape: stay here and you can choose between forays into picturesquely rambling countryside or salty sea air (the nearby Jurassic coast is just a pebble’s throw away).

And the general vibe?

Renovation work on the 13th century building has been done in stages; when we visited nine of the 13 rooms (one of which will become a treatment room) had yet to be restored to the couple’s standards but the hotel’s lower levels – including a rough-luxe bar and sitting room designed by local firm, Partners in Design, and 50-cover restaurant – had been completed, a sensitive overhaul for the serene former clergy house.

The style remains traditional, highlighting the property’s stately original features, but industrial stools next to the walnut-clad bar, and the seamless blend of stone, wood and textiles are tell-tale signs of Bandini’s time at The Pig. It’s eclectic but it works. The informal refresh in the restaurant – wicker chairs are in and white tablecloths are out – has no doubt helped appeal to a younger community of diners. Late on a Friday night, when we arrive, the bar and restaurant are busy with a jovial mix of families celebrating special occasions, couples enjoying romantic country breaks and regulars drawn back for Staines’ latest seasonal dishes.

Which room should I book?

Despite the roadside location, it’s surprisingly peaceful within the hotel’s caramel-stone walls. Each of the bedrooms is uniquely decorated – stylish and homely, with a hint of countrified opulence (updated rooms have less patterned wallpaper and more understated glamour but all are decadent, with Frette linen and organic toiletries). All are large in size, apart from one Tiny Double, described as “perfect for the solo traveller, but can sleep two if you’re happy snuggling”! The rooms in the neighbouring coach house all have showers over bathtubs, with the two ground-floor rooms dog-friendly (the third of an acre of garden will keep children and canines happy).

What’s good to drink?

This is Dorset so you can’t visit without a glass of Black Cow Pure Milk Vodka, distilled only six miles away in Childhay Manor. Wine lovers can explore an extensive wine list, featuring nearby Furleigh Estate Classic Cuvee, harvested only three miles away (tours of the 85-acre vineyard and winery take place on Fridays and Saturdays). If you’re feeling abstemious, there’s Seedlip on the drinks menu, too.

And to eat?

Working closely with local suppliers, Staines is in his element as he describes his glee at the fresh seafood brought to him from West Country Catch. Steak and bacon are brought in from Fossil Farm in Dorchester, or Jurassic Coast Meats, Creedy Carver chicken, duck and sausages from Huntsham Court Farm. Guests can choose from either an à la carte menu or small plates: arancini, serrano ham croquettes, char siu pork belly bao, spiced lamb shoulder with hummus, yoghurt and pomegranate, grilled prawns with saffron aioli and octopus escabeche with orange and fennel, to name a few.

Five starters and seven main make up the à la carte menu; flame-grilled mackerel satay, flanked by pickled Thai shallots, kimchi, burnt cucumber and ponzu jelly, wows our table. Flavoursome Dorset Aberdeen Angus sirloin is accompanied by triple-cooked chips and a mixed leaf salad, straight from the garden’s expanding veg patch. Few veggie mains have thrilled us like the wild mushroom, artichoke and hazelnut cannelloni though; light but comforting.

What’s the breakfast like?

Served in the light-flooded conservatory, a buffet of fresh pastries, local yoghurt, stewed fruits and homemade granola starts the morning right, with a selection of hot dishes available to order. Local smoked salmon, kippers and traditional breakfast will win the praise of the tourists looking for a traditional English choices, while children will love the creamiest fruit smoothies, served in mini milk bottles.

Is it family-friendly?

Yes – visiting families can choose from the superior family suite in the main building (large double bedroom and second room with twin beds, bath, walk-in shower and separate toilet) or the family room on the first floor of the adjacent coach house (double room with a king-size bed and two adjoining single rooms with shower over the bath).

What can I do in the local area?

This is Thomas Hardy country, so romance and windswept adventure are everywhere. Not least if you head 50 minutes east to iconic Durdle Door, a natural limestone sea arch. It’s the most photographed spot in the county and rightly so, if you time it right and catch the sun dipping between the arch.

A fifteen minute drive from Beaminster towards the coast will land you in Bridport (read our foodie guide to Dorset for tips on restaurants and cafes in Bridport and around); if you’re passing through on a Saturday, don’t miss market day, filled with stall holders selling local pottery, honey, wicker baskets and antiques. A further 12 miles west, Lyme Regis bay awaits, with an obligatory bag of vinegar-soaked chips in the sand (or a pot of steaming ramen from Red Panda).

The concierge says…

There’s plenty of scope for hanging out in pretty Beaminster itself. The postcard-perfect village is filled with independent shops – among them Rambling Rose Flowers and superlative local greengrocer, Fruit ‘n’ Two Veg – so you can head home with the freshest Dorset foodie souvenirs. Book a table at Brassica Restaurant, on the edge of the town square, where chef Cass Titcombe works his magic. Sister business, Brassica Mercantile, overseen by Cass’ wife, Louise Chidgey, is half homewares store, half deli and stocks a fine collection of textiles, furnishings, stationary, kitchenware and local art. On which note, local artist Mirella Bandini – sister to Silvana – creates botany-inspired ceramics, which you’ll spot being used during meals at The Ollerod, and can buy to take home.

olive says…

The building has aged with grace so don’t be deterred if you’re assigned to one of the yet-to-be renovated rooms. King-size beds and freshly baked cookies make for a sumptuous stay but it’s also endearing. You get the feeling that, for Staines and Bandini, this isn’t a quick career win but a chance to take their professional skills in a more personal direction. The Ollerod is their chance to put down roots and hone their crafts away from the clatter of the city. As the hotel’s interior goes from strength to strength, so too will the hotel’s offering and with it, the team’s joy for their work.

The Tiny Double at The Ollerod starts from £120, B&B, Coach House doubles from £130, B&B (theollerod.com).

Words by Sophie Rae

Looking for the best gin bars in the UK? Want to find the best gin in London? Here’s our list of the best gin bars to visit for perfect gin tonic, great martinis and more.

Gin has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. During the second half of the 20th century it was in the doldrums, it’s only existence seemed to lie in a dirty half pint glass with a slimy piece of lemon, ice cubes which had melted by the time the bartender dropped the gin in and drowned it with a plastic flavoured tonic water. Well things have changed. Gin is soaring, the world is once again enamoured with the juniper flavoured elixir and small-batch distilleries are crafting new products all across the globe.

The G&T is seeing a new lease of life, being served up in stunning glassware, with big ice and sexy fruit. Bartenders are now treating it like the classy lady it is, and the classic gin-based cocktails have come roaring back into fashion.

With gin’s resurgence, we’ve seen a plethora of new ‘gin palaces’ arrive on the scene ready to serve you up the perfect bevy. Here are ten of our favourite places to get a great gin drink.

Here’s our guide to the best gins in the UK, along with how to make the perfect gin tonic for each gin.

Best gin bars in London

East London Liquor Company, London E3 (Victoria Park)

Bursting onto the London gin scene in summer 2014, ELLC produce three mega gins and import a bespoke rum from Guyana. While you sip away on the brink of Victoria Park you have their two beautiful stills looking over you from behind the bar. A true gin lover’s nirvana.

eastlondonliquorcompany.com

Tonica, London EC1 (Exmouth Market)

The Distillery (home of Portobello Road Gin) has opened up a bar and restaurant in Exmouth Market serving Spanish small plates and souped-up G&Ts.

Gin, unsurprisingly, is the star, specifically the roster of ‘Gin & Tonic Plus’ drinks, which blur the line between a classic G&T and a cocktail – Nordés Atlantic Galician Gin, for example, is served with hibiscus liqueur and ginger bitters, Merchant’s Heart hibiscus tonic, orange, stem ginger and edible flowers, while Portobello Road Gin 171 is matched with pamplemousse liqueur, grapefruit marmalade, Nordic Blue Mist tonic water, grapefruit, juniper berries and hops.

tonica.london

City of London Distillery, London EC4 (City)

The first distillery to be launched in the square mile for over 150 years, CoLD have brought gin back to the area where it led to so much social destruction during the Hogarth’s Gin Lane era. Walk down the stairs into this hidden gem and you’re faced with a wall of gins from every corner of the globe. They produce three gins on site in their stills (Clarissa and Jennifer), and they even have a gin lab where you can create your own gin. (pictured top)

cityoflondondistillery.com

Temper City, London EC2 (City)

Serving up curry, tandoori roasted meats and homemade paratha, temper City is a feast not only on the food front but for spirits, too. The 25-strong gin list, split into dry, sweeter, mineral and savoury can all be served in a G&T or martini with a unique garnish for each.

temperrestaurant.com

Merchant House, London EC4 (City)

These guys believe they have the biggest selection of premium gin and rum anywhere in the world – the seams are bursting. They’ve focused on the history that brought these two great spirits together and created something quite special. What you get with Merchant House is amazing booze and an education to go with it – they know the story behind every bottle they stock. Don’t believe me? Get down and test them out.

merchanthouse.bar

Ask for Janice, London EC1 (City)

Nestled between Barbican and Farringdon, this laid-back city bar focusses on local gins, with over 50 the choose from. Options include London’s East London Liquor Batch 1, City of London and Worship Street, each served with a perfect pairing, from fig and rosemary to lemon zest and cinnamon.

askforjanice.co.uk

The American Bar at The Savoy, London WC2 (Strand)

So esteemed is this bar, that since it’s 1893 conception the role of head bartender has been filled by just 10 people. One of them was Harry Craddock, author of The Savoy Cocktail Book and the flavour-maker who got visitors drinking the headline drink of the times, the gin martini. What better surroundings to quaff gin than a room where Churchill used to whisper the word ‘vermouth’ to his bone dry martinis.

fairmont.com

Dukes, London SW1 (Mayfair)

Come on, this is where Ian Fleming came up with 007’s famous ‘shaken not stirred’ (not the way to drink them) line – it’s a must for any martini fan. They have weekly Martini masterclasses to show you how to mix one to perfection, and their head bartender Alessandro Palazzi is widely regarded as the king of martinis.

dukeshotel.com

Mother’s Ruin Gin Palace, London E17 (Walthamstow)

In the weekdays, Mother’s Ruin manufacturing unit is home to their liqueur making, but come the weekend the doors of their factory building are thrown open to host a small cocktail bar. Their collection of gins was 70 at the last count, including their own sloe, damson and Old Tom options.

mothersruin.net

London Gin Club at The Star, London W1 (Soho)

Formerly a cafe in the heart of Soho and now a gin paradise, The London Gin Club have offer a vast array of gins and a sizable selection of tonics to go with it. Want a G&T served Spanish style? Look no further. The London Gin Club serve it right, and trust me, they’ll garnish your tipple with the perfect botanical match.

thelondonginclub.com

Best gin bars across the UK

Heads and Tales, Edinburgh

Think of Scotland and along with haggis and bagpipes, you’ll probably think of whisky. Well, now you can think gin as well. Scotland has a rich gin heritage and Heads and Tales in Edinburgh have kicked things back off with a gin emporium in the heart of the ancient city. They produce Edinburgh gin on site too, so there’s some sexy copper stills to look at while you sip.

headsandtalesbar.com

Ba’Bar at Dustane Houses, Edinburgh

The bar at Edinburgh’s elegant boutique hotel, Dunstane Houses, takes its name from the traditional Orcadian street football game. The dark paintwork and mustard velvet chairs and backlit whisky cabinet give it a cosy vibe.

Ba’Bar’s 15 or so artisan gins are all Scottish bar one (Sipsmiths if you’re interested), including a bottle of the recently launched Old Tom Rhubarb Gin from the Orkney Gin company. Try one of the signature cocktails such as the refreshing Gin, Rhubarb and Pepper tonic made with rhubarb bitters and grated black pepper.

Check out our full review of Dustan Houses here…

Tiroran House, Isle of Mull 

Tucked between woods and sea on the Isle of Mull, Tiroran House is a country hotel that produces its own Whitetail Gin; made with foraged heather and sea kelp, it’s named after the white-tailed eagles that nest nearby. Buy it in the hotel’s shop-café to take away, or enjoy it as an aperitif before tucking into the likes of Inverlussa mussels and fillet of Highland longhorn beef at the hotel’s restaurant.

tiroran.com

Gorilla (the Gin Parlour), Manchester

One of the liveliest music venues in the North has got a little secret. It has a mezzanine gin parlour dishing out juniper lead beauties to the thirsty public. Once you’re up, there be cheeky and ask the bartender to take you through the secret door to the music hall, tell them Leon sent you.

thisisgorilla.com

Pleased to Meet You, Newcastle

Tucked away down High Bridge street near Newcastle’s Monument station, Pleased to Meet You is a swish bar specialising in gin and tonic. With a menu featuring over 60 gins, split into American, oak-aged, naval, sloe, fruit, vintage style and London, there’s a tipple to suit everyone’s tastes, from Sacred pink grapefruit to Monkey 47. Choose to pair your gin with one of the many tonics including Fever-Tree, Indi & Co. as well as more unusual ones like Original Yuzu before garnishing with everything from pink peppercorns to coffee beans.

If you’re unsure what to choose, pick from one of the 15-strong list which breaks down the flavours into gin botanicals, tonic profile and garnish. Go fruity with a Bloom and Thomas Henry cherry blossom tonic topped off with rose petals, or keep it spicy with the Opihr and Indi tonic served with star anise and orange.

ptmy-newcastle.co.uk

The Old Bell Inn, Lancashire

No list of gin bars is complete without a world record. The Old Bell is an unassuming 18th century village pub in Saddleworth, Lancashire, but it has the most gins on the planet – 404 gins to be precise – that’s a Guinness World Record. Head down and see the certificate hanging proudly on the back bar. Come on, who doesn’t love a world record?

theoldbellinn.co.uk

The Canary Gin Bar, Bath

Don’t miss Bath’s dedicated gin bar, which offers up to 200 gins to choose from, all served in proper goblets with tonics and garnishes especially chosen to bring out the botanicals of each gin. Try the new Bath Gin (£7) – it’s flavoured with 10 botanicals including burnt orange peel and cardamom, and Thornbury’s 6 O’Clock, mixers included.

thebathgincompany.co.uk

The Feathers, Oxfordshire

Down south, in Oxfordshire, Woodstock’s The Feathers hotel is a charmingly rambling sort of place with colourful interiors and a gin bar stocked with 400 bottles (do explore its roster of gin flights, which take you through different flavour profiles). 

feathers.co.uk

Ginhaus Deli, Llandeilo

If you’re in Carmathenshire head to Ginhaus Deli in postcard-ready Llandeilo; as the name suggests it stocks some 400 gins, 10 of which are Welsh, plus locally made Coaltown Coffee, cheese and charcuterie.

ginhaus.co.uk

Crocketts, Exeter

Finding a home in the cultural quarter of Exeter’s high street, this bar in a Grade-II building is a perfect hideout for gin lovers, with plush green velvet antique chairs, dark wooden floors and shelves lined with vintage books. 

Its speciality is artisan gin, with a particular focus on South West distilled varieties (Salcombe Start Point, Wicked Wolf, Barbican Botanics). Try the floral aviation with Cotswold Dry Gin, cherry liquor and crème de violette, or unwind with a classic negroni with Martin Miller’s Westbourne Strength Gin, sweet vermouth and Campari.

crockettsbar.co.uk

The Refectory Bar, Plymouth

This Grade-II listed building is home to a cosy gin-focused cocktail bar, complete with squishy sofas, a sleek wooden bar and a ceiling of atmospheric wooden beams.

Run by Plymouth Gin Distillery, the short menu always features four cocktails from the classic gimlet to the modern Gin Pennant and twists on the martini – Angostura bitters-laced The Pink Gin (deceivingly amber in colour), and The Marguerite that nods to Plymouth Gin’s role in the creation of the Dry Martini. There are then seasonal additions including CO₂-charged pre-bottled negronis, and, of course, many gin and tonic variations. 

The bar is reserved for members after 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays, but we’ve heard that if you visit midweek often enough, you can bag yourself a membership.

plymouthdistillery.com

Looking for Manchester restaurants? Want to find the best local café in Manchester’s Northern Quarter? After the best brownie in the city? We’ve found the best places to eat and drink in Manchester, from the trendy Northern Quarter, to revamped Salford.

Rudy’s – best pizza in Manchester

Rudy’s is a unanimous favourite among Manchester’s foodies. With its original site in up-and-coming Ancoats and a newly opened branch on Peter Street, it’s a go-to place for pizza and cocktails with your pals.

Pizza dough is made on site twice a day and cooked for no longer than a minute to produce a springy base. Choose from toppings including classic margherita with buffalo mozzarella, spicy ‘nduja sausage with tomato and fior di latte, or white pizza with smoked mozzarella, Tuscan sausage and wild broccoli.

The aperitivo list uses some of our favourite Italian brands to create twists on classic cocktails – gin fizz is spiked with Cynar (a bittersweet artichoke leaf liquer) and Disaronno is mixed with Limoncello, lemon juice and fresh basil for a refreshing Amaretto sour. Otherwise go for a creamy dolci colline prosecco, bright and citrusy Sicilian white or forest-fruity Puglian red.

Rudyspizza.co.uk

Bundobust – best casual dining in Manchester

Bundobust is many things (craft beer haunt, Indian street food hangout, veggie restaurant) but it sells itself as a ‘beer and Indian joint’. The basement bar is filled with casual, communal tables that encourage interaction with fellow punters, and has a relaxed order-at-the-bar system that keeps the crowd mingling.

The food menu is all about vegetarian Indian street food. We suggest opting for one of the combos that arrive on wooden trays – a modern twist on the thali. Plant-based are filled with paneer and mushroom tikka skewers marinated in yogurt curd, crisp onion, broccoli and kale bhajis spiced with fennel, and tarka lentil dhal to mop up with deep fried bhatura flatbread. Our highlight was the bundo chat – layers of crisp samosa, sweet-and-sour tamarind and frilly little crunchy bits on top.

