Lake Road Kitchen

A wild-maned toddler of a restaurant, bound for great things, Lake Road Kitchen is an exciting place to eat. Now the holder of Michelin Star, it’s the baby of former Samling chef James Cross and is one of the leading lights in the Lakes foraging trend.

It serves mostly food grown in Cumbria, as well as aged retired Dairy Holstein txuleta (steak). A whole cauliflower steeped in pine and goat butter is one of Cross’s signature dishes. Swoon over the texture, pick the pine needles out of your teeth after. Dishes such as homemade goat yoghurt offer inspired contrast. Pickled, roasted and raw heritage carrots are another salve as the small team strut about, full of foraged facts.

Meaty mains draw on a winter palate that could include vension (Holker Estate fallow deer), Norwegian salmon, arctic cloudberries and black winter truffles.

Desserts could include baked sweet woodruff custard and sour cherry crumble, while iconic Northern European cheeses such as aged Comte and oozy Berthaut’s Epoisse cheese are offered with homemade sourdough and homemade ‘virgin’ butter (including the curds and whey).

Wines from the Northern European region could include white Furmint, Slovenian varietals and British sparklers.