London's restaurants have long acted as a magnet for young chefs from across the UK and overseas who, rather like Dick Whittington, move to the capital to train and seek their fame and fortune. Many do stay and, of these, a significant number reach the top of an arduous profession. This group includes brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin, originally from Essex but now ensconced at La Chapelle, near Liverpool Street; Rowley Leigh, originally from Manchester, now in his stylish Le Café Anglais in Bayswater; and the still authentically Italian, Giorgio Locatelli, at Locanda Locatelli in Portman Square. But many other young chefs choose either to return to their place of birth or to set up on their own in the countryside. And here are four who are currently cooking very well indeed.
MARK BLATCHFORD
The Beckford Arms, Fonthill Gifford, Tisbury, Wiltshire, 01747 870385, beckfordarms.com
Mark Blatchford cooked his way around London, at Claridge's, Racine and Fortnum & Mason, as well as doing stints at Soho House on both sides of the Atlantic, before taking off to the Wiltshire countryside. He is now established in the kitchens of The Beckford Arms, a restaurant with a busy bar and eight comfortable bedrooms. He has created a series of menus that delight a wide audience and an overnight stay allowed us to enjoy the spectrum of his kitchen's skills. A double baked goats cheese soufflé with field mushrooms provided fuel before a long afternoon walk while a couple of slices of warm sausage roll, sliced to order at the bar, with a glass of the local Keystone beer, were a comforting reward on our return. The highlights of dinner were a warm salad of pigeon and bacon, smoked over the fireplace in the bar, with quince from a tree in the garden; a poached leg of mutton with capers; and tasteful renditions of classic British desserts. A well-priced wine list and an excellent cooked breakfast are other highlights.
GEOFFREY SMEDDLE
The Peat Inn, by Cupar, Fife, Scotland, 01334 840206, thepeatinn.co.uk
Geoffrey Smeddle learnt his trade in London in the kitchens of Herbert Berger and Chris Galvin before heading back to his native Scotland in 2006 to revive the fortunes of The Peat Inn with his wife, Katherine. This restaurant with rooms has had a longstanding reputation for good food and wine not unconnected to its proximity to the famous golf course at St Andrews. Smeddle's skill now comes through in home cured salmon with blinis; John Dory with a potato galette; local venison; and a pear soufflé with caramel ice cream.
SHAUN HILL
The Walnut Tree, Llanddewi Skirrid, Abergavenny, Wales, 01873 852797, thewalnuttreeinn.com
Shaun Hill began his career in London kitchens before setting off for a series of hotels in Devon and Shropshire until finally taking over this whitewashed restaurant in the rolling countryside on the borders of England and Wales. Wherever he has cooked, Hill has always brought to his menus his whimsical sense of humour — good food, he has always maintained, is to be enjoyed rather than taken too seriously. His deft touch is best reflected in goats' cheese gnocchi with a walnut salad; lemon sole with a lime and parsley butter; venison with celeriac puree; and somloi, Hungary's version of trifle, with apricots and rum, a dish he first learnt cooking at The Gay Hussar in Soho as a young chef, and has been on his menus ever since.
BRYAN WEBB
Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, nr. Corwen, North Wales, 01490 440264, tyddynllan.co.uk
Bryan Webb was always a Welsh chef to his fingertips, even when he was cooking in London. For the past decade, however, he has been in the peaceful setting of Tyddyn Llan, a restaurant with 13 rooms. And although Webb is now in a position to include the best Welsh ingredients across the whole of his menu, there are still certain dishes that I recall first enjoying when he was at Hilaire in South Kensington: sea bass with a classic beurre blanc sauce enhanced by laverbread; turbot with a leek risotto and a red wine sauce; and a crème brûlée whose richness is offset by wimberries, a close relation of the bilberry.
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