Beers include collaborations with Leeds brewery Northern Monk and several Manchester breweries (see some of the best in the Beermoth section below). There’s simple house chai for a booze-free option, though you can add a dash of bourbon or cognac if you’re after more of a kick.

Bundobust.com

Umezushi – best sushi in Manchester

You wouldn’t expect to find this zen little space hiding down an alley near Victoria Station. Blond wood benches, panelled walls and a spotless sushi counter help to create a calm ambience in which to enjoy some sushi.

All the Japanese classics are there – neat little nigiri rice piles topped with wagyu sirloin or freshwater eel, sashimi slices (pickled mackerel, sea bream, scallop) cut with precision, and tightly-rolled maki cylinders filled with salmon and avocado, hand-picked crab or pickled veg.

There’s a whole section dedicated to unique cuts of tuna, ranging from lean akami to fatty otoro. Daily specials include salmon head, lamb rack and pork belly on springy sushi rice. Book in advance, as this tiny room gets rammed.

Umezushi.co.uk

Pollen Bakery – best bakery in Manchester

If you’re in search of comfort then head to this canalside bakery for indulgent brownies and stay for cuddles with Maru the chow chow (aka lion dog).

The light and bright space beside New Islington Marina is kitted out with sleek scandi furnishings (concrete, pale wood, muted tones). Behind a counter heaving with freshly baked loaves and cakes there’s a huge area dedicated to baking. Pollen is famous for its sourdough loaves (try the Pollen rye, oat porridge, five-seed sour) and Manchester tart cruffins, but don’t miss the moist and zesty lemon and poppy seed cake and the decadent salted caramel brownie topped with cocoa nibs.

The owners support small foodie entrepreneurs with supper clubs and pop ups, so check out the website for Asian food from Pippy Eats and more…

Pollenbakery.com

Federal – best brunch in Manchester

This popular antipodean cafe drags loyal Northern Quarter locals out of bed at the weekend for its epic brunches. Emily’s homemade banana bread is treacly and dark, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg with a fragrant vanilla mascarpone. If you’re really hungry, the hefty French toast is very popular, laden with homemade summer berry compote, almonds, whipped vanilla mascarpone and salted caramel; while corn fritters with a choice of toppings make a worthy savoury choice.

Federal’s owners are committed to excellent sourcing, with sourdough bread brought in from Lovingly Artisan in the Lake District, and coffee carted up from London’s Ozone Coffee Roasters (try a signature espresso martini made with vanilla infused vodka and Ozone espresso).

It’s a lovely spot to spend a few hours – above wooden floorboards mustard banquettes hug two sides of the almost triangular corner room, and lush green plants spill out of tiny hanging pots.

Federalcafe.co.uk

Hatch – best street food market in Manchester

This trendy foodie outlet sits under the flyover near Manchester Met and Manchester University. Strings of exposed light bulbs cast a hipster twinkle over the self-contained courtyard, and there’s a sun-soaked garden filled with long wooden tables where you can while away summer afternoons.

Peruse the artisan beers on tap and by the bottle at Öl nanobrewery. Try one of their own brews or go for the local Cloudwater IPA, brewed under the railway arches around the corner. Otherwise sit in the shipping container above Takk coffee and sip espressos or iced lattes from sleek black bamboo cups.

The rotating street food offering showcases Manchester’s up-and-coming vendors. We tried Firebird Hope chicken sandwiches – the crunchiest outer shell covering extremely succulent pieces of chicken thigh with Koji mayo and green slaw.

Hatchmcr.com

Takk – best coffee shop in Manchester

With the main space in the Northern Quarter and a funky outpost in one of Hatch’s shipping containers, this sleek coffee shop is an ode to Scandinavia. The owners are obsessed with all things Nordic (particularly Reykjavik), so opened this ode to the region complete with the house Nordic Style espresso (roasted by Clifton Coffee in Bristol), cosy ‘hygge’ vibes and trendy baristas.

At the Oxford Road shop, there’s a more contemporary Scandinavian them, with a turquoise coffee machine, plenty of blonde wood and funky grey tiles create a calm backdrop to enjoy your coffee, or purchase one of the handy reusable cups and get an iced coffee to take away.

takkmcr.com

El Gato Negro – best tapas in Manchester

This upmarket tapas restaurant opened in 2016 and has quickly gained a reputation as Manchester’s go-to spot for a splash-out dinner.

Set over three storeys of a converted townhouse, there are plenty of choices when it comes to seating – a ground floor bar framed with shiny black tiles and seats that spill out onto the pavement, and red leather stools overlooking the open kitchen on the first floor, allowing punters to inhale aromas from the Josper grill. Then there’s el Gato Negro’s trump card, a swish rooftop dining area, complete with sliding roof, where you can enjoy a glass of fresh and fruity Albariño wine from Galicia.

The restaurant’s small plates menu sees chefs adding modern twists to traditional tapas dishes. Though we thought some additions weren’t needed (Galician octopus, for example, was so soft and beautifully finished on the Josper grill that it didn’t need the punchy pickled shallots), other dishes really shone – long, slim heritage carrots were drenched in walnut pesto, miso and aubergine purée, while croquettas entailed an extra cheesy béchamel encased in crisp breadcrumbs.

Elgatonegrotapas.com

Beermoth – best bottle shop in Manchester

This small shop on buzzy Tib Street is jam-packed with bottles, cans and kegs of beers from Manchester, as well as from the UK and across the globe.

Brews from the inner city include neon-packaged Runaway Brewery (smoked porter, summer saison, American brown ale), Track Brewing Co. (visit its weekly brew tap events under the arches of Picadilly), and Cloudwater, which has gained a global reputation for itself over the past few of years.

The friendly staff sure know their porters from their DIPAs, so make sure you pick their brains. We came across a fab new favourite from Northern Ireland after describing our preferences.

Beermoth.co.uk

Peggy’s – best cocktails in Manchester

Peggy’s has recently closed, but keep an eye out from the next project…

This backstreet drinking den is a hidden secret (look out for the leaf motif above the inconspicuous door). Though it’s above ground, the cocktail bar feels like a speakeasy, with candles flickering on wooden tables, brown leather booths hugging a mottled black and white brick wall, and a record player spinning blues and rock and roll.

Apron-clad owners Adam Day and Shane Kilgarriff mix up clever concoctions behind the white-tiled bar. There’s an unsung commitment to zero waste – no garnishes and a constantly-changing menu that allows the guys to utilise small-batch cordials, vermouths and bitters made in-house using hyper-local produce foraged from the outskirts of the city.

Examples of cocktails on our visit were a Twinkle that incorporated Chorlton elderflower cordial and fennel bulb liqueur, a Sour Butter Gimlet with lemon-and-asparagus-infused gin, and Whisky Mac (homemade ginger wine and blackcurrant leaf-infused Scotch). For something really boozy, go for the Rabo de Galo, served martini-style with cachaça, homemade vermouth and an intense grapefruit caramel.

Peggysbarmcr.co.uk

The Bagel Shop by Eat New York – best bagels in Manchester

This Northern Quarter newcomer is the latest hangout for hip young Mancunians. There are screens indoors to enjoy the footie, or grab a bagel or burger and set up camp in nearby Piccadilly Gardens for a gourmet picnic.

Bagels are top-notch – tempura-battered aubergine is meltingly soft and really holds itself up to the doughy bagel base. For something more classic, go for the homemade salt beef or pastrami smoked for 15 hours in ‘Old Buddy’ the smoker.

Eatnewyork.co.uk

Teacup – best teahouse in Manchester

Co-owned by DJ/tea enthusiast, Mr Scruff, bright, busy Teacup (55 Thomas Street) majors on top regional ingredients and simple, honest dishes. Its baked beans with smoky bacon bits on home-baked sourdough is ace.

teacupandcakes.com

Common – for Northern Quarter charm

Common (39-41 Edge Street), is the quintessential N/4 hangout, and the menu at this hip, arty bar is now overseen by Aumbry chef, Laurence Tottingham. Look out for New York Jewish delicatessen specials, the homemade salt beef sauerkraut stack for instance, or Common’s pastrami-topped Reuben burger and classics like lamb kofta kebab.

aplacecalledcommon.co.uk

Hanging Ditch – best wine shop in Manchester

Wine buffs should head to vintners HangingDitch (42-44 Victoria Street), for friendly, down-to-earth advice and the chance to try before you buy.

hangingditch.com

Where to stay in Manchester – The Cow Hollow Hotel

Looking for a boutique hotel in Manchester for a foodie base? When a hotel’s reception doubles up as a cocktail bar you know you’re in for a good time. After a friendly Northern greeting, continue up the statement stairs to a cosy reception area that’s all exposed red-brick walls, gilt-panelled mirrors and hanging plants.

This unique style continues through to the hotel’s sixteen bedrooms; the building was previously a textile warehouse, so some come with impressive marble fireplaces, wooden floors and original beams.

Owners Muj and Amelia have catered to every need for an inner-city break, with super comfy beds, REN toiletries and even hair straighteners and curling tongs to prep for a night on the town (plus earplugs to block out any unwanted wake-ups).

Make the most of the complimentary early evening prosecco and snacks, or sit at the hotel’s swish marble and wood bar to order classic cocktails. There’s no restaurant, but the central location means favourites such as Bundobust and Rudy’s are a five-minute stumble away. After dinner, kick back and watch Netflix in bed with a round of milk and cookies (delivered to your room before 11pm), or head out to embrace the buzz of the Northern Quarter’s bars.

Cowhollow.co.uk

Craft beer bars in the Northern Quarter

In the N/4, drinking late is no less than mandatory. Keep following the ale trail all the way to one of Marble Beers’ microbrewery bars 57 Thomas Street (57 Thomas Street) is a legendary boozer and music venue, The Castle Hotel (66 Oldham Street; ) and Port Street Beer House (39-41 Port Street). If you’re still peckish, Slice (1a Stevenson Square) serves authentic, Roman-style al taglio pizza till late.

Other great restaurants in Manchester

TAST

Executive chef Paco Pérez, who holds five Michelin stars across seven restaurants around the world, is behind the Catalonian menu, which starts with three types of bread and tomato, cheese and charcuterie, and canapé-like tramuntanades, including toasted cheese and truffle sandwiches.

‘Tastets’ are similar in size to tapas, and beg to be matched with the all-Spanish wine list, Catalan gins and out-there cocktails (try vodka with apple, black garlic and basil oil). Order a couple of tastets each – whether Iberian ham or roasted chicken croquettes, or plates from the ‘garden’, ‘sea’ or ‘mountain’ – then move on to shared rice platters, or the likes of Iberian pork presa and bone-in sirloin steak cooked in a charcoal oven. Can’t decide? Let Paco choose, with a £40 menu of his favourites.

With space for 120 covers across three dining areas (the private Enxaneta on the second floor, main dining room Folre, and Pinya bar), the décor is slick but understated, with plenty of natural light.

Click here to read our pro vs punter review of TAST…

Adam Reid at The French

Hidden behind a curtain in a corner of the grand lobby of the Midland Hotel, there’s more than a feel of Alice in Wonderland as you are transported through mirrored doors into the dining room of The French. Soft grey and sage green tones give everything a muted luxurious feel and there are two huge cylindrical chandeliers which throw light back and forth via the mirrored panelling around the room.

Chef Adam Reid’s cooking is inventive and playful but executed with real precision and flair. (He’s the bold chef that took over the helm after Simon Rogan left at the end of 2016.) A nibble of the creamiest smoked cod roe with puffy squid ink wafers kicked the six-course tasting menu off in style. Crispy pig’s trotter to start, proper came as fall-apart meat slowly braised in a rich deep umami soy base then breadcrumbed and deep fried into a crisp nugget, with pickled onion purée. Courses to follow include corned beef and potato hash, brill with silky artichoke and basil purée and suckling pig belly served with fermented cabbage and punchy cherry sauce.

Reid won the Great British menu in 2016 with his Empire apple dessert – a blown sugar apple filled with a meadowsweet custard mousse – and our incredibly pretty pud is a take on that, this time a shiny orange clementine sugar shell filled with airy white chocolate mousse. It’s a little piece of cooking wizardry which perfectly reflects the rest of the menu at this magical place.

Click here to read our full review of Adam Reid at The French…

20 Stories

Acclaimed chef Aiden Byrne (previously of Manchester House, read our full review here, Danesfield House & Spa and Tom Aikens) joined the D&D London group to open all-day restaurant, bar and grill, 20 Stories, on the 19th floor of the No1 Spinningfields building in central Manchester.

The modern British menu in the main restaurant showcases local produce, with the majority sourced within a 50-mile radius of the city. Herdwick lamb sits on potato gnocchi and chanterelle mushrooms, poached John Dory is served with a smart langoustine velouté and white asparagus, and butter-poached salsify is topped with burnt leeks and parsnip purée. There’s also a more casual brasserie focussing on the grill, serving the likes of Yorkshire beef steaks, grilled heritage beetroot salad, and bone marrow burgers topped with beef cheek, mushroom and an onion ring.

With 360-degree views, the swish space also brings the outside in with glamorous interiors inspired by nature (plenty of wood, hanging plants, stone features). The bar and outdoor terrace is dedicated to cocktails, including the signature 20 Stories cocktail made with Tanqueray gin, vermouth, honey and herb cordial, and grapes shaken with fresh lemon.

Click here to read our full pro vs punter review of 20 Stories…

WOOD

Fine dining made casual with a modern spin on British classics, in the shiny First Street development just outside Manchester’s city centre.

High ceilings tower over dark wood and teal furnishings, with cosy booths and dim lighting. An open kitchen gives diners a view of the MasterChef at work.

There are four menus to order from, to reflect the different ways you might like to dine here. A tasting menu is kept as a surprise for the night you visit, they call it a mystery tour. The lounge menu focuses on the Josper grill with flat-iron steak, smoked gnocchi, rocket parmesan pesto and leaves on offer, while the low-key theatre menu is restricted in choice, but expansive in flavour, with the likes of belly pork, cider, granny smith apple, and sage and onion popping up as a starter.

Click here to read our full review of WOOD…

Australasia

Australasia (1 The Avenue), a glam subterranean bar-restaurant goes on late and gets busy. Visit pre-dinner to enjoy a rose and lychee martini.

Check out our full review of Australasia here…

ABode

Chef Michael Caines’ ABode (107 Piccadilly) stands out for its urban-loft style and good food.

What else to see and do in the Northern Quarter

The boho Northern Quarter [N/4] is crammed with indie record shops, vintage stores and boutiques. Don’t miss Richard Goodall Gallery (59 Thomas Street), with its unique collection of music-focused art, and Manchester Craft and Design Centre’s cute jewellery workshops (17 Oak Street).

Craving culture? Check the listings at N/4 art spaces, Kraak (Little Lever Street) and Twenty Twenty Two (20-22 Dale Street), or detour to Manchester Art Gallery (Mosley Street).

Pick up the food-shopping pace at Bonbon Chocolate Boutique (9 John Street) – chocolatier Joel Collins’s salted caramels are sensational, Wood Wine and Deli (42 Tib Street), and revive yourself with a peerless flat white at North Tea Power (36 Tib Street).

Words by Alex Crossley and Tony Naylor

Trust olive Food and arts journalist Tony Naylor was born, lives and works in Manchester. olive’s digital editor Alex Crossley has family in Manchester and visits regularly.

Looking for immersive cooking classes? Want to learn to cook while you’re travelling? Check out our expert guide to the best cooking classes and cooking schools around the world here…

MYANMAR (SHAN STATE)

Run by a not-for-profit organisation, Inle Heritage’s cookery classes help visitors unlock the culinary heritage of Inle’s lakeside communities via old family recipes like fermented tea leaf salad. Celebrated for its fresh water fish, fields of lotus flowers and vegetables grown on floating gardens, Inthar cuisine is built on fresh, seasonal produce that is considered medicinal and often sourced wild. With access only by long boat, it’s best to stay the night, which is no hardship given the property’s heavenly stilt houses, in-lake swimming pool and superb restaurant and cocktail list.

These trips are about more than just local cuisine, though; you’ll also be giving back by contributing to the funding of the initiative, which includes a facility for local students to learn the skills of the restaurant trade. In return they’ll teach you how to make fragrant bamboo shoot salad with black sesame, creamy Nyaungshwe chickpea-tofu salad and spicy, slurp-worthy snakehead fish soup with rice noodles.

Two-hour classes from £80 per person, including lunch or dinner (inleheritage.org)

DENMARK (COPENHAGEN)

Celebrity Danish cookery writer Trine Hahnemann, author of the Scandinavian Cookbook and Scandinavian Christmas, recently opened a deli and cooking school, Hahnemanns Kokken, on one of the prettiest squares in Copenhagen (read our weekend guide to Copenhagen here). Here she delves deep into traditional Danish baking – you haven’t lived until you’ve eaten proper Danish rye bread (Hahnemann teaches you how to make the starter, which you get to take away with you) and kardamomme snurrer (a Danish twist on the classic cinnamon bun); delectable smørrebrød – those elegant Danish open sandwiches that make anything else seem somewhat crude and clumsy in comparison (the secret, as you’ll learn, is getting the flavour combinations right) – to the hyggliest comfort food (think fried, marinated herrings and meatballs with dumplings).

Half-day classes from £80 per person including snacks, lunch or dinner (hahnemannskoekken.dk)

USA (SAN FRANCISCO)

Few places promise more self-indulgent food time than San Francisco. Once you’ve eaten your fill at hot spots like Tartine Bakery, Duna and Zuni Café you can ride the Muni – the cute, turn of the century tram that traverses the city – to the Mission District to flick through some culinary literature at specialist book store, Omnivore, before joining a Civic Kitchen cookery class.

Hosted by passionate Bay Area foodies Jen Nurse and Chris Bonomo these are perfect workshops for travellers looking to meet locals – most clients are residents – and are taught by the great and the good of the American food scene (think chef Greg Dunmore, writer Dianne Jacob and Lorraine Witte, whose memoir ‘A Pot of Rice’ extols the virtues of food as meditation). It’s all up for grabs here, from pork butchery to doughnuts to modern Chinese summer dumplings.

From £100pp for four hours, including snacks, lunch or dinner (civickitchensf.com)

SPAIN (IBIZA)

Since moving to Ibiza, Tess Prince has become one of the hottest names on the island for vegan and vegetarian eating, especially among DJs who roll up at her legendary Beats and Eats Sunday brunch (on a recent shoot for Vogue, Rhianna chose Prince as her private chef). Visitors can sign up for intimate Love Food Ibiza classes where island-grown treats like pink kohlrabi, chioggia beetroot, dragon carrots, peppermint celery, komatsuna mustard, black kale, red okra and yellow beans, Charlie Chaplin tomatoes and cucamelons are cooked up by the pool in Prince’s driftwood-inspired outdoor kitchen.

Expect to come away having mastered dishes like pink cauliflower falafel with vegan kefir labneh and pistachio dukkah, bookended by kombucha pitaya mocktails and carrot cake with macadamia orange crème and hemp crumbs. “Nowadays it’s not about nose-to-tail,” says Prince. “We are thinking more root-to-shoot.”

Half-day classes from £150pp, including lunch, depending on group size (lovefoodibiza.com)

UK (SOMERSET)

If food is art then there can be few better places to cook than at the Roth Bar & Grill which is attached to contemporary art gallery, Hauser & Wirth’s Somerset outpost. Its A Day in the Kitchen course is hosted by chefs (and brothers) Steve and Paul Horrell, who’ll show you how to make the most of seasonal produce through pickling, preserving and fermenting your bounty into delectable year-round pantry goodies. “Making the most of seasonal products was key for us,” say the brothers, “but we also wanted guests to learn new skills and look at using seasonal items in a different way.” As a committedly sustainable restaurant all this goodness comes straight from the company’s farm and kitchen gardens, or from nearby producers. Classes kick off with a crash course on selecting good ingredients before teaching traditional skills our grandmothers would have known well, including a quintessentially British piccalilli and hedgerow blackberry jam, as well as continental classics like sauerkraut.

From £150 per person for five hours, including a two-course lunch. (rothbarandgrill.co.uk)

MOROCCO (OURIKA)

Amanda Belmamoun started the Ourika Organic Kitchen cooking school on her five-acre farm in Morocco’s Ourika Valley two years ago. Set amid an olive grove, with views of the Atlas mountains, the focus is on the age-old Moroccan tradition of charcoal cooking on a mijma (a terracotta barbecue). “It really brings out the full flavours of vegetables just plucked from the ground,” Belmamoun says, “and traditional Moroccan dishes are well suited to slow cooking.”

Guests start their day with a stroll among perfumed tea gardens before harvesting their own organic vegetables for an al fresco cookout of treats like chachouka (grilled capsicum and tomato with house-made harrissa), smoky aubergine zalouk with zesty lemon and coriander, and organic coquelet (baby chicken) marinated in charmoula made in a traditional mahriz mortar and pestle and garnished with pickled lemons and olives.

From £160pp for a full-day course, including transport from Marrakech (@OurikaOrganicKitchenandGardens)

ICELAND (REYKJAVIK)

Founded by Sigridur Björk Bragadottir, former editor-in-chief of the country’s leading gastronomic publication, Gestgjafinn, Salt Eldhus is a state-of-the-art cooking school in the heart of Reykjavik. It offers a short cut into Icelandic culinary culture (including more challenging, but seriously tasty, traditional snacks like dried Atlantic wolf fish and dung-smoked Arctic char paired with some of the city’s excellent craft beers).

Once your tastebuds are sufficiently bamboozled and you’re dazzled by the views across the neighbouring icy bay, you’ll settle down to cook home-spun dishes with local ingredients like smoked lamb with red cabbage and raisins, grilled Arctic char with fennel and orange and skyr (the local yogurt) panna cotta topped with brown whey cheese cream and wild berries. You’ll also learn a fascinating amount about a country that still believes in fairies.

Four-hour classes from £170pp, including lunch or dinner (salteldhus.is)

FRANCE (DORDOGNE)

A newly opened farmhouse restaurant and cooking school in the heart of the rolling countryside of the Dordogne, La Closerie de la Beyne also offers carefully crafted mid-week escapes for foodies. Vincent Bonnin got his passion for nose-to-tail eating and rare breed animal husbandry when working at The Chagford Inn on Dartmoor and brings his own brand of butchery wizardry to ‘Winter’s Cure’ – two nights of unadulterated feasting (and cooking) on a lavish array of cold (bacon, cod, cheese and garlic) and hot smokes (brisket, mackerel and duck), cures (saucisson, chorizo, bresaola) and confits (duck leg, pork rilletes, corned beef). All this takes place in a converted cattle barn around a roaring open fireplace, and until their own livestock is ready for the pot, all the meat comes from nearby farms.

From £525pp including transfers, two nights’ accommodation, farm visits, two cookery courses and all meals (lacloseriedelabeyne.com)

SPAIN (ANDALUCIA)

From its bucolic position, on a ridge high in the Axarquia, El Carligto runs week-long cooking holidays for groups of eight. A delicious exploration of the culinary heritage of this lesser known corner of Andalucia, each course makes the most of local ingredients such as chivo (a herbaceous-tasting wild mountain goat), quisquillas (a small shrimp native to that corner of the coast), farmhouse cheeses, sugar cane honey, mangoes and avocados (which grow in abundance through the valley), as well as excellent regional wines

The real highlight, however, is the chance to cook and eat with a different local chef every night, each one bringing his, or her, unique perspective to the table, whether that’s reimagining traditional dishes or appropriating Japanese techniques to local ingredients.

From €1190pp for seven nights, including accommodation, nightly chef service, two show cooking classes and one in-depth cooking course (carligto.com)

ITALY (TUSCANY)

Mention of a beautiful Tuscan villa is enough to tempt most people but combine that with daily cooking courses taught by local home cooks and outings to celebrated food markets, award-winning wineries, olive oil mills, and cheese and charcuterie makers, and it becomes a little taste of heaven. At Organic Tuscany, seeking out local ingredients that are biodynamic or organically produced is key to the experience back in the kitchen, where hosts Ricardo and Shilpa keep you well supplied with delicious things to sip and nibble. By the time you’re headed home you’ll know how to hand-make your own pasta and gnocchi, serve impeccable anti-pasti and perfect a risotto. Above all you’ll have learned what it is to be part of one big, happy Italian family. Seven-night courses run from the end of April to mid-October and include four hands-on classes, lunch or dinner with every class, daily farmhouse breakfasts and several foodie tours and tastings.

From £1500pp, inclusive of everything except flights (organictuscany.org)

Words by Tara Stevens

Tara Stevens is a food writer based between Spain and Morocco with a tiny, home-based cooking school in Fez. Her courses last from a morning to a week and offer a modern take on Moroccan cuisine, big on flavour, low on fat and unforgiving when it comes to over-cooked veggies (darnamir.com)

Images by Tara Stevens, Columbus Leth, Kassie Borreson, Hákon Davíð Björnsson©

Want to tour Mclaren Vale wineries? Hop on one of Mclaren Vale’s wine tours and visit Australia’s wine region south of Adelaide…

Until now the Fleurieu peninsula has been South Australia’s best-kept secret. In Adelaide, the state capital, locals tend to innocently point tourists towards the Barossa and Clare Valleys, or to tourist hot spot Kangaroo Island, which dangles off the peninsula’s southern tip. Yet with Fleurieu (pronounced floo-ree-oh) just a 45-minute drive away – virtually Adelaide’s backyard – they’re starting to get wise.

The Fleurieu has a Mediterranean climate, laid-back vibe, wild, windswept beaches (you might recognise the glorious sweep of Maslin Beach from Russell Crowe’s film The Water Diviner), swathes of silvery olive groves, a clutch of field-to-fork eateries and farmers’ markets along with more than 70 boutique wineries.

Within the peninsula, McLaren Vale is the birthplace of the South Australian wine industry and home to some of the world’s oldest grapevines. This is shiraz country, the vineyards rolling right down to the beach. The cooling winds flowing from the Mount Lofty Ranges to the coast also create the perfect climate for cabernet sauvignon and grenache. 

Mclaren Vale Wineries

What is McLaren Vale’s USP? Most of the cellar doors are family owned, not commercial. Whether they’re the old brigade or the new vanguard, they’re all one-offs.

D’Arenberg

Wine-making is full of complexities. McLaren Vale’s larger-than-life winemaker, Chester Osborn, pondered how to showcase this strange alchemy. His response was the d’Arenberg Cube, a dazzling glass and steel structure that has been dubbed ‘Willy Wonka’s wine factory’. A wonderfully bonkers box of a building, it materialises, Tardis-like, out of the vines like a half-finished Rubik’s Cube. As you approach, eyes entranced by an optical illusion at the entrance, soft music (activated by weather stations among the vines) lures you in.

Inside the five-storey attraction, restaurant and tasting rooms, visitors take a surreal Alice in Wonderland trip through a sensory aroma room padded with blowsy rose heads and strung with bottles of fragrant fruit and flowers, past a psychedelic art installation and a virtual fermenter, emerging into a light, bright rooftop tasting area.

There you can sample wines with names as intoxicating as the vintages: The Anthropocene Epoch is the company’s first biodynamic wine, all ballsy beetroot and berries. The Athazagoraphobic Cat (a blend of sagrantino and cinsault grapes) is squeaky new leather and herbs laced with mouth-puckering tannins, while The Old Bloke & the Three Young Blondes’ gnarly wood and spice-steeped shiraz is tempered with three flirty floral, fruit-frilled whites (roussanne, viognier and marsanne). Love it or loathe it, the d’Arenberg Cube has put the Fleurieu Peninsula on the map since launching at the end of last year.

darenberg.com.au

Bekkers vineyard

Stop at the pared-back, sleekly styled tasting room at Bekkers vineyard. Australian/French couple Toby and Emmanuelle Bekkers produce just three wines: a grenache, syrah grenache and a syrah. The 2016 grenache has a hint of aniseed. The 2015 had more clove on the palate, Emmanuelle tells us. The syrah grenache is silkier: adding syrah to the mix changes the texture, she explains. The syrah is intense, dense but still silky.

bekkerswine.com

Hugh Hamilton: The fifth generation to oversee one of the region’s most picturesque wineries (hughhamiltonwines.com.au). 

Wirra Wirra: Biodynamic Wirra Wirra dates back to 1894 and its winemakers like to hurl watermelons from a medieval siege machine – it’s their thing (wirrawirra.com).

Samuel’s Gorge: A rustic cellar up a dirt track in an old olive mill overlooking the Onkaparinga Gorge (gorge.com.au).

Alpha Box & Dice: One of the new kids on the block, this young team produces small-batch vintages, the cellar a ramshackle old stable strewn with vintage armchairs, a piano, pinball machine and stuffed armadillo (alphaboxdice.com).

McLaren Vale wine tours

A handful of specialist companies offer wine-tasting tours if you don’t want to worry about drinking and driving…

Off Piste Tours: Jump into Ben Neville’s 4×4 and head off the beaten track, exploring the lesser-known side of the Fleurieu. Bump along dusty dirt tracks in the Onkaparinga River National Park, stopping safari-style on a hillside to sip a glass of local viognier as kangaroos hop among the trees, before careering down a dirt track lined with rustling red gum eucalyptus for a riverside picnic.

offpistetours.com.au

Wine Diva Tours: Clamber into Greg Linton’s car to visit some of the region’s unique wineries. More info here: winedivatours.com.au

The Shiraz Trail: If you’d rather go under your own steam you can cycle The Shiraz Trail, a four-mile route along an old railway line between McLaren Vale and Willunga.

Where to eat in the McLaren Vale

Bocca di Lupo at Minimalist Mitolo

For lunch in the McLaren Vale swing by this starkly modern winery. Minimalist Mitolo looks as though it’s been constructed out of shipping containers and has an industrial vibe. The on-site restaurant, Bocca di Lupo, combines contemporary Australian and Italian cuisine in innovative dishes such as baby beetroots, liquorice sponge, walnut and chocolate, and charcoal maltagliati with asparagus, lemon and truffle parmesan.

mitolowines.com.au

Star of Greece

Pull up outside legendary seafood restaurant, Star of Greece, a rickety beach shack teetering on the clifftop at Port Willunga. The Fleurieu is also famous for its fish, the King George whiting in particular. Tuck into fish and chips Fleurieu style, along with Kangaroo Island salt and pepper squid, citrus aïoli and lime, watching surfers in the waves far below.

starofgreece.com.au

The Salopian Inn

At The Salopian Inn chef-owner Karena Armstrong serves contemporary Australian dishes such as soy-braised kangaroo tail with chilli caramel and szechuan salt.

salopian.com.au

Pizzateca

Try gourmet wood-fired pizzas such as fontina, salami and homemade chilli chutney, or homemade pork and fennel sausages with wood-smoked mozzarella, fior di latte and freshly sliced fennel.  

pizza-teca.com

Willunga Farmer’s Market

Graze your way round Willunga Farmers’ Market. The first in South Australia, established in 2002, it hosts around 80 artisan producers, and holds special night markets with live music. Willunga is a picture-postcard heritage town with just a whiff of the Wild West. Mooch around stalls of organic fruit and vegetables, local honey, charcuterie and cheeses and buy bags of juicy peaches and tiny, crunchy Paradise pears. Little Acre Foods stand has long queues but it is worth the wait for moreish mushroom panini oozing deep, dark mushrooms smeared with melted raclette and gruyère. 

willungafarmersmarket.com.au

Port Elliot and around

After a few days in McLaren Vale venture south to the tip of the peninsula, jutting into the Southern Ocean. Here you’ll find the old Victorian seaside resort of Victor Harbor, 19th-century town Goolwa (renowned for its cockles and the mouth of the Murray River) and the Coorong National Park.

Port Elliot Bakery

Driving through quaint Port Elliot with its low-slung old buildings, cool beach boutiques, old-fashioned grocery stores and heritage trail, clock the queue snaking out the door of the legendary Port Elliot Bakery, famous for its meat pies.

portelliotbakery.com

Flying Fish

This seafood restaurant on the gentle curve of sand at Horseshoe Bay specialises in the likes of scallops with wasabi and ginger, Streaky Bay King George Whiting (battered, grilled or herb-crumbed), and lemon peppered squid.

flyingfishcafe.com.au

The Beach Huts

The Beach Huts in Middleton, just two blocks from a fabulously wild stretch of sand, are little clapboard cottages, candy coloured and cute. Noosa hut is retro-chic with soaring white ceilings and a mid-century vibe. In the fridge you’ll find breakfast provisions – along with a complimentary bottle of bubbly from Langhorne Creek. 

beachhuts.com.au

McLaren Vale accommodation

Along with gourmet boutique hotel The Australasian (australasian1858.com) and rustic restaurant, art gallery, cellar door and b&b Red Poles (redpoles.com.au), a handful of new winery sleepovers are opening up, including Hotel California Road, a micro-hotel at Inkwell Wines (inkwellwines.com).

The Vineyard Retreat

The Vineyard Retreat is a cluster of four luxury cottages on a 15-acre working vineyard. These have a New England vibe – think wraparound verandas, wood-burning stoves, a smattering of antlers, tongue and groove, taupe and cream colour palettes, soaring ceilings and sweeping views over regimented rows of shiraz and old grenache vines. In August, owners Anthea and Stu Cross added a luxury ‘cadole’ glamping pod to the mix with another one to follow later in the year (cadoles were small vineyard huts used for centuries in France).

The couple bought the property five years ago because they fell in love with the views – some of the best are from the hilltop hot tub. The cottages’ well-stocked kitchens include welcome packs of local produce including smoked bacon from Ellis Butchers (ellisbutchers.com), free-range eggs and a bottle of chilled viognier from nearby Yangarra Estate Vineyard in the fridge (yangarra.com). You can also order local tasting platters from Lisa Robertson at Waywood Wines – on my second night I devour goat’s curd, crusty bread, duck, pork and fig terrine, a beetroot dip, fig chutney, traditional saucisson, camembert and quince paste (waywoodwines.com).

thevineyardmv.com.au

How to get to McLaren Vale Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula

Return flights from London Heathrow to Melbourne via Abu Dhabi start at £696 (etihad.com). Return flights from Melbourne to Adelaide start from £120 (virginaustralia.com). For more info see southaustralia.com. Follow Lucy on Instagram and Twitter @lucygillmore

Looking for Tallinn restaurants? Want to know where to eat in the Estonian capital? Local food writer Katrina Kollegaeva shares her insider tips for the best restaurants in Tallinn, along with where to find the best cinnamon buns, New Nordic cuisine and classic Estonian food.

Parrot MiniBar – best cocktail bar in Tallinn

Tropical chic meets Nordic cool at Parrot MiniBar. Try cocktails inspired by the owners’ love of travel (‘Bon Vivant’ is made with vodka, quince and lemongrass cordial), alongside locally inspired snacks including macarons with cowberries (foraged, and deliciously tart).

facebook.com/parrotminibar

Røst – best bakery in Tallinn

Inside Tallinn’s recently redeveloped Rotermann Quarter, with its clutch of independent stores and cafés, Røst bakery specialises in two things and does them both extremely well: Scandinavian-style cinnamon and cardamom buns made on site, and great coffee sourced directly from roasters.

rost.ee

Juur – best new Estonian cuisine restaurant in Tallin

The ‘New Estonian’ cuisine at Juur is worth the 15-minute drive from Tallinn. Try the duck with ‘tipsy’ cowberries, lamb from Hiiumaa island with hemp-flour bread and carrot mustard, or wild mushroom ice cream – all served on speckled crockery.

restoranjuur.ee

Lido Solaris – best for fast-food in Tallinn

Looking like a gingerbread house but operating like a workers’ canteen, Lido Solaris is a Baltic fast-food chain offering good-value dishes, mostly made from scratch. Regulars love the gigantic pan of spuds slowly sautéed until they caramelise.

lido.ee

Ülo – best vegan restaurant in Tallinn

Ülo champions plant-based dishes (without entirely shunning meat or fish) and fuses global flavours with local ingredients. Try the mushroom ramen with aubergines and lime leaf, or chamomile meringue with quince mousse.

facebook.com/Kopli16

Balti Jaam – best food market in Tallinn

Tallinn’s Balti Jaam market, run down during Soviet times but recently renovated, retains plenty of charm. Grannies sell their own produce (the best sauerkraut!) next to artisanal bakeries (pick up a rye sourdough from Muhu kiosk), confectionary stands (thin, rolled waffles from Waffle Fairies) and street-food stalls (look out for Taiwanese bao with Estonian kimchi at Baojamm).

astri.ee/bjt

Nikolay Café – best Russian pies in Tallinn

The retro décor at Nikolay Café includes mismatched furniture and kitsch lamps, but there’s nothing outdated about the menu. It focusses on pirogi, amply filled Russian pies made with brioche-like dough. Choose by the slice from savoury (try the kurnik, with chicken, rice and mushrooms) or sweet (the one with tvorog – curd cheese – is a must).

nikolay.ee

One Sixty – best restaurant in Tallinn for meat lovers

BBQ joint One Sixty, set in a bikers’ store in the trendy Telliskivi area, is as cool as it gets. Order the 10-hour, hickory-smoked ribs and a pint of Tanker, the local craft beer.

onesixty.ee

Ööbiku – best restaurant in Tallinn for Estonian ingredients

Ööbiku, a 45-minute drive from the city centre, started life as a pop-up in a renovated farmhouse. Now it’s open five days a week, serving five-course menus cooked by Kristina and Ants (a judge on Estonia’s Bake Off). Try local lamb with burnt celeriac purée, and traditional karask bread with hand-whipped soured cream butter.

oobiku.ee

Salt – best fusion bistro in Tallinn

A tiny, bustling basement restaurant, Salt draws its influences from both Estonia and Asia (try the deer tartar with fir aïoli, or the caramelised guinea fowl with pickled peaches, pumpkin-ginger cream and lime-orange sauce). Owner Tiina tends the tables herself, and is happy to recommend local ciders.

saltrestoran.ee

Peatus – best café-bar in Tallinn

You’ll find both artists and foodies in Telliskivi, an area of the hip Kalamaja district of Tallinn. Many of them congregate at Peatus, a bar-café in a converted train carriage that serves classic dishes with fun twists (think beef stroganoff with onions marinated in beetroot and ash-roasted cauliflower). peatus.eu

Tallinn Supperclub – best supper club in Tallinn

The only ‘official’ supperclub in Tallinn, this one was founded by Canadian-Estonian Kristina, a chef and a food writer, who sources many of her ingredients from her own farm. Dinners are intimate and take place in her charming apartment in the Old Town. In December expect an authentic Christmas feast including blood sausages with marjoram and lingonberry jam. facebook.com/TallinnSupperClub

Köök – best cooking class in Tallinn

Run by an Englishman, Tim, and his Estonian wife, Stina this cookery school offers a range of different workshops in rooms beneath beautiful medieval arches. The focus varies – and is often quite international – but in December the team have planned a class on Estonian seasonal cooking (expect dishes such as sea trout with kefir sauce or braised wild boar with apples). kokakool.eu

F-hoone –best craft beer bar in Tallinn

This spacious but cosily converted warehouse is the perfect spot to while away a long winter afternoon sipping craft beers (try dark Põhjala Öö ale – “as dark as Estonian winter nights”) and hearty broths like borsch with rye bread and lardo. It’s great for breakfasts, too – the curd cheese syrniki with sour blackberry jam are delicious. fhoone.ee

Matsimoka butchery – best charcuterie in Tallinn

Cured meats are treasured by Estonians despite the veggie-leaning New Nordic revolution. In the basement of an unassuming shopping mall, you’ll find this stall selling a wide selection of local charcuterie. Look out for elk sausage and ‘300 year-old recipe’ frankfurters, made without additives using meat from Estonian farms. facebook.com/matsimoka

Leib – best New Nordic food in Tallinn

One of the forerunners of the New Nordic wave in Tallinn, but still going strong, Leib means bread in Estonian but there’s much more than its delicious black rye bread on the menu. Sit amid simple surroundings (all wood and wool with a huge terrace – ask for a blanket to sit out if it’s chilly!) and order the legendary beef tartar with pickled veg and crème brûlée with rye bread crumb. One of the owners is a sommelier, too, so it’s worth asking for wine recommendations. leibresto.ee

Talleke ja Pullike – best authentic Estonian food in Tallinn

For a really authentic experience venture out to Lasnamäe. Here, among high-rise Soviet tower blocks, you’ll find this warm, low-key tavern. It’s genuinely loved by locals (you’ll need to book on weekends) for its steaks grilled in a high-tech charcoal oven. Try central Asian staples like Lagman soup with home-made noodles or Uzbek lamb Plov. tallekejapullike.ee

Art Priori – best tasting menu in Tallinn

Literally a feast for all senses, the interior at this sophisticated city restaurant veers towards the gothic, the artwork on its walls changing in accordance with its seasonal tasting menus. The latter are veg-focused and theatrical, such as a sorbet of Estonian apples with edible ants and nasturtium snow. artpriori.ee

WHERE TO STAY IN TALLIN

Self-contained studios at 14th-century Villa Hortensia cost from €65 (hoov.ee).

More info: visittallinn.ee.

HOW TO GET TO TALLINN

Return flights from London to Tallinn cost from £45 (ryanair.com).

TRUST OLIVE

Katrina Kollegaeva is a food anthropologist, writer and chef. She grew up in Estonia and now lives in London (@katrinakollegaeva).

Images by Kate Prihodko, Girti Suun, Marek Metslaid

Looking for Penzance restaurants? Here are our favourite restaurants in the Cornish town. The best foodie spots include brunch at Artist Residence, Cornish wine at Polgoon vineyard and freshly-caught seafood at The Shore. 

Although Penzance lacks the cachet of neighbouring St Ives and Padstow, it has a rootsy, sea-blown charm that feels gutsier than many of Cornwall’s harbour towns. Its streets and shopping arcades are ramshackle and bohemian, and the place is bathed in that same soft, wispy light that has inspired artists for centuries. Drawn by its no-fuss atmosphere and supportive community, artisans have moved in, seeking an affordable, unpretentious place to develop their products.

The Shore

On the other side of town, Bruce Rennie (formerly of the The Gurnard’s Head gastropub near St Ives) opened his own fish restaurant, The Shore, at the end of last year. Find space for lobster and spider crab, served shredded in a powerful bisque, followed by delicate steamed sole on squid ink linguine with a velvet crab sauce.

theshorerestaurant.uk

Polgoon vineyard

Polgoon is a vineyard and orchard just outside Penzance that offers tours and wine tastings on a 24-acre estate. Owners Kim and John Coulson battle against the Cornish climate to produce up to 30,000 bottles of wines a year, as well as a range of ciders and juices. Sit under the dappled shade of the site’s vine-wrapped courtyard café and sip chilled bacchus and eat a chunky wedge of crab sandwich.

Inheriting the land with a house, the family at first struggled to know what to do with it. They opted for a vineyard, hand-planted 3,000 vines, paid their children 5p for each snail they collected and, four years later, picked their first harvest. The result is on sale in the vineyard’s shop, along with local crisps and ciders, seaweeds and salts, teas and chocolates, ice creams, honey, beer, relishes and preserves.

polgoon.com

Penzance Farmer’s Market

For fresh produce, Penzance Farmers’ Market is the place. Held every Friday in St John’s Hall, its gingham-covered tables are laden with fruit and vegetables, just-baked breads, cakes, Cornish cheeses and Wild Smoked’s products.

penzancefarmersmarket.wordpress.com

Tinkture Gin

This coral-pink organic rose gin is produced by local Hannah Lamiroy, one of a new breed of artisan gin makers leading a revolution to “clean up” alcohol. Hannah spent two years perfecting the recipe over her kitchen sink, and now makes it in batches in copper stills in a small distillery in Penzance.

The mother of two keeps her formula top secret, but does tell us that it contains fresh petals from three varieties of David Austin old English roses – grown at a certified organic edible flower farm in Devon – six organic botanicals and organic neutral grain spirit. By happy accident, Tinkture rose gin changes colour when poured, turning from amber-gold to delicate blush pink at its peak. “See, magic!” she exclaims as she shows us.

wearetinkture.com

A Pocketful of Stones distillery

At Pocketful of Stones distillery just outside of Penzance, Shaun Bebington, a larger-than-life South African publican, produces his own additive-free drinks, including a cider brandy, whisky, absinthe, a summer cup and gin. To one side, standing sentry like shiny Buddhas, are two huge copper stills. To the other are rows of vintage wine barrels and grain-filled hessian sacks, and shelves lined with chemistry bottles containing apricot kernels, amaretto, kelp, beech leaf and cassia bark. It’s like stepping into an all-natural episode of Breaking Bad.

Taste the Morveren absinthe, made with Cornish seaweed and wormwood picked from sea cliffs at nearby Zennor. “It is hallucinogenic – but only in very large quantities”, Shaun assures. At 66% proof, it’s eye-stingingly strong, too strong for more than a sip, so fortunately neither pose a risk. 

caspyn.com

Penzance art scene

The art scene is another area where Penzance is stealing the limelight. St Ives might have the Tate and the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, but Penzance has long been an artistic hub, home to the Newlyn Art School and galleries such as The Exchange and Newlyn Art Gallery.

Then there’s the Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. Its verdant grounds are full of art and are also home to The Kitchen, a café serving charcuterie boards and bowls of mussels steamed in Polgoon cider with garlic, parsley, lemon and cream.

Where to stay in Penzance

Artist Residence hotel

A coolly colourful 17-bedroom hotel in Penzance’s old quarter, this hotel has a relaxed vibe (checked blankets, yellow Roberts radios, contemporary artworks) and a retro-chic restaurant and bar, The Cornish Barn. The menu includes meat and fish from its in-house smokehouse and tapas-style dishes of deep-fried squid with chilli, lime and salt, and parsnip rösti with caramelised shallots and goat’s cheese. Dessert includes rum-infused crème brûlée, hazelnut brittle and homemade banana ice cream.

artistresidencecornwall.co.uk

Chapel House

Chapel House is a graceful, light-filled Georgian home in Penzance’s Old Quarter, where white walls are hung with landscape paintings by students at nearby Newlyn School of Art and where antique furniture sits alongside stylish Nordic pieces. The six rooms all have sea views, painted white floors and vibrant modern artworks. The huge, stone-flagged, kitchen diner in the basement is the scene of owner Susan’s regular weekend suppers, and lengthy brunches. Susan champions local producers, rarely straying far from Penzance to buy ingredients. Try the breakfast speciality: cod’s roe, smoked bacon, samphire and a poached egg. It’s a cheap, nutritious dish and it’s easy to see how it became a favourite with fishermen. 

chapelhousepz.co.uk

Words and photographs by Lucy Gillmore and Suzy Bennett

Looking for country pubs to end a walk? We’ve picked some of the UK’s best gastropubs that welcome walkers for drinks and pub food…

Queens Head, Cumbria

In the heart of the Lake District, the Queens Head at Hawkshead is surrounded by superb walks. Most of these Lakeland rambles start at the Old Grammar School near the pub and they include a five-mile walk through woods and fields to Tarn Hows (regarded as one of the most breathtaking of all Lake District beauty spots) and the equally impressive walk to Blelham Tarn via unspoilt countryside between Hawkshead and mock-gothic Wray Castle close to

the shores of Lake Windermere. As befits a pub that has welcomed tired fell walkers since the 17th century, the Queens Head serves a full menu at lunch and dinner, as well as lunchtime sandwiches. Lakeland lamb makes a star appearance in dishes such as a tagine of shoulder with apricots, almonds, sultanas, tomatoes, coriander and spices. Time a visit for a Sunday and you can tuck into the ‘Royal Roast’, perhaps with a pint of Lakeland Gold brewed by Hawkshead Brewery in the village.

queensheadhawkshead.co.uk

Check out our best tagine recieps here, including:

• Lamb tagine recipe
• Veggie Moroccan tagine
• Chicken quinoa tagine
• Fish tagine
• Guinea fowl tagine

The Gurnard’s Head, Cornwall

This award-winning pub with rooms overlooking the Atlantic is named after the nearby granite headland that juts into the sea and resembles the head of a gurnard fish. Accessed via winding, narrow roads that bisect gorse-covered moorland dotted with cows from the organic dairy farm next door, The Gurnard’s Head occupies an enviable spot on one of the UK’s most dramatic coastlines. It’s little wonder that this wild and remote (you’ll be lucky to get a phone signal) place close to the coastal path between St Ives and Penzance has inspired so many artists and writers over the years, including DH Lawrence, who lived in a nearby cottage in 1915.

People flock to the Penwith Peninsula for some seriously bracing walks along the coastal path with its remains of old tin mines, waterfalls, shallow river valleys and glimpses of tucked-away sandy coves at the foot of the craggy, windswept cliffs. Also nearby is Chysauster, a late-Iron Age village and one of the earliest known pre-Roman settlements in the country.“The simple things in life done well” is the tagline for The Gurnard’s Head, where food and drink is as important as the no-frills but comfortable bedrooms (with pastel-coloured Roberts radios and sumptuous beds). The pub’s popular Winter Escape deal (£160 per couple per night including a three-course dinner) sees a seasonal menu making the most of the region’s produce, with typical dishes including a hearty ploughman’s of Westcombe cheddar, pickles and soda bread, and red gurnard with cuttlefish, spring onions, ginger and seaweed.

gurnardshead.co.uk

The Globe Inn, Norfolk

On a Georgian square in Wells-next-the-Sea, The Globe Inn is as popular with walkers as it is the birdwatchers who flock to this timeless North Norfolk (check out our weekend guide to North Norfolk here) coastal town. The pub has strong links with the town’s farmers and fishermen – expect to eat lobster and crab delivered straight from the quay, and beef that has grazed on the salt marshes on the fringes of centuries-old estates.

With such fine food on offer, a good walk is required to burn off the calories, and the pub is the starting point for a number of coastal routes-. One of the best is the 8.5-mile walk to Morston Quay, which passes fishermen’s huts and creeks with lots of bird-spotting potential, although the circular walk via the deer park on the historic Holkham Estate and the pine woods at West Sands, is also a winner. The Globe Inn’s Antonia Bournes says: “It is such a fabulous area for walks but we are also very lucky to have the Coasthopper bus service just up the road, which means our residents can leave their car and walk as far as they want, catch the bus back to Wells-next-the-Sea, then the next day they can set off on the bus to where they left off and carry on walking.”

theglobeatwells.co.uk

Cawdor Tavern, Nairnshire

Close to 15th-century Cawdor Castle, with its links to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and surrounded by wonderful countryside and countless walks, this pub in the village of Cawdor serves proudly modern Scottish food and Highland beers to match. In the dining room, with its oak panels and Jacobean chandeliers, refuel with panko-breadcrumbed haggis bon bons and smoked bacon aïoli or venison haunch steak with kale, celeriac purée, wild mushrooms and bramble jus as you sup a pint of Orkney Brewery Red MacGregor (the Champion Bitter of Britain 2018) or fellow award winner Dark Island Reserve.

Walkers make up a large percentage of the visitors to the Cawdor Tavern, with the riverside walk along the River Nairn and the shorter circular walk to Cawdor Wood with its spectacular gorges among the most popular routes for those with walking boots.

cawdortavern.co.uk

Anchor Inn, Dorset

“When it comes to walking in the area, you really are spoilt for choice,” says Paul Wiscombe, the landlord of the Anchor Inn at Seatown, a pub on the beach overlooking Lyme Bay. “But, of course, it depends on how energetic you are feeling,” he adds with a smile, before listing the different options for “serious” walkers who bring their boots and waterproofs, or those simply looking for a gentle stroll after lunch. On the Jurassic Coast, this pub is next to a shingle beach beneath towering cliffs, and close to the seaside resorts of Lyme Regis and West Bay (the location for the TV series Broadchurch).

One of the most popular walks in the area is a hilly one that starts at the Domesday village of Symondsbury and follows an old drovers’ route, the Dorset Holloways (‘sunken roads’) and Colmer’s Hill before ending at Golden Cap, the highest point on England’s south coast. The beach at Seatown is a popular spot for collecting fossils, which can often be spotted after the tide goes out, and the family-friendly pub serves a range of dishes, from the malt-vinegar and sea-herb-battered fish with crushed peas, tartare sauce and chips, to chargrilled steak with samphire butter, creamed spinach and crushed hot-smoked potato salad. Wash it down with a pint of locally brewed Palmers ale and watch the famous sunsets over the bay.

theanchorinnseatown.co.uk

The Queens Arms, Somerset

An 18th-century village pub with rooms in the rolling hills of Somerset, The Queens Arms at Corton Denham has been run by Jeanette and Gordon Reid for the past decade, during which time they have won countless awards. From the mountain of homemade pork pies on the bar to hand pumps serving pints of Legless Liz – an ale made exclusively for the pub to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday – this pub caters for locals, tourists and the many walkers and cyclists passing the door. The Reids provide maps for local routes, including a circular walk from the pub via quiet country lanes through villages with quaint names such as Chilton Cantelo and Queen Camel. Some of these places also appear on the menu as many of the farms and local shoots supplying the kitchen are within a 10-mile radius. The owners also have their own smallholding two miles away. An autumn meal at the pub might feature pigeon, swede consommé, pickled beetroot, blackberries and radish, perhaps followed by broccoli risotto with Dorset Blue Vinney and almonds.

thequeensarms.com

The Three Tuns, Wiltshire

This pub welcomes muddy boots, paws and children. With its scrubbed pine tables, fresh flowers in old gin bottles, low beams, real fires, leather sofas and window sills lined with old whisky-branded water jugs, it fits comfortably in the village pub bracket. Before taking over The Three Tuns six years ago, James Wilsey worked in a number of high-profile London restaurants including Scott’s of Mayfair and The Anglesea Arms near Shepherd’s Bush. His menu combines pub classics and modern British restaurant dishes, with homemade scotch egg with apple purée and celeriac remoulade sitting happily alongside a rump of lamb, braised lentils, purple sprouting broccoli, Provençal tomato and salsa verde.

There are a number of excellent walks starting from this pub in the peaceful village of Great Bedwyn near Marlborough. A few minutes down the road from The Three Tuns you’ll find the Kennet and Avon Canal, which makes for a lovely walk all year round. “On cold days, you can smell the woodburners on the barges, and it always feels like a different pace of life down by the water,” says James’s wife, Ashley. “It’s a great walk for children as well, as it is quite flat and there’s tons of wildlife around the water. You also get to watch the locks being opened and closed as the boats make their way through.” Walkers can also reach neighbouring villages along the canal, as well as local destinations such as the Crofton Beam Engines. From the base of the locks, you can also walk straight up a small hill to reach the paths of the Bedwyn Brail, known for its wooded copses, hills and farmland, as well as remains of Roman settlements.

Alternatively, you can make your way straight to the woods behind the pub, which can either lead to the little 13th-century thatched chapel at Chisbury, the hamlet and hidden treasure of St Katharine’s Church, or straight into the ancient Savernake Forest, where you’ll find some 3,000 acres of stunning woods with several notable ‘veteran trees’.

And for those with tired feet and blisters after all the walking, it’s worth noting that there’s a mainline train station in Bedwyn with a direct service to and from Paddington, Reading and Newbury.

tunsfreehouse.com

The Ship Inn, Northumberland

Local lobster and kippers, live folk-music nights and a wood burner make this whitewashed pub close to sweeping beaches and iconic castles, a must-visit pit stop for weary Northumberland coast walkers. Run by Christine Forsyth and her daughter Hannah for the past 20 years, The Ship Inn at Low Newton-by-the-Sea near Alnwick brews its own beer in an on-site microbrewery. Close enough to the rocks to hear seals calling, the pub serves meat from neighbouring farms, and fish and seafood from local day boats. A typical dinner might kick off with Peelham Farm salami, chorizo and air-dried ham and continue with local mackerel fillets marinated with soy and lime, served with a fennel and rocket salad.

It’s perfect fuel for walkers recovering from exhilarating coastal rambles such as the National Trust walk from Low Newton to Craster – home of the legendary kippers. The walk passes the ruins of the iconic Dunstanburgh Castle and Embleton Sands, and is notable for its migrating birds in autumn and spectacular light in winter. Alternatively, the walk to the village of Beadnell takes in Newton Pool Nature Reserve in the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

shipinnnewton.co.uk

The Bell at Skenfrith, Monmouthshire

On the banks of the River Monnow in the lush and green Welsh Marches, this 17th-century former coaching inn has created six of its own circular countryside walks for guests. The walks run to and from the pub, each with a map and description of footpaths and drawings of points of local interest. The walks were created with local couple Eira and Harry Steggles, who have been married and walking together for some 60 years, and include The Black Habits Black Deeds Walk and A Woodland Wander.

Although many weary walkers will stop off at The Bell for lunch or dinner, usually near the warming inglenook fire, owners Richard Ireton and Sarah Hudson also organise picnics, and if anyone gets lost they will rescue them. The Knights Templar trail wanders into England and back again to Wales, taking in Garway church with one of the earliest Knights Templar altars. And it’s not just walkers who are made to feel welcome at The Bell – four-legged walkers are treated just as well with free dog biscuits behind the bar and an outdoor pooch parlour where dogs and the muddy boots of their owners can be washed.

skenfrith.co.uk

Looking for food festivals to visit in November? Here’s our round-up of the best food festivals taking place this month, from a wine festival in Winchester, to a craft beer festival in London. Check out all of November’s foodie events, here…

Tennerfest

What was once just a clever way to entice customers into the islands’ restaurants in the winter months (in return, they could choose from special, three-course menus for just £10), Tennerfest on Guernsey and Jersey has slowly developed into a celebration of the best of the islands’ food.

Hop your way around the shoreline on Guernsey, for instance, trying versions of the local speciality Bean Jar, a traditional cassoulet-style bean dish. Go for classics like fish and chips or feast on pork rendang and spring rolls. Check the website for details of all participating restaurants, cafes and bars – and the special menus they will be offering (each priced between £10 and £20).

1 October – 11 November, tennerfest.com

Northampton Winter Food Festival

Head along to this seasonal food festival and keep warm with a mulled wine and some piping hot street food. Outdoor food stalls range from Burger Meister’s gourmet Aberdeen Angus burgers to tacos at Baja Cantina. If you want to shop there will be artisan food stalls, or just kick back and catch a food workshop or demonstration.

A Foodies Lounge will be hosting talks from artisan chocolatier Nenette Scrivener about how to temper chocolate, Warner Edwards will be offering gin tastings and local bakery, The Good Loaf will be talking all things bread, from what to look for in a good loaf to why real bread is better.

10 – 11 November, winterfood.co.uk

Craft Beer Experience

Calling all craft beer lovers: this three-day festival, taking place at Edinburgh’s Assembly Roxy, will be the chance to sample Scotland’s best beers. Five sessions will run over the weekend, giving visitors the opportunity to try beers from over 20 breweries. Try a stout from Leith’s Pilot brewery or an extra pale ale from Fallen Brewing in Stirling.

There’ll be plenty of food to keep you fuelled as well as Scottish craft spirits to sample at the Botanical Garden.

15 – 17 November, craftbeerexperience.co.uk

 

Click here for the best British beers including:

• Magic Rock High Wire

• Cloudwater Session Bitter

• Wipe & True Milk Shake

• Beavertown Gamma Ray

• Partizan X Ale

Taste of London: The Festive Edition

The festive version of sister event Taste of London (held every summer in Regents Park), this one takes place at London’s Tobacco Dock, transforming the space into a foodie’s winter wonderland and showcasing the best chefs the capital has to offer.

Expect innovative dishes and cooking demos plus interactive masterclasses to get involved in between shopping, eating and drinking. A delicious way to kick off the Christmas season.

15 – 18 November, london.tastefestivals.com

Click here to read about London’s hottest new restaurants

Clovelly Herring Festival

The ancient fishing village of Clovelly, in North Devon, is the backdrop to an annual festival dedicated to celebrating the village’s ‘silver darlings’ heritage (that would be herrings). There will be plenty of herring dishes to try as well as beer tastings, and information about sustainable fishing. It’s a fun, family-friendly day out.

18 November, clovelly.co.uk

Wine Festival Winchester

Get merry with a visit to this annual festival dedicated to the humble grape (and take a trip to Winchester to visit our favourite foodie spots here). Whether you’re an amateur or a connoisseur, this two-day event, set in the grand surroundings of Winchester’s Guildhall, is set to be jam-packed with stalls offering tastings and advice, including London’s Berry, Bros. & Rudd and Hampshire’s Exton Park Vineyard.

There will, of course, be food to go alongside the booze, from Parsonage Farm charcuterie to Chococo chocolates. End the day with a cheese and wine masterclass, or a tasting of Winchester’s finest sparkling wines.

23 – 24 November, thewinefestival.co.uk

Hay Food Festival

Taking place during Hay Winter Weekend, Hay Food Festival will see some of the best Welsh food producers setting up stall in an al-fresco marketplace.

Get your Christmas shopping started early with jars of honey from Bee Dazzled Honey and ales from Rhymney Brewery or get your daily bread fix with sunflower and honey loaves from Caroline’s Real Bread Company.

Once you’ve filled up on local produce, listen to talks from writers, thinkers and comedians or get involved with some of the festival’s hands-on events (these include Indian cookery workshops for children led by the Flying Pig Cookery School).

24 November, hayfestival.com

Looking for Marseille restaurants? Here are our favourite cheap eats in the Southern French city. Check out our ideas for eating and drinking in Marseille, from Marseille Old Port (Vieux Port) to traditional fishing haven Vallon des Auffes and the bohemian Cours Julien area…

Les Pieds dans le Plat – Cours Julien

Sit in the garden at the back of Les Pieds dans le Plat in Marseille’s ‘bobo’ (bourgeois bohemian) Cours Julien area, for the chalkboard lunch menu offering three courses for just €21. There are rabbit rillettes scented with coriander and parsley served with a spoonful of pungent pesto, and tender hake with aubergines and courgettes blended with cumin, turmeric and coriander seeds. The real revelation, however, is the lemon rind served alongside it. Boiled seven times until its yellow fades to white, passed through a mouli and mixed with lemon juice, salt, olive oil and sugar – the result is a delicious sharp-sweet splodge.

Les Pieds chef, Xavier Zapata, reflects on the diversity of cultures that have settled in this ancient port – French, North African, Italian, Armenian, Corsican and more – on his menu. Such variety makes it an exciting place for food, he says. ‘It is less conservative than Lyon or Strasbourg and is more fun for a chef as people appreciate creativity,’ he explains. Being able to source amazing local fish and vegetables from Provence also helps.

Marseille is France’s second largest city. Nicknamed ‘Planet Mars’ by the French, its gritty reputation has, for a long time, held back tourism here, but recent investment and a peeling back of the layers of grime have revealed a belle basking by the sea and now both French and foreign food lovers are rediscovering it.

Marseille Old Port

Fish market

Head to the Vieux Port (old port) – where superyachts bob alongside fishing boats. Here, at the small fish market (8am-1pm daily), species of alien- and not-so-alien-looking fish are sold from the calloused hands of those who caught them early the same morning.

L’Escale Marine – cafe/bar

Also at the Old Port waterfront is L’Escale Marine (22 quai du Port, 00 33 49 191 6742), a café and bar where shelves are lined with Provençal specialities, and outside tables are busy with punters sipping La Cagole, the city’s beer.

Chez Madie les Galinettes –

Further along the waterside at Chez Madie les Galinettes (138 quai du Port, 00 33 49 190 4087), tuck into a dish of clams, thick with cream, mustard and fresh thyme before hopping up some steps to Le Panier, the city’s tightly woven old town.

Marseille Old Town

Vanille et Noire – for ice cream

At Vanille et Noire get your hands on an almost mythical black ice cream made with vanilla and sea salt. Its maker, Nicolas Decitre, won’t reveal the recipe, but it’s said to get its colouring from algae. Whether that’s true or not, it’s sensational.

Best kitchen shops in Marseille

Fabulous produce sourced only from Provence – including Camargue knives and poutargue (mullet roe) – can be found nearby at Où est Marius?, and we’re in ecstasy back near the Vieux Port at kitchen and hardware shop Maison Empereur and Saladin where you can buy herbs, spices, teas and pulses by weight.

Les Navettes des Accoules

At bakery Les Navettes des Accoules try navettes, biscuits shaped like little boats, local to Marseille, that are made without yeast and flavoured with fleur d’orange. You can buy bags of these as well as cucciole – crunchy, wine-scented biscuits from Corsica.

Vallon des Auffes, Marseille

Viaghji di Fonfon

Viaghji di Fonfon does well-priced wine, meat terrines, potted prawns and roasted vegetables from between €5 and €7 a dish. There are a few tables, but you can take cushions and plonk them by the harbour outside.

Chez Jeannot

Settle at the Vallon’s Chez Jeannot with an anchovy and olive pizza (Marseille is famous for pizza; there are food trucks with wood ovens selling it all over the city), mesmerised by a spectacular view of the sun setting under the arches of the bridge across Corniche du John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Marseille suburbs

Restaurant AM – budget-friendly Michelin starred restaurant in Marseille

At Restaurant AM you begin to understand why those in the know suggest bypassing bouillabaisse if you’re on a budget. Bowls of bouillabaisse regularly sell for €50 a head, but here, at lunchtime, €35 buys you four amuses-bouche and eight courses of the most technically-adept cooking, each little plate an artistic and palatable paean to the regional larder.

The kitchen produces dazzling stuff. Black bread (coloured with powdered carbon) is light and served with lemon butter. A crusty walnut biscuit comes with red pepper and lemon, and scattered with tiny petals. There are marinated salmon eggs with smoked milk, and sea bream with candied bacon and white chocolate, and a rainbow of a plate with cod, squash, carrot and wild cress. It may be fantastical food assembled with tweezers, but the tastes produced are astonishing. And perfectly framed by the restaurant’s small, zen-like dining room and open kitchen.

In the city’s 8th arrondissement, Restaurant AM is a few stops from the centre of Marseille on the metro or a scenic trundle on the coast-skirting number 83 bus. As journeys to Planet Mars go it’s not the most direct route but, for a true flavour of the city, it’s a detour worth taking.

Where to stay in Marseille – Les Cabanons de Fonfon, Vallon des Auffes

Settle in to a two-storeyed room (there’s a little kitchen downstairs) at Les Cabanons de Fonfon, in the fishing port of Vallon des Auffes. The port is a brisk half hour walk from the centre of Marseille, but it feels like another world. Fonfon is also home to Chez Fonfon, a restaurant famous for its bouillabaisse – stay in one of the cabins here and buy a jar of its fish soup (throw in rouille, aioli and croutons and it’ll cost you €22.50 for two) to heat up in your pied à terre.

How to get to Marseille

Return flights from several UK airports to Marseille cost from £60 (easyJet.com). More info: marseille-tourisme.com andvisitprovence.com

This feature was published in August 2015

Photographs: Audrey Gillan, Matt Munro/Lonely Planet Traveller, Pauline Daniel/Visit Provence, Sophie Spiteri

Looking for where to stay in the Cotswolds? Want to find Cotswolds hotels for foodies? Check out our guide to the best places to eat, drink and stay in the Cotswolds….

The Cotswolds is all your chocolate-box fantasies rolled into one – honey-hued cottages, gardens brimming with hollyhocks huddled around duck-paddled ponds. The names are as pretty as the scenery: Moreton-in-Marsh, Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold. Even the local rare breeds (Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs) have a bonny ring. The Cotswolds is Cider with Rosie country: a bucolic idyll packaged for tourists who traipse here to mooch around antique shops and take afternoon tea.

The Cotswolds is quintessentially quaint. It’s also unexpectedly vast. Count its counties: Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, plus corners of Wiltshire, Somerset, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. From north to south it’s a 100-mile schlep. Off-the-beaten-track is a concept the Cotswolds lost long ago, but its central belt – a lopsided oblong with Burford, Cheltenham, Stroud and Lechlade at the corners – does fly slightly below the radar.

Stroud Farmer’s Market

Kneading up a storm in Painswick, near arty Stroud, is Israeli baker Ori Hellerstein, whose Nelson loaves have a cult following. Named after Nelson Mandela, they’re packed full of pumpkin, poppy, nigella, sunflower, sesame and linseed, plus yogurt and golden syrup. The result is heavy but healthy with a sweetness that goes perfectly with cheese or smoked salmon. Make a beeline for his stall at the award-winning Stroud Farmers’ Market where you can find him every Saturday from 9am-2pm (fresh-n-local.co.uk).

Also at the market is Hobbs House Bakery, of Fabulous Baker Brothers fame, though their lardy cakes, the local sweet and sticky spiced fruit bun, weren’t quite as moreish as those at Huffkins in Burford. Fill your bag with red wine and fennel salami from the Cotswold Curer, yogurt from Jess’s Ladies Organic Farm Milk and a bunch of multi-coloured carrots.

Jolly Nice café

At Frampton Mansell, on the road between Stroud and Cirencester, the Jolly Nice café and farm shop is a gourmet pit-stop set up by Harriet Wilson and her daughter Rebecca in a disused filling station. There’s a deli, a butchers selling meat from the family farm’s rare breed Shorthorn cattle, a meadow for summer picnics and a wood-burner-warmed yurt to retreat to in winter with one of the kitchen’s Jolly Nice burgers: a brioche bun piled high with salad, cheddar, smoked bacon, caramelised onions, rapeseed mayo and ketchup, the burger’s key ingredient – Shorthorn beef – still shines.

Definitely leave space for Harriet’s ice cream, though. It all started with an ice-cream maker picked up at a car boot sale on her 15th birthday. The journey to the filling station was a meandering one that involved a mobile ice- cream parlour and years of experimentation. Today, flavours range from brown bread, rhubarb and custard to chocolate and crystallised bergamot. My choice? Pistachio and orange blossom.

harrietsjollynice.co.uk

The Royal Oak, Tetbury

Husband and wife team Richard and Solanche Craven have refurbished The Royal Oak in the Cotswolds to breathe life back into Whatcote’s village pub. The kitchen focusses on British wild food ‘shot to order’ by gamekeepers, and works with local suppliers, along with others in Scotland and Cornwall, to create seasonal dishes. Try pig’s head and black pudding lasagne with cider reduction; fallow buck with salt-baked turnip; or rabbit wellington with mashed potato and farmhouse cabbage. Comforting desserts include preserved pear with hogweed and ‘cobnut bits and bobs’, and South African wines (a nod to Solanche’s heritage) feature heavily.

The Cravens are committed to retaining the local-pub ethos in the bar and have sourced beers and lager from DEYA in Cheltenham, Clouded Minds near Banbury and Warwickshire’s Purity. The gin cabinet also boasts Countess Grey from the Cotswolds (check out our favourite British gins here).

Where to eat and drink in Cirencester

Asian flavours are also on the menu at Made by Bob in Cirencester (foodmadebybob.com). Ciren is a real foodie hub with a cluster of gourmet hangouts that includes Jesse’s Bistro (jessebistro.co.uk) – the meat sourced from the adjacent butcher’s shop at the front – and Jack’s Coffee Shop (@jacks_shop). But the town’s hottest table is arguably Bob Parkinson’s fuss-free restaurant and deli a couple of streets away.

Cotswolds born and bred but returned from a stint in London, Parkinson is passionate about Asian cooking. His restaurant in the town’s old Corn Hall has a huge open kitchen and is a great place to grab lunch. On the daily changing menu you’ll often find geng jeut, a fragrant and clear Asian broth bobbing with chicken, shiitake mushrooms, coconut and deep fried garlic; and a real winter warmer – geng paneang, a rich red beef curry sprinkled with peanuts and Thai basil. There’s also a strong Italian influence – think grilled bruschetta with marinated peppers, artichoke, mozzarella, capers and basil oil – with Sardinian ingredients sourced from London-based Stefano Chessa.

Where to stay in the Cotswolds for foodies

No 131, Cheltenham

Stay in  the Cotswold oblong’s northern corner at No 131 in Cheltenham. An elegant Grade-II Georgian hotel with a restaurant and handful of quirky rooms (ours had a free-standing tin bath and a knitted cosy on the teapot), it’s part of the Cotswolds-based Lucky Onion group, a clutch of restaurants, hotels, pubs and b&bs set up by husband and wife team Sam and Georgie Pearman.

Much of the restaurant’s produce is sourced from local farmers and producers (order eggs for breakfast and they’ll have come from Cackleberry Farm in Burford). Our lunch of Wiltshire lamb fillet with merguez sausage, caponata and tzatziki, fregola primavera (a vibrant spring green) and beets was a riot of colour and flavour.

The Wheatsheaf, Northleach – gastropub with rooms

As glam as it is cosy, former coaching inn The Wheatsheaf Inn, set in a restored 17th-century Cotswold stone building, has three log fires, as well as a wood-burning stove in the snug. Get comfortable with some craft beer or a bottle of wine from the 300-strong list. There’s culinary clout too with seasonal, daily changing dishes, such as grilled whole lemon sole, grapes, capers and limes, or meltingly rare beef from Cirencester. The 14 stylish rooms here are more bourgeois bolthole than humble inn.

cotswoldswheatsheaf.com

Barnsley House, Barnsley

Once the home of renowned garden designer Rosemary Verey, the gardens of this luxury hotel remain a highlight. Produce picked by the chefs take pride of place in dishes such as tangy Barnsley House pickled beetroot, creamy goat’s cheese curd and candied hazelnuts.

Amid such ultra-local provenance it’s easy to be caught off-guard when you discover that head chef, Francesco Volgo, is Italian and that the house speciality is vincisgrassi, a rich mushroom and truffle oil lasagne. Wandering up to bed after dinner there were two surprises in store: a packet of Little Gem lettuce seeds on the pillow instead of chocolate and, in the fridge, a handful of fresh mint for tea – reminders that outside the window was a fruitful English country garden.

barnsleyhouse.com

The Rectory Hotel, Crudwell

An 18th century former rectory in the heart of picturesque Crudwell, recently refurbished The Rectory Hotel is all about intimate dinners, fireside cocktails and country walks followed by hearty food. Originally the rectory to the village church, this ancient stone building oozes relaxed country manor. Homemade cordial welcomes rosy-cheeked walkers into the drawing room, where you can warm up by the log fire and sink into pretty peacock feather-hued cushions.

The 18 rooms are all unique, with the first floor hosting more spacious rooms, and the second floor benefitting from exposed oak beams. The team at The Rectory Hotel has freshened up the interiors to preserve original features (little fireplaces, sash windows, panelled walls) and antiques, but add a checklist of little hotel luxuries (Robert’s Radios, tea and coffee from local roasters UE and Jeeves and Jericho). Beds are like huge armchairs, with velvet curved headboards in mustard yellow and forest green.

The kitchen focuses on refreshed classics. Unfussy comfort food includes fish pie, and pretty salads using fresh produce grown in the allotments behind The Potting Shed pub over the road (sister business to the hotel). The grill section includes flat-iron chicken with lemon, aioli and fries, Chateaubriand for two with roast beetroot, crispy shallots and wild rocket, and grilled catch of the day (turbot from Dorset on our visit, served with buttery Lime Regis new potatoes, watercress and a ramekin of Hollandaise).

The breakfast spread, taken in The Glasshouse overlooking the gardens, is impressive. Graze on homemade granola, fresh fruits, mini pastries and ham and cheese before taking your pick from the made-to-order hot menu (French toast, avocado on sourdough, eggs any style) and topping up from the DIY bloody mary station.

Thyme, Southrop

Set deep in the rolling Cotswolds countryside, in the quiet village of Southrop, Thyme is exactly what you want from a rural escape. A 150-acre estate, it is home to a cookery school, pub, holiday cottages, cocktail bar and restaurant while the 15th century manor house at its heart (and various outlying barns) is now a boutique hotel. The renovation of the latter was a labour of love for its energetic, and charming, owner Caryn Hibbert and it shows. Crunch over a gravel drive and you arrive at an impressive, honey-stone Tithe Barn, home to The Baa (yes, really) with its great cocktail list. Not a bad way to kick off a stay.

Sign of the Angel Inn, Lacock

Dating back to the 15th century, this former coaching inn sits in the heart of Lacock village. With its rough stone walls, well-worn tiled floors, moody oak-panelled snugs and imposing inglenook fireplace it’s a cosy setting for some hearty West Country food and an early night. Out at the back, a garden leads to a stream and a paddock.

West Country ingredients are put to good use in the regularly changing, seasonal menu from the 2 AA rosette kitchen. Expect local game in the autumn, hunks of blushing lamb in the spring and plenty of veg, potato and pastry all year round. Whenever you visit, though, expect to kick things off with homemade bread, slabs of cold, salted butter, oil and balsamic vinegar and a little canapé – on our visit a comforting offering of sliced white enriched with blue cheese, brown flecked with rocket and lemon, and mouthfuls of pressed rabbit, apple and fiercely pickled red onions.

There are five bedrooms at Sign of the Angel and each is comfortably chic. With little else to do in the village after dark – there’s only one other pub within walking distance – prepare for an early night. At the foot of our sink-into bed, topped with duck down and feather pillows and fringed with a homely grey blanket, thick, large towels beg to be used after a long soak in the tub.

The Bell Inn, Langford

There are plenty of contemporary-chic gastropubs in the Cotswolds but not all manage to retain the laid-back feel of a village boozer after their Farrow & Ball transformations. Happily The Bell, a 17th-century inn in pretty Langford, on the fringes of west Oxfordshire, does.

Its combination of rustic, wood-fired comfort food, stone-flagged dining rooms, and affable service, makes it a congenial space to unwind. Eight stylishly simple bedrooms mean you can settle down to sample that cooking, relaxed in the knowledge you don’t have to drive anywhere afterwards. Digest with a stroll to Langford’s pink-towered Saxon church across the fields, then enjoy an early night.

Artist Residence, South Leigh

In a sleepy village in rural Oxfordshire Justin and Charlie Salisbury, the duo behind quirky Artist Residence hotel group, have restored a 16th century Cotswold-stone farmhouse and opened it as their fourth property, Mr Hanbury’s Masons Arms. A community-focused pub, with five perfectly put-together bedrooms upstairs, Mr Hanbury’s is split into two areas – a cosy bar area with a classic pub menu and a more sophisticated dining room where guests can enjoy a fine dining menu.

Each of the five bedrooms here has its own unique quirks. Room number 4 boasts a ginormous free-standing copper bath to sink into with Bramley bubble bath, while number 2 has Sri Lankan tea chests as bedside tables and a window that looks out onto the vegetable patch. 

The Painswick, Painswick

With affordable room rates and a playful aesthetic (note the neon sign in the reception area), this is designed as a younger, more affordable addition to the Calcot Collection’s properties (and, possibly, a Cotswolds riposte to The Pig hotels).

Bedrooms are decorated in muted natural shades, lounges come with open fires and mountains of cushions, a lawn is perfect for sprawling on sunny days, there are two treatment rooms for facials or massages and, in the hallway, scrolls of printed walking routes and a stack of help-yourself wellies invite guests to tramp out into the neighbouring Slad Valley (of Laurie Lee fame).

The Churchill Arms, Paxford

Set the SatNav and, whichever way you approach The Churchill Arms in Paxford, you’ll travel along winding roads, lined with thatched cottages, through sleepy Cotswold villages. Your destination is equally quaint – a honey-hued pub dating back to the 17th century but re-opened after a sympathetic refurbishment earlier this year. You’re made to feel at home as soon as you step through the door of this family-friendly hostelry. Stand with the traditional inglenook fireplace on your right and choose from the bar, on your left, or a cosy dining room on your right (reached across a flagstone floor).

The pub’s owner and head chef, Nick Deverell-Smith, is a local boy and grew up eating here with his family. But while he is clearly passionate about this pub, Deverell-Smith also brings the kind of depth to his cooking that can only be won through stints in Michelin-starred kitchens.

Book into one of the pubs two, simply furnished, bedrooms and you’ll find walls painted in muted, chalky colours, original beams, hardwood floors and soft, white cotton sheets. Sit and take in the view over rolling fields from the cushioned window seats or relax in the bath after a long walk.

Pineapple Spa, Stow-on-the-Wold

With its quirky interiors, this unique Grade II listed holiday cottage set in the rolling hills of the Cotswolds has an open log fire, free-standing copper bath and a garden with views of the stunning countryside. This quiet and cosy holiday cottage makes for the perfect weekend away.

Looking for the best restaurants in York? This medieval town has always offered plenty to history buffs and café-goers, but a quiet foodie revolution, too, has recently been taking place. Wander down one of York’s higgledy-piggledy backstreets and you’ll find a new crop of young chefs putting the city’s food in the spotlight, from Micklegate to The Shambles and beyond…

Best restaurants in York

Skosh, Micklegate

One of York’s newest restaurants has been causing quite a stir across the UK. After seriously starry stints at Northcote, Pipe and Glass and The Star Inn at Harome (along with extensive travels in Asia) half-Indian chef Neil Bentinck has returned to his hometown of York to open contemporary small plates restaurant, Skosh (the name is a reference to the Japanese word ‘sukoshi’, meaning ‘a small amount’).

The restaurant’s modern interiors combine pine tables with bold yellow and grey paintwork and fabrics. Bag the table in the middle of the restaurant that’s framed by a striking, jade coloured arch, or perch on a high seat overlooking Neil’s open kitchen.

Hand-finished ceramic plates arrived in swift succession, each one framing its own little delicacy – crisp square nuggets of saddleback pork were accompanied with a tangy gooseberry ketchup, jewel-like granola-fried Skosh chicken was dipped in a delicate sorrel emulsion, and molasses-cured wild sea trout came on little sticks with peanuts and lime.

Larger dishes were also excellent. Crisp-topped Suffolk lamb belly fell apart beautifully and was livened up with bursts of pomegranate seeds, pickled onion, charred baby gem lettuce and a dash of yogurt.

Baked hake was topped with finely sliced cauliflower and dukkah on an umami-packed miso cauliflower rice bed – the highlight of the meal. Summer veg, brought over from local Brunswick Nursery the very same day, was tarted up with creamy burrata, black olives and a rapeseed oil emulsion.

In a nod to Neil’s Indian roots, the dessert menu includes mango lassis. Shot glasses of smooth and creamy mango were flecked with cardamom and served with mini doughnuts that opened to reveal an intensely yellow saffron custard centre.

Neil’s speciality dessert uses goat’s curd from nearby Yellison Farm to create fluffy toasted marshmallows served with raspberry sorbet and lychee granita. Or go for the richer 76% chocolate slice, which comes with a brittle-like black olive crisp, a light fennel foam and a chocolate-fennel sauce.

Read our full review of Skosh here…

Roots, Marygate

Based in the centre of York, Roots aims to bring the same Banks family farm-to-fork philosophy as their first, the Michelin-starred The Black Swan in Oldstead.

Reimagining its former pub shell, Roots sees a calm bar upstairs where guests can choose from the likes of house-made spirits, liqueurs and infusions – from fennel pollen ‘sambuca’ to lemon verbena ‘limoncello’ –and cocktails made from ingredients foraged and harvested from the family farm in Oldstead.

Downstairs, there’s a laidback vibe, with stripped wooden floors and tables, and botanical drawings on the walls, and a menu that takes inspiration from Tommy’s debut cookery book (also called Roots). Expect the likes of crapaudine beetroot slow cooked in beef fat (a signature of The Black Swan) and white chocolate with douglas fir and lemon verbena.

Read our full review of Roots here…

Le Cochon Aveugle, Walmgate

This is one of our favourite restaurants in York. Joshua Overington’s six-course seasonal tasting menu at intimate French neighbourhood bistro, Le Cochon Aveugle, rotates with the seasons to make the most out of fresh produce when it’s at its prime. Think refreshing carpaccio of octopus, 12 hour short-rib and homemade black pudding, and charcoaled crème brûlée with made-to-order ice cream and crunchy rosemary sugar. On-trend mini canelés with a burnt-sugar crust were delicious, and served with a rum-spiked banana milkshake: a grown-up alternative to milk and cookies.

Freshly baked pain de campagne with beurre noisette, as light as angel delight, is a permanent fixture, as are the show-stopping balance syphon coffee makers and the heaving gin cabinet. We loved The Botanist gin and tonic with cardamom and kumquat syrup (it came with whole kumquats and a sprig of fresh rosemary).

You can tell this is a local favourite. A warm welcome from co-owner Victoria and a wave from Joshua in his tiny kitchen behind the gin cabinet makes you feel like you’ve been coming to this tiny, neighbourhood restaurant for years.

lecochonaveugle.uk

Cafe No.8 Bistro, Gillygate

This tiny bistro on Gillygate is the kind of place only the locals know about. Take a table in its hidden garden to enjoy lunch in the shadow of York Minster (delicious soups and sandwiches are great value at lunchtime), or go in the evening and try the slow-cooked lamb, home oak-smoked salmon fillet or fresh fig and blue cheese salad.

no8york.co.uk

Rattle Owl, Micklegate

Named, peculiarly, after a toy (the owners both bought the same one on the same day), this small independent restaurant sits on historic Mickelgate, right in the centre of York. The structure might be 17th century but inside the style is contemporary: wooden tables have copper legs, walls are exposed brick, wooden chairs are sculptural and light fittings mix industrial chic with Art Deco glitz. Choose from a table in the bright conservatory area at the back or a high-backed grey banquette in the more atmospheric front section.

Haxby Bakehouse bread sets a precedent for the championing of local ingredients. Whitby crab is served with an intense avocado and fennel cream, buttery sable biscuits and cherry tomatoes. Pickled grapes, almonds and balsamic cubes add depth to an heirloom tomato dish, with a jar of tomato compote reduction on the side that has the punch of a Bloody Mary.

Local sourcing continues with the mains, the highlight of which was seared Scarborough woof (catfish) served with a deep-fried goujon, confit potato cylinders and a creamy bacon foam topped with charred baby gem lettuce, garden peas and an intense lemon purée. Yorkshire duck breast came perfectly pink with pak choi, spiced peach and a burnt orange sauce.

The organic-focused wine list majors on small producer wines. Bottles include subtly aromatic Sancerre ‘Clos du Roy’, rich Moonambel Syrah from Australia and, for special occasions, a refreshing ‘Les Reuchaux’ Puligny-Montrachet.

You can also buy bottles off the shelf at The Owlet, a tiny off-licence in the window of the restaurant that claims to be Yorkshire’s smallest. Prefer your beers? Go for Yorkshire Heart lager, Little Brew porter or York Brewery ale, all brewed in York and the surrounding area.

rattleowl.co.uk

Best cafés in York

Mannion & Co, Blake Street

A European-style café and deli, Mannion’s specialises in platters from the deli counter. Yorkshire produce is paired with expertly sourced charcuterie, cheeses, olives and artichokes from France and Italy.

The café’s suntrap courtyard is a tiny oasis where you can enjoy a pork pie, homemade piccalilli and salad grazing platter. Or take away your sarnie of choice made with bread baked fresh on site every morning.

Super-light scones piled with jams and clotted cream, patisseries and home baked brownies make perfect pairings for Jeeves & Jericho loose leaf teas and wood-roast artisan coffee from Ue Coffee Roasters.

mannionandco.co.uk

Little Betty’s, Stonegate

Betty’s is far from a secret; the queue of tourists peering into the room of scones, tea and fat rascals is a giveaway. Five minutes down the street, however, Betty’s Stonegate (known to locals as Little Betty’s) is the Swiss tearooms’ (moderately) quieter little sister. Skip the scone paparazzi and enjoy creamy hot chocolate, rostis ladened with Gruyere cheese and indulgent Swiss macaroni.

Stick a pinkie out with a bone china cup of Betty’s delicately floral Assam and Darjeeling blend and take your pick from the immaculately presented cake trolley (the chocolate swiss roll is, unfathomably, rich and light all at the same time).

Coffee and cake at Betty’s is always a treat but the Lady Betty afternoon tea is even more so. Miniature savouries include Yorkshire pork and Bramley apple pies, smoked salmon and dill roulade, and succulent roast Yorkshire ham and tomato pâté sandwiches. A traditional silver cake stand bursts with aromatic Yorkshire lavender scones, sweet ‘n’ sticky toffee-apple macarons and a light choux pastry with whipped coffee cream.

bettys.co.uk

Partisan, Micklegate

Partisan & the French House is a young and vibrant independent coffee shop on Micklegate serving breakfast, brunch, lunch and afternoon tea.

The seasonal menu has its roots in global cuisine – everything from Scandinavian-style open sandwiches on rye to Korean Bibimbap – as well as offering plenty of vegan dishes. There’s a focus on local produce, and the owners even grow herbs and vegetables on their farm just outside York. 

Partisan offers a wide selection of homemade seasonal cakes, tarts, and scones, all baked fresh everyday by in-house baker Steffi. Think squidgy salted caramel brownies, delicate coffee and walnut financiers and indulgent vegan raspberry donuts to enjoy with Monmouth coffee. 

Best food shops in York

Love Cheese, Gillygate

Locals Harry and Phoebe Baines have sourced cheeses from near and far to create an award-winning counter. The selection covers continental as well as British cheeses but this is your chance to taste some of the county’s best, and most unusual, varieties (try the Ribblesdale smoked goat’s cheese, Botton Creamery cheddars or intense Yorkshire blue).

There’s also a small café on site. Sit on a picnic bench on the terrace at the back of the shop and sip a Huddersfield-roasted Dark Wood coffee while you wait for a toastie. As you might expect, toasties here are a step above the norm (though try our toastie recipes for serious comfort). We liked ours made with Haxby Baker granary and filled with mature cheddar and spiced tomato or manchego with chorizo and chilli chutney.

lovecheese.co.uk

Henshelwoods Delicatessen, Newgate

Jam-packed with Yorkshire produce, this corner shop is the ideal spot to pick up foodie souvenirs to take home with you. Choose from over 70 exceptional cheeses (including Wensleydale and Swaledale), homemade vegetable preserves that date back to medieval times, and sweet treats such as Yorkshire parkin and Cartwright and Butcher biscuits.

Henshelwoods also makes up bespoke hampers, so if you’re staying with a friend in the area you can treat them to a selection of fine foods, including The Cheese Lover or a Perfectly Practical hamper of herbs, spices and oils. The Country Gentleman hamper is a great accompaniment for a long country walk – relishes, chutneys, pates and cheese with fine ginger wine.

deliyork.co.uk

Yorkshire Food Finder

Join York’s recently launched food trail Treks in the City, to visit artisan breadmaker Phil Clayton, local coffee roasters York Coffee Emporium, and Sarah Puckett, who makes her Puckett’s Pickles within a mile of York Minster, before enjoying a specially designed menu at The Star Inn The City.

Don’t fancy a tour? Many of these producers can be found at York’s Shambles Market (Parliament Street), which re-opened after a £1.6 million refurbishment last year. Or book a trip to coincide with the York Food and Drink Festival, which runs in June and September.

yorkshirefoodfinder.org

Visited all of the restaurants in York and fancy venturing a bit further from the city? Read our foodie guide to Ryedale for country pubs, Michelin-starred chefs and cream tea in a walled garden.

For more information visit visityork.org/adventure and be sure to get hold of a York Pass for free entry to attractions in and around York, with discounts at cafes and restaurants.

Written by Alex Crossley

First published July 2016

This week on the podcast we celebrate Yorkshire Day with web editor Alex Crossley (who also happens to be from Yorkshire!). Alex returns to her home county to explore the independent food scene in Leeds including a lesson in British charcuterie from Friends of Ham as well as matching speciality coffee with Yorkshire-made sweet treats at North Star.

Looking for the best street food in Jaipur? Want to know the best Rajasthan hotels for foodies? Head on a foodie road trip through the north Indian state, stopping off at street food stalls, roadside restaurants and remote home stays.

Best street food in Jaipur

The grid-patterned capital of Rajasthan was created in 1727 by Maharajah Jai Singh II when the population outgrew hilltop Amber. It was the Prince of Wales who dubbed Jaipur the Pink City after it was given a lick of salmon-hued paint to welcome him in 1876. Today its ochre walls cradle an intoxicating warren of historic havelis (courtyard townhouses) and bustling bazaars. It’s home to the spellbinding 18th-century City Palace and Observatory, and ornate five-storey façade of the Hawa Mahal (or Palace of the Winds). Amber Fort, the Rajput capital for more than 700 years, is a short drive away, a magical ridge-top complex of palaces, temples and courtyard gardens. 

Jagannath ki Pakodi

On an evening street-food tour, our guide, Madhav, steers us towards Jaipur’s best pakora maker. A crowd gathers around fourth-generation Jagannath ki Pakodi’s stall, the tiny deep-fried chickpea flour and vegetable parcels fished out of a huge vat of bubbling oil and served in paper cones with a sour tamarind chutney. 

Sanjay puri

At the next stop, puri maker Sanjay feeds 5,000 people a day. We scoop up chola ki sabji (chickpea curry) with moreish puri (small deep-fried, puffed flatbreads) and fiery green chillies. We snake down what was once the pickle street – now there’s just one trader left, sitting cross-legged at the front of his 180-year-old  shop. Huge glass jars and earthenware pots are filled with every kind of pickle and chutney, from sweet lemon to jackfruit and ginger. He ladles out a spoonful of syrupy mango and we lick our sticky fingers, its spicy sweetness tinged with fire. 

Ramchandra Kulfi Wala

India has a famously sweet tooth and, down another alley, stalls are piled high with mounds of crystallised, granulated and icing sugar. At Ramchandra Kulfi Wala we bite into kulfi on a stick – frozen condensed milk and sugar with chunky pistachio nuts and cardamom. 

Baba Ramdev Snacks

Many of the sweets in India are made from mawa, milk reduced to a curd and sold in round metal tubs. At Ramdev’s famous sweet shop the turbaned owner plies me with unctuous syrupy balls of gulab jamun.

Lassiwala

Try a clay cup of lassi, a tangy yogurt drink from Lassiwala. And, to finish, a stand where a paan wallah smears edible paan leaves with betel nut, lime paste and spices to aid digestion. 

Where to eat in Jodhpur

Jodhpur is also known as the blue city (the brahmin houses are painted periwinkle hues), the majestic Mehrangarh Fort towering high above. The city was founded in 1459 on the trading route between Gujarat and Delhi.  At the Sardah market our guide takes us to a famous Jodhpur pit stop: Mishrilal. Since 1927 they have been concocting makhaniya lassi here, more a dessert than the Jaipur drink, it has a cloying, sherbet-lemon sweetness.

Where to stay in Rajasthan

Rohet Garh hotel

Head south of Jaipur to Rohet Garh, a 17th-century fortified heritage hotel outside Jodhpur, the gateway to the Thar Desert. For 15 generations the Singh family has called this home and its rooms, decorated in traditional Rajput style, are sprinkled with family photographs. Ornate gates open on to manicured lawns, framed by pretty pavilions where you can lounge among preening peacocks while sipping a gin and tonic. 

One of the previous owners, the late Jayendra Kumari, was renowned for her cooking and compiled a recipe book. Anyone taking one of the hotel’s culinary workshops is given a copy. 

It’s not all old-world decadence; the family supports nearby village communities and offers excursions to see a Bishnoi village, and protected Blackbuck antelope herds, in the acacia-pricked desert. 

houseofrohet.com

Dera Mandawa homestay

The bread is baking in a mound of smoking cow dung. Small balls of dough are bedded into the hot ash while dhal is stirred over the flickering flames and chunks of masala-marinated mutton sizzle on a spit. It might not sound like the most glamorous introduction to Rajasthan’s cuisine, but nomadic romance is woven through this vast, sun-seared desert state, and its history of maharajahs, Mughal emperors and hardy camel herders. This is not the desert, however, but the courtyard garden of the Dera Mandawa, Durga Singh’s ancestral home and now a heritage homestay in Jaipur. Host, agriculturalist and eco-warrior, Durga is passionate about rural Rajasthani cooking. He has a farm a few hours from the city but keeps a few cows in Jaipur. Their dung, along with leftover food, is fed into Dera Mandawa’s bio-gas plant to produce the methane gas used in the kitchen. 

The skewered meat has been marinated in yogurt, turmeric, ginger, coriander, chilli and wild cucumber. It’s not mutton at all, it turns out, but kid goat. “If you fed me mutton I’d be offended,” laughs Durga. In Rajasthan most mutton dishes are the far more tender baby goat. It has a fragrant, tangy taste, while the bread rolls are smeared with ghee. 

In India, ghee is a national obsession. Durga is in full flow. “Is the crumble laughing or crying?” He rubs his hands together at my look of bewilderment. “It’s a typical Rajasthani saying meaning how much ghee has been used. If your picnic is crying it’s dripping ghee, if it’s laughing the host has been mean.” 

Dairy products play a crucial role in Rajasthani cooking. In this arid region, water has always been scarce so butter, buttermilk and milk are used instead. Although the area is largely vegetarian, the influence of red-blooded Rajput warriors can be seen in Rajasthan’s signature dish, laal maas – a rich mutton curry. 

Durga and his wife, Usha, also offer traditional Rajasthani cookery classes. Lesson one: how to rustle up baingan bharta (roast an aubergine over a naked flame, to give it a smoky flavour, then mix with chopped tomato and onion, chilli and cumin seeds) and various flatbreads, from roti to chapati. 

For dessert we heat a pan of milk then add a few drops of lime juice to curdle it. The whey is drained, and honey and cardamom seeds mixed into the resulting chenna (cottage cheese). 

deramandawa.com

Dev Shree homestay

From Jodhpur we drive through the mist-cloaked pinnacles of the Aravalli Hills to elegant rural homestay Dev Shree on the edge of Deogarh. Shatrunjai Singh and Bhavna Kumari’s home is set in sweeping gardens on the shore of Ragho Sagar lake with views of hilltop Gokul Fort.

The USP here is the home-style Mewari dishes that you won’t find on restaurant menus – and one of the warmest welcomes in Rajasthan. They grow a lot of the vegetables in their kitchen garden and farm. Bhavna gives us a cookery workshop on the veranda. We start with fresh corn pakoras, sprinkled with dried mango powder and a zesty squeeze of fresh lime as they emerge from sizzling oil. 

Lauki, meanwhile, is made from four green vegetables: green tomatoes, beans, squash and chillies fried together with mustard seeds, cumin, garlic and turmeric. For dessert, lapsi is a dish of cracked wheat cooked in melted ghee until it softens, sweetened with large chunks of jaggery. 

Another highlight for guests is the rural train journey from Khamblighat to Phulad. The train dates back to 1923 and descends 1,000m from the plateau in a giant switchback, crossing vertiginous viaducts straddling deep gorges and screeching to a halt for picnicking passengers to clamber off and feed the monkeys. 

(devshreedeogarh.com)

Ranakpur Camel Lodge

From Dev Shree homestay it’s a three-hour drive through the hills to Ranakpur Camel Lodge, part of the LPPS Camel Conservation Centre set up by Hanwant Singh Rathore and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson. With the arrival of trucks and tractors, the Raika camel herders lost their livelihoods, so the project is helping them diversify into camel milk and camel-milk soap production. 

Milking is done early and the milk is then pasteurised and bottled at the lodge’s small dairy, and sent to cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. In a clearing Goparam and Babulal are milling among the herd. A calf suckles one teat and the herder squeezes another, the milk spurting into a bowl. Cross-legged on camel wool mats we sip the milk. It’s sweet and frothy like a cappuccino. 

“Food produced by pastoralists is so much healthier than conventional farming. There are no pesticides and the camels graze on around 36 medicinal plants,” Ilse tells us. 

Sitting on the veranda, back at the lodge, she brings out bowls of camel’s milk cream cheese: coriander and garlic, green pepper and black pepper; and panchkuta, a traditional camel herder’s lunch made from desert fruits, ker, gunda and kachri, and seed pods, sangri and kumptia, foraged and dried by the nomads. It’s dark and woody, like spiced undergrowth. “People think the herders are poor but the desert has its own bounty,” says Ilse. For dessert she brings out a camel’s-milk cheesecake made with lime and honey, and no sugar. 

camelsofrajasthan.com

Jagat Niwas Palace

Zigzagging downhill to Udaipur’s Pichola Lake we leave the dust of the desert for lush lakeside and the heritage hotel Jagat Niwas Palace. It’s a magical setting. 

We head up on the rooftop for our final Rajasthani dinner, the lights twinkling across the water as we order a laal maas. Scooping up mouthfuls of rich mutton masala, the sauce is a deep chilli red, the meat so tender it’s falling apart. But then, of course, it could well have been goat.

jagatcollection.com

How to travel in Rajasthan

Tailor-made culinary journeys through Rajasthan cost from £3,450 per person for 13 nights, including accommodation, private car and driver, sightseeing with local English-speaking guides, street-food tours in Delhi and Jaipur, a heritage walk in Udaipur, cooking lessons in Jaipur, Rohet, Deogarh and Udaipur, and an overnight stay at the Camel Conservation Centre in Ranakpur (pettitts.co.uk).

The price also includes return flights with Jet Airways, which flies daily from Heathrow to Jaipur via Mumbai or Delhi from £559 (jetairways.com).

More info: tourism.rajasthan.gov.in. Follow Lucy on Instagram and Twitter @lucygillmore, #olivetravels.

Solo travel is on the up. Abta’s latest Holiday Habits survey reported one in nine people had journeyed alone in the previous year – double the number six years before. Jumping on the trend, in 2018 Lonely Planet published The Solo Travel Handbook, full of advice for lone rangers. The appeal of going solo is clear: freedom, self-discovery, travel without compromise. And while mealtimes can be the loneliest moments, taking a food-focused trip can solve this, either by bringing you together with a group of like-minded gastronomes or inviting you to engage with local chefs and producers. Here are few tasty options…

Solo-friendly foodie tour in Jordan

The way to a country’s heart is through its stomach. At least, that’s the conclusion drawn by solo-friendly tour operator Intrepid, which expanded its range of foodie experiences in 2018 to provide more immersive trips. On its six-day Jordan Real Food Adventure that means joining a Bedouin barbecue in the Wadi Rum desert, drinking sheep’s milk with local shepherds, preparing lamb mansaf with a family at Petra (before visiting the site itself) and whipping up your own dinner at Amman’s most innovative cookery school.

intrepidtravel.com

Cooking holiday in Bologna

The clue’s in the nickname: Bologna (check out our guide to Bologna here) is La Grassa (‘the fat one’), Italy’s true home of eating, where food always comes first. This makes the gluttonous city an ideal base for a one-week Cooking Holiday in Bologna with specialist company, Flavours. Staying in a converted farmhouse in the Emilia-Romagna countryside with a small group of fellow foodies, you’ll balance time at the stove preparing traditional dishes – minced pork tortellini, crostini romagnoli, fried petroniana – with strolls around markets and medieval streets, cooking, learning, exploring and eating together.

flavoursholidays.co.uk

Gourmet Japanese foodie trip

Solo travellers who want just that – to travel alone – might not immediately think of Japan, with its formidably protected culture. However, Hayes & Jarvis’ 12-day Gourmet Japan trips offer both freedom and security. The 12-day tours mix guided and self-guided days, so you get local expertise when you need it – for a tour of Tokyo’s fish markets, Kyoto’s geisha district and Osaka’s streetfood – as well as free time to explore alone. Plus there are chances to chat during a Bento-making workshop, cooking class and tea ceremony.

hayesandjarvis.co.uk 

Solo traveller tour in Georgia & Armenia

Smokey kebabs, golden flatbreads, wood-fired corn, vegetables grilled, stuffed and pickled… Georgian and Armenian cuisines blend Mediterranean and Persian flavours to delicious effect. Titan’s new 12-day tour of the two countries – with a dedicated departure for solo travellers – visits monasteries, mountains and Stalin’s childhood home; it also includes breaking bread at roadside clay ovens, making local dishes at a masterclass in Yerevan and stops at traditional Georgian (read our foodie guide to Georgia here) vineyards to taste the fruits of one of the world’s first wine-producing nations.

titantravel.co.uk

Small-group adventure in Mexico

Share a room with a fellow solo and you won’t pay an extra frijole for Explore’s latest Tastes of Mexico tour. The focus of this gastronomic small-group adventure is seeking regional specialities amid the country’s temples. Graze a smorgasbord of street food in Mexico City; try chilli-chocolate mole poblano and pizza-like tlayudas in Oaxaca (Mexico’s culinary capital); eat fresh-fish ceviche on the Yucatán; learn to make perfect tamales; and visit a Maya family for cochinita pibil, a feast of pit-buried roast pork. All washed down with a mezcal or two.

explore.co.uk

Culinary tour in Cambodia

Cambodia is better known for Khmer architecture than culinary excellence. But Gran Turismo’s eight-night Cambodia Culinary Tour aims to prove the country’s cuisine might just be the next big thing among South-East Asian food fans. As well as a luxe double-room-for-one, this eye-opening food tour includes cooking classes with Siem Reap’s finest chefs and learning how to barbecue Khmer-style in a local home. You’ll also explore markets and street food culture, watch palm sugar, rice spirits and fruit parchment being made and, of course, visit Angkor’s matchless temples.

grantourismotravels.com

Foodie photography in France

The pleasure of food is all too fleeting. Unless you master the art of capturing it on camera. Wild Photography Holidays’ Rural Burgundy Life & Food Photography Retreat combines the region’s natural bounty and rural vistas with expert tuition in food photography by Niall Benvie. Trips to medieval villages, markets and chestnut forests will provide inspiration as well as props for sessions back at base, the spacious barn of a French château. Afterwards, enjoy delicious meals prepared by co-host Charlotte, a professional chocolatier.

wildphotographyholidays.com

Small-group culinary trip in Sweden

There’s no surer way to bond with new companions than by exploring, camping, cooking and eating together. On Much Better Adventures’ five-day, small-group Culinary Kayaking Adventure along Sweden’s eastern Saint Anna Archipelago you’ll all be on the look-out for supper, paddling between pretty isles to forage for mushrooms and berries, and sourcing fish, boar, fruit and veg from local producers. Then learn how to prepare, wild style: your guide-chef will teach everything from pit cooking to traditional Swedish husmanskost (homemade food).

muchbetteradventures.com

Foodie walking holiday in Andalucia

A stay amid the sun-baked Alpujarras offers a fine equilibrium: gorge on Andalucían cooking, then work it off with walks around the white-washed villages and olive groves of the Sierra Nevada.

Based at lovely Las Chimeneas, a rustic hotel with an organic farm and an excellent kitchen, join Ramblers’ seven-night Ambles in the Alpujarras trips and you can intersperse gentle walks with foraging, paella-making and visits to fish markets, cheesemakers and wine bodegas.

Ramblers Walking Holidays’ trips attract a good mix of couples, friends and solos, and lone travellers can save by sharing a room.

ramblersholidays.co.uk

Solo foodie trip in Peru

Imaginative Traveller says at least half of its customers are solos – the camaraderie and money-saving room-share option make them a good choice. Not least on its ten-day Peru Real Food Adventures.

Sample anticuchos (grilled beef hearts) and masamorra (purple corn) at Lima’s Central Market before learning to make ceviche and pisco sour. Then it’s off to the Andes to cook in Cusco, stay on a coffee plantation and join a pachamanca, an Incan cooking ritual. There’s time to explore Machu Picchu too.

imaginative-traveller.com

Words by Sarah Baxter

Images by Edd Kimber, Getty, Rob Streeter, Hiran Thabrew

Looking for Nottingham restaurants? Read our expert foodie guide to the best places to eat in Nottingham, including restaurants in Nottingham city centre.

Nottingham’s independent food scene has blossomed over the past few years, with artisan coffee roasteries, tapas bars and sourdough bakeries opening. From high-end restaurants (including Nottingham’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Sat Bains) to homely cafes, this creative city has it all. Check out our top places to eat and drink in Nottingham…

Best restaurants in Nottingham

Restaurant Sat Bains

Masterful technique, intense flavours and much-replicated style have top billing at Sat Bains’ eponymous (and two-Michelin-starred) Nottingham restaurant. But, Sat’s laudable and continued commitment to sustainability also pricked our interest at olive, gaining him a spot on our inaugural olive Chef Awards shortlist in 2018.

The location might surprise those visiting for the first time – it sits in a quiet spot on the city outskirts, in the shadow of the A52 flyover – but inside the decor sticks to script. This is a destination restaurant of the highest order, more than “worth a detour” that Michelin decrees for two stars. It’s moody and serious with its dark woods, starched tablecloths and stone floors.

The restaurant’s been open the best part of two decades and Sat and his team have developed a formula that works. There’s no à la carte – this is all about Sat’s interpretation of the perfect balance of salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami – so buckle up and get set for seven or ten seasonal courses of Sat’s choosing. Each plate tells a story, tells of years of refinement, and has a complete sense of place.

The first arrives in a wooden bowl, with a nook for its own little wooden spoon. It’s an introduction to the restaurant, with everything sourced from the garden or foraged from the surrounds – a delicate dance between horseradish and nasturtium via ice cream, crumbs, tuile biscuits and a vibrant herb oil.

Sat can also show (relative) restraint, too. Course number three arrives – it’s a fat jersey royal (poached with kombu, roasted in embers) split and topped with shallot butter and caviar, sat on a bed of soured cream and chives and chive oil. Such purity of flavours – it’s one of the most memorable dishes we’ve ever had.

Read our full review of Restaurant Sat Bains here

Alchemilla

Hidden in the middle of Nottingham’s Derby Road is Alchemilla. An ambiguous door, covered in foliage, leads you under street level into a light and airy space with an open kitchen. The modern space has rustic charm – think exposed bricks, stone floors and lush living walls. Dark wooden mid-century-style tables and chairs are spaced comfortably apart from each other under brick arches while large ceiling windows provide warm natural light.

The menu at Alchemilla changes almost daily, depending on the produce the kitchen can source. We recommend going for the seven-course tasting menu. We tried silky salmon topped with slithers of fresh, vinegary cucumber and salty oysters. Chef Alex Bond’s signature dish is a must – al dente roast cauliflower served with a sweet almond brittle was light and had a lovely balance of sweet and savoury flavours.

We loved ‘Hen of the woods, bread ‘n’ gravy, lardo’. This was a bowl of sweet, sticky bread soaked in a rich gravy and served with earthy pan-fried mushrooms, and silky ribbons of lardo which melted with the heat.

On our visit the coffee dessert stood out. Quenelles of thick, creamy coffee mousse were joined by sweet-sharp raspberries and dots of pungent black garlic purée – it sounds odd but the bitter flavours complemented the sweet fruit making this dessert a must try.

Read our full review of Alchemilla here

Sexy Mamma Loves Spaghetti

If the name of this Nottingham restaurant doesn’t intrigue you, the lack of an online presence will. Stumble across Sexy Mamma Loves Spaghetti down a cobbled side street in Hockley and you’ll be met with a cosy Italian restaurant (think paper table cloths, flamboyant staff and an ever-changing menu).

The counter is filled with Frangelico bottles and groundnut cakes (cooked by Mamma herself) while an Italian radio station plays loudly in the background. The daily changing menu is hand-written on a blackboard (if you can’t read it, pick up a pair of glasses hanging on the wall ready for close-up menu inspection). Expect simple yet hearty dishes, the beef ragu is a must – rich, juicy and tender. Finish with a serving of tiramisu – dense and creamy with a strong hit of coffee.

@SexyMammaLovesSpaghetti

Iberico World Tapas

If you want small tapas sharing plates with a fine-dining vibe, visit Iberico World Tapas in Nottingham’s Lace Market. Tucked underground next to the Galleries of Justice, the mosaic tiled restaurant feels intimate and airy at the same time.

Start with punchy padron peppers coated generously in sea salt alongside creamy crisp ham croquettes. Share small plates of spicy miso salmon, stems of al dente chargrilled asparagus with nutty manchego and earthy truffle honey as well as salty chunks of chorizo with smoked aubergine and yogurt.

Save room for crisp, light-as-air churros with a rich hot chocolate sauce for dessert before finishing off with a tipple of of Pedro Ximenez.

ibericotapas.com

Baresca

Over the past couple of years, Baresca has become the go-to tapas bar in Nottingham, whether you fancy Catalan bread and eggs for breakfast or sharing bowls of mushroom risoni with friends over dinner. The décor feels fresh yet rustic, with patterned mosaic tiles on the floor and low-hanging bulbs highlighting chefs at work in the open kitchen.

We recommend going for the menu of the day (flatbreads, a dip, two tapas and a side for £10.95). The crisp, stone-baked flatbreads are served with a sweet carrot and cumin dip. The mushroom risoni is a must-order – rich, creamy and earthy. It’s very filling so consider ordering one to share between two. Get a side of salty padrón peppers to nibble on the side before finishing with a plate of churros served with a rich, thick chocolate sauce.

On a Friday and Saturday evenings, the cellar bar opens with DJs and Mowtown bands playing while you sip on goblets of gin garnished with orange and rosemary.

baresca.co.uk

Oscar and Rosie’s

For the best pizza in Nottingham, head to Hockley’s Stoney Street and settle in for a feast of 14-inch pizzas and mac and cheese. Stripped back wooden tables, mismatching cushions and windowsills scattered with pot plants, photo frames and the odd watering can or two add to the laid-back vibe.

The pizzas (all served on sheets of retro red and white checked paper) are sloppy with a crisp crust, so be prepared to get messy. Go for the Cosmopolitan topped with serrano ham, peaches and fresh basil for a summery twist, or keep it classic with the Brooklyn Sausage Party that comes with slices of Cobble Lane artisan pepperoni. If you’ve got room to spare, swap your salad for a side of indulgent mac and cheese mixed with fresh ham hock and smoked mozzarella.

There’s a ten-strong vegan menu, too, which puts a spin on all the meaty pizzas, so pop in for a slice of The Frenchman or Cheat Sweats.

oscarandrosies.com

Kayal

Something of a Nottingham institution, Kayal has been serving some of the best Indian food in Nottingham since 2005. Book ahead for a table in the evening and settle down for a Keralan feast of chilli paneer, masala dosas and seafood curries.

The Kayal fish curry is a must. Tender chunks of flaky king fish swim in a sweet, slightly spiced coconut sauce which is best mopped up with pieces of rich, flaky paratha (cooked over the griddle).

For a little taster of each dish, go for the Kayal ‘Sadya’ where bowls of curries, side dishes, bread and rice are bought to the table on a large platter.

kayalrestaurant.com

Best bakeries in Nottingham

Tough Mary’s Bakehouse

For some of the best baked goods in Nottingham, head to Tough Mary’s Bakehouse. You won’t miss it, with its sunshine yellow paintwork standing out against the otherwise grey Derby Road. Inside the sunny colour scheme continues – there are a couple of tables you can perch on while waiting for your order, or just stand and admire the well-stocked counter and watch loaves of sourdough rising behind it.

Sourdough is the speciality here, after owner Kate O’Shea took a three-day course at the School of Artisan Food, but croissants, doughnuts, babka and cinnamon buns are also worth trying. The light, fluffy doughnuts are filled with everything from chocolate and cherry to peaches and cream, but only two can be fried at a time, so be prepared to queue at busy times.

If you don’t want to wait, head to Outpost coffee or Diallingin to grab a babka (Kate supplies lots of local Nottingham businesses throughout the week.) And the name? A combination of Kate’s middle name and the Etta James song, which was also the inspiration behind the paint colour.

toughmarysbakehouse.co.uk

Small Food Bakery

Based in Nottingham’s creative Primary Studios space, Small Food Bakery focuses on small batch production of sourdough loaves and pastries. Pop by on a Friday or Saturday to pick up freshly baked croissants, rye sourdough crisp breads and an ever-changing selection of cakes and cinnamon buns.

The bakery also works in conjunction with Nottingham Food Assembly. Between 5pm and 8pm on a Thursday, the bakery (next door to the collection point) puts on a supper for eating in or taking away. Each week the menu focuses on local, seasonal produce including rhubarb meringue pie and pancakes filled with Yorkshire Dama fresh ricotta.

smallfoodbakery.com

The Bakehouse

Launched at the end of 2016 by chef Craig Poynter and his wife Rosea, The Bakehouse in Sherwood has already scooped a series of accolades, including a gold at the World Bread Awards for its garlic and herb sourdough.

“We have great partnerships with local artisans,” says Craig, “including award-winning butcher JT Beedham & Sons, who have created a recipe for our sausage rolls.”

The Bakehouse now offers supper clubs, all-day weekend brunches and Sunday roasts. It also supports local charities through donations of any unsold bread at the end of the day.

facebook.com/thebakehousenotts

Best delis, cafes and coffee shops in Nottingham

Ottar at Nottingham Contemporary

Part gallery, part studio space, part cinema, the Nottingham Contemporary acts as a hub for local creatives. The downstairs café and bar area is now home to Ottar chocolates, a bakery and chocolatier that has its roots at the School of Artisan Food. Bi-folding doors flood the open plan room with natural light, while a living wall created by Nottingham’s Green Haus provides lush greenery to the minimalist space (all the plants are also available to buy).

Settle into one of the art deco-style armchairs, or perch on a wooden bench and dig into cakes, all made fresh that day using homemade chocolate and spreads. Our recommendation goes to the light almond and apricot friand or rich chocolate tart flecked with sea salt and hazelnut pieces, all encased in buttery pastry (which can easily be shared between two).

If you’ve time, stay for lunch. Five or six Ottolenghi-style dishes (colourful salads, veggie-centric sharing platters) are on offer including roast cauliflower with coconut yogurt.

Before you leave, browse the counter that’s topped with jars of peanut butter and salted caramel and rosemary spread, and bars of Ottar and Pump Street chocolate.

nottinghamcontemporary.org

Outpost

For the best cup of coffee in Nottingham, get to Outpost early in the morning to grab a seat on the long wooden bench and chat to the baristas before the queues start growing (even then, Greg and the gang will chat to everyone who walks through the door). Plants fill the shelves while cacti and water glasses pepper the tables, and there’s a rack of independent magazines to help yourself to. If it’s full inside, grab a blanket and snuggle up on the bench outside.

The team at Outpost want to help everyone enjoy their coffee as much as possible so will happily give advice on everything from the brew ratio to the best method (check out our expert coffee guide here). They’ve even started giving bottles of water out for customers to take away, so they can compare the way the coffee tastes using tap vs filtered.

Sustainable supply chains is another focus; all the coffee is bought direct from Brazil, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Colombia. Baristas go out to these countries to meet the farmers, visit washing stations and try the coffee directly. All the coffees are roasted by hand just down the road from the shop before being sent across the country to many other UK restaurants and cafes.

outpostcoffeeroasters.co.uk

Delilah Fine Foods

Delilah’s started off in 2005 as a small independent Nottingham deli stocking fine cheeses, charcuterie and olives sourced locally and from further afield. Twelve years on, it’s now in a much grander building but maintains the same ethos.

Downstairs is a large deli area where fridges are filled with cheeses, whole counters are dedicated to charcuterie and freshly baked bread is on offer every day. You can also stock up on honeys, jams, chocolates and tricky-to-find ingredients such as edible rose petals. Don’t miss the bakery section towards the back, where you can pick up a selection of made-in-house cakes to take home with you. The chocolate and stout version uses local Amber Ales stout and is Delilah’s take on the classic chocolate and Guinness cake.

Above this is an all-day cafe serving everything from avocado on toast with poached eggs and dukkah to antipasti platters topped with tapenade, grilled artichokes, hummus, mixed olives and sweet garlic.

delilahfinefoods.co.uk

Kiosk

For some of Nottingham’s best soul food head to Kiosk. Inspired by comfort cooking from around the world, the menu is fresh and exciting, with a Middle Eastern focus.

Choose between a traditional brunch, served with homemade baked beans and sourdough toast, or go for the Kiosk kedgeree, topped with egg, garlic yogurt and chilli jam.

The main menu is simple, with a choice of six colourful dishes, among them a knockout feta-topped manakish flatbread served with zatar oil and salad, and beef koftas served with a tahini dressing.

kiosksherwood.co.uk

Best bars in Nottingham

Junkyard

Tucked down one of Nottingham’s cobbled alleys, the Junkyard comes alive at 10am and stays that way until the early hours of the following morning. In a space decorated with simple wooden tables and stools, there are 15 beers on tap and over 20 bottles to pick from the fridge; choose between Gamma Ray (an American pale ale) or a Crananchan Killer (a raspberry, honey and oat fruit beer).

The vibe is lively (the café-bar is as popular with couples as it is among groups of friends and families). If you want to get a seat in the evening get there early, or prepare to jostle for standing room around the bar.

Don’t get so distracted by the beer that you miss the food menus, printed on brown paper. Burgers here are of a superior nature (beef patties with streaky bacon, house ketchup and proper cheese slices) and indulgent sides like black pudding scotch eggs and mac ‘n’ cheese balls are great to nibble on with a pint.

junkbars.com

Best cookery schools in Nottingham

School of Artisan Food

Based in Sherwood Forest just outside Nottingham, the School of Artisan Food is a vibrant hub for food and drink, offering everything from one-day make your own mozzarella workshops to advanced patisserie and Viennoiserie classes lasting a week. There are courses for all abilities, whether you’re a cider-making novice, or fancy signing up for the year-long advanced diploma.

We loved the home dairy class where, guided by enthusiastic tutor Katy Fenwick, you get the chance to make yogurt, paneer, butter and Colwick cheese (a local speciality), in a working dairy. Throughout the day you’ll learn about types of milk, the role that cultures play, the differences between hard and set cheeses, and the chance to sample a few. This course is aimed at those with an interest in dairy and you’ll leave with the recipes and confidence to make them in your kitchen at home.

It’s also possible just to visit for a morning or afternoon. Wander around the historic Welbeck estate then pop into the farm shop. Welbeck’s Holstein cows are milked every day and you can buy the creamy, unpasteurised milk from the dairy’s vending machine. If you’re looking for something cheesy, stock up on Stichelton –  a raw milk blue cheese made by hand each day and sold when it’s around four months old.

Don’t miss the Ottar chocolate counter at the back of the shop for rich caramel spreads, individual chocolates and giant marshmallow teacakes all made on site. The small batch producer takes weeks over its chocolate making process, from sorting and roasting the beans to grinding them, tempering them and, finally, wrapping the bars; flavours include coffee, cardamom and toasted almond. Earlier this year the team started the process of making their own honey by housing 250,000 worker bees on the estate (where they can feast on blackberry flowers and lime). Six months later you can now buy the fruits of the first harvest, which has a light and slightly fruity taste.

schoolofartisanfood.org

Words | Ellie Edwards, Mark Taylor, Laura Rowe