Ostlers Close Restaurant

After three decades in their cosy restaurant hidden away down a skinny alley off Cupar's high street, Jimmy and Amanda Graham could consider themselves well and truly entrenched into the local dining scene. Ostler's Close was once the kitchen and scullery of the local 17th-century Temperance Hotel, but any thoughts of abstinence are long banished from an operation that is passionate about sourcing the finest ingredients; well-established supply lines to local producers provide the lion's share, while fruit, veg and herbs travel straight from garden to kitchen, and wild mushrooms are foraged seasonally from the woods. The kitchen has no place for grandstanding or chasing the latest gastro trends, relying instead on intuitive, fuss-free combinations turbo-charged with powerful stocks, reductions and olive oil rather than dairy-based sauces. Pot-roasted breast of wood pigeon served in a herb potato scone with pork belly confit opens in typically forthright fashion, then main course might bring roast saddle of venison with red cabbage and roast celeriac pointed up with juniper-flavoured game sauce.