The best 'French' restaurant in Britain

Yesterday we went to one of my all-time favourite restaurants Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham. It bills itself as a ‘restaurant Francais’ which might lead one to believe, given the modesty of its surroundings, that it serves simple bistro food. In fact it is French only in the sense of the total dedication of its chef/proprietor David Everitt-Matthias to the pursuit of three Michelin stars.

It already has two which given its size and sheer lack of flashiness is a remarkable achievement. Everitt-Matthias believes that Michelin is more exacting about restaurants in England than they are in France and I think he’s probably right. On its day, and yesterday was one of them, he cooks as well as any chef in Britain and arguably better than many who have that accolade in France.

His food is not for the faint-hearted. An ‘amuse’ of pumpkin mousse was served with pan-fried brains (delicious, I have to admit) and brown bread foam. (I think chefs overdo the foam thing but he uses it judiciously.) Scallops came boldly partnered with both Jerusalem and globe artichokes, flavoured with liquorice, a umami-rich dish lightened by a fresh crunch of shredded apple and peashoots.

Seared squid was paired with belly of Gloucester Old Spot Pork, served with a mousseline of hazelnut and potato and well roasted hazelnuts. (Everitt-Mathias loves surf and turf - later in this extraordinary tasting menu we had sea bream with a ‘tomato and trotter compote’ with cauliflower pure, caramelised cauliflower and Campion, I think he said. He also loves wild hedgerow plants. A very rare but perfectly tender pigeon (squab) was served with Fat Hen puree, and, surprisingly for this time of year, white asparagus.

His desserts too are strikingly original. We tasted three, I’m ashamed to say: a rose geranium cream topped with a layer of Turkish delight and orchid root foam (a plant he’d discovered on holiday in Turkey this summer), a muscovado parfait with bergamot cream , hazelnut craquant (tuiles) and orange jelly and a bitter chocolate and olive tart with fennel ice cream, all extraordinarily good.

What on earth do you drink with such food? Well, what you don’t want is a competing focus of attention so we kept it simple with half a bottle of 2004 Albert Mann Pinot Blanc, which dealt exceptionally well with the scallops, squid and another wine-challenging dish of cannelloni of kid with goats milk curd and land cress pure and a half of modest cru bourgeois Haut-Mdoc, Chateau Caronne-St-Gemme 1999 which coped unexpectedly well with the richly sauced pigeon. I would have liked to have been offered something interesting by the glass with our desserts, the only minor criticism I can drum up of what was in every other respect a faultless meal. Their prices are also more than reasonable - if you're not in the mood to splash out you can eat off the fixed price lunch menu for £23 (£28 for 3 courses). Their house wine costs just £11 a bottle.

If you’re not UK based, Cheltenham is a charming town about 2 hours from London with some very beautiful Regency houses - not quite as striking as Bath but not far off it. It is, as Michelin puts it, well worth the detour. And if the Champignon Sauvage doesn’t end up with a third Michelin star one of these days I’ll eat my hat.

PS: A world of warning. Don’t be late or turn up without booking. Everitt-Matthias is famously intolerant of lack of punctuality or casual diners. If you want a tasting menu, as we had, request it in advance.

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