Upstairs by Tom Shepherd

High quality cooking

Followers of Great British Menu will recognise Tom Shepherd as the Midlands chef who reinvented Desperate Dan's cow pie for the postmoderns. Here, in leafy Lichfield, he has taken up residence in a doorbell-protected first-floor venue that is contemporary without going too hard on seductive chic (fake foliage does some heavy decorative lifting). A seat near the partially open kitchen gives ample view of the young brigade going about their work. Shepherd did productive stints under Michael Wignall at the Latymer, Pennyhill Park and with Adam Stokes in Birmingham, absorbing technical flair and ingenuity along the way. Tasting menus are the order of the day for lunch and dinner, with a shorter performance on Thursday lunchtimes. Dishes beguile and bemuse, successively and cumulatively, opening perhaps with a fat, barely cooked scallop in an enveloping peanut sauce (not strictly satay), ahead of poached Cornish cod festooned in kohlrabi ribbons with a huddle of barbecued mussels in Champagne emulsion. Portions are unexpectedly hefty, the more so at lunch, when a main course might be Hereford beef presented no fewer than four ways, amid aromatic notes of garlic, onion, tarragon and smoke. We found the Jacob's ladder particularly tender, while the overall impression was rich, weighty and intensely savoury. A ‘transition’ course of, say, puffed wild rice and coconut rice pudding fragrant with Thai green curry spices and mango sorbet might ease you into the choice of desserts. Expect 72% chocolate mousse with crème-fraîche ice cream, pecans and sherry or the Great British Menu signature dish, ‘No Ordinary Schoolboy’ – a tuck-shop fantasy of banana encased in a white chocolate shell with