Grace & Savour

Forget the puff on Hampton Manor’s website: there’s not an ounce of flounce in David Taylor’s cooking. He strips down food to its essentials, its essences. The results are deceptively simple – and sensational. Taylor, still in his 30s, has worked in some big-name kitchens, from Purnell's in Birmingham to Maaemo in Oslo, and a Nordic influence is apparent in the minimalist stylings of the restaurant – a modern, airy addition set apart from the hotel itself, with cream walls, dark wooden furniture and bare rafters. Focal points are the walled garden, displayed through large picture windows, and the open kitchen where the final touches are given to dishes before serving. Watch Taylor and his young team: studies in quiet concentration. The atmosphere is casual yet focused, serene yet serious. Diners for Saturday lunchtime's eight-course tasting menu (there’s also a 15-course dinner) are dressed-down, as are the engaging on-the-ball staff; relaxing folk harmonies provide the background soundtrack. Dishes are described at table, sometimes by Taylor himself, and a written menu is supplied with the bill. Lunch might commence with tomato consommé surrounding a solitary cherry tomato, at peak ripeness. Supporting ingredients (smoked lamb’s heart in the broth; sweet cicely garnish) serve to tease out the tomato’s true flavour. Likewise, the following dish: a creamy buttermilk emulsion covering little chunks of leek, with a topping of powdered leek (there’s much freeze-drying here) to pique the palate. Bread from Hampton Manor’s bakery gets its own course, and even diners with modest appetites can relish the two thick slices of irresistible sourdough since carbs are a rarity later on. Next, a highlight: a single, exquisitely tender scallop, its sweetness accentuated by imperceptible honey, topped with strands of its dried roe, plus a broth of roasted mussels to provide some seaside punch. Two little courses of fowl might follow: a juicy slice of wood pigeon matched with an autumnal girolle purée in a sublime sticky pigeon and redcurrant sauce followed by succulent duck breast contrasted with a small liver-rich faggot coated in tangy gooseberry gel. Provenance is important here: much produce hails from the walled garden, suppliers are name-checked and soil-health is a deciding factor in choosing the wines (an enticing list ordered into evocatively named sections and administered by a quietly passionate sommelier). Of the three sweet dishes on offer, mouth-wateringly zesty local blueberries best epitomised Taylor’s approach: served under a luxuriously creamy buttermilk mousse but rooted to the earth by a topping of grassy sorrel powder. Only the finale offered unalloyed indulgence: two brown-butter madeleines with a pot of rich crème diplomat, a blob of rum syrup at its centre. Coherence, innovation, artistry: qualities on which the very top restaurants should be judged. Grace & Savour excels at all three.

Set in the 45-acre family-run Hampton Manor estate, Grace & Savour is built into the walls of a Victorian walled garden for an immersive dining experience unlike any other. Husband and wife team head chef David Taylor and his wife Anette oversee proceedings, with guests taken on a tour of the gardens before sitting down to dinner of 15 courses dictated by what is available at the time. Rather than just picking top quality ingredients, a commitment to soil health, bio-diversity, ethics and sustainability underpins Taylor’s dishes, with techniques such as foraging, preserving and pickling all on display. Everything in its walled garden is grown with organic methods with Taylor also working with organic, biodynamic and regenerative farmers and the garden is even part of the GRFFN Project (Growing Real Food for Nutrition), a UK-wide initiative that looks at how growing methods affect nutrient density. Grace & Savour’s considered approach to its offer continues with its drinks pairing, with alcoholic and non-alcoholic options that include kombuchas and teas as well as small-batch wines accompanying dishes. Hampton Manor was the once family home of Frederick Peel, son of former Conservative Prime Minister Robert Peel - a house made for convening the leaders in industry and government. Today its importance is no less diminished, but as a destination for top-quality cooking with a conscience.

4 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence