Yorebridge House

The former schoolhouse stands in what feels like splendid isolation in Wensleydale amid the stunning North Yorkshire Dales. It's countryside that should bring out at least the walker in you, if not the nature poet too, and Yorebridge House is a dream destination to return to at the end of the day. The partly glass-roofed and chandeliered restaurant goes in for an informal rural café look, with French windows, unclothed tables and a bare wood floor. Dale Exelby is a deft practitioner of the modern British style, and presents both menus and dishes with a minimum of elaboration, but with great local ingredients accorded their say. A soft-boiled duck egg with soldiers makes a farm-fresh starter, but is given a little extra depth with a lobster salad and truffle dressing, followed by pheasant presented in the now traditional two ways, roast breast and confit leg, served with salsify and a shallot-based jus. An earthy approach to vegetarian cookery produces wild mushroom fricassée with truffled gnocchi and pesto.