Le Champignon Sauvage

While many renowned chefs are rarely to be seen in their kitchens - busy as they are with other commitments such as appearing on TV or overseeing the expansion of their empires - that's not the case with David Everitt-Matthias. He's a hands-on chef, always at the stoves, never missing a beat. The terrace building in the popular Montpelier part of the town is the setting for some thrillingly good cooking, with France, both modern and classical, as the focal point. For food of such undoubted quality, the setting is refreshingly unpretentious, with a cheerful yellow and blue colour scheme, bold modern artworks and well dressed, well spaced tables. After more than 20 years as a team (they opened in 1987), Helen has perfected the role of gracious host as adeptly as David has refined his culinary skills. The fixed-price carte is available for lunch and dinner, plus there's a set lunch menu and set dinner option midweek. First-class seasonal produce is treated with respect and although deeply creative and innovative, the cooking is precise without being precious and at its core is a feeling for the produce itself from the humble to the refined. A pre-starter of curried almond and coconut mousse with coconut foam along with excellent breads (glistening brioche with bacon and shallots among them) set the standard before a first course of celeriac lasagne with megrim sole, cockles and sea beet, or there is the seldom seen kid, in a terrine with ham hock. Main-course Cinderford lamb with its gayette and lentils braised with Morteau sausage is a dish with robust and deftly balanced flavours and textures, and bitter chocolate and olive tart with fennel ice cream is a dessert of impeccable contemporary credentials.

S of town centre, on A40, near Cheltenham College
Nearest station: Cheltenham Spa

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