Hartwell House Hotel, Restaurant & Spa

France's exiled pretender, Louis XVIII, kicked his heels at Hartwell while waiting to assume his throne, and if it was good enough for him... It's an architectural marvel, with its intricately carved Jacobean staircase and Georgian public rooms, and commands sublime views over the Vale of Aylesbury. The dining room is run with practised formality, but with a light touch too, while Daniel Richardson's cooking maintains a proficient balance between the best of French classical technique with modern British thinking in the art of composition. It takes some nerve, for example, not to mention exquisite timing, to serve a cold poached egg with steak tartare, rather than the canonical raw egg, and then add depth to the dish by means of artichoke and a modicum of assertive anchovy sauce. The autumn brings impressive game cookery, perhaps for braised grouse with Parmentier potatoes, a sweet prune mousse and curly kale. The assiduous following through of different flavours speaks of careful thought. It's at work in a fish dish such as fillet of brill, which comes with sautéed leeks and a cream sauce based on Granny Smiths. Local sourcing produces some fine cherries poached in vanilla to go with a forgivably un-local chocolate délice, made from wild Bolivian beans, together with pistachio ice cream. An old-school wine list offers a wealth of mature vintages, as well as some good selections by the glass.