Alchemilla

Every town needs a restaurant like Alchemilla: original, exciting and achingly, achingly cool. Sat Bains protégé Alex Bond presides over the once-derelict Victorian coaching house from the open kitchens built into the bare brick arches. There’s a buzz about the place, and Bond’s progressive, plant-forward cooking. Tasting menus between 5 and 10 courses might include celeriac in goats’ butter and black garlic, risotto of grains with 36-month Parmesan, and rhubarb, liquorice and tarragon mille-feuille. The wine list takes a global outlook.