Thoresby Hall Hotel and Spa

If your appetite for post-modern minimalism has palled of late, get yourself to Thoresby Hall, a Grade I listed country mansion on the edge of Sherwood Forest. It's a magnificent enough edifice from outside, but the interiors are something else again, a riot of Victorian décor, where hanging tapestries, sculpted stags and ornate fireplaces are only the half of it. The Blue Room is the flagship dining option, an expansive space where aqua-blue wall-patterning is offset by the green vistas the windows offer of the surrounding grounds. The cooking is as modern as can be, down to the regionally attributed ingredients in speculative and stimulating combinations. Manor Farm duck appears in various guises in an opener comprised of duck ham, liver and port parfait and tortellini in spiced broth with pineapple, before a main course like sea bass with Jerusalem artichokes, puréed salsify and tomato compôte, or Derbyshire beef rib bordelaise with fondant potato and spinach purée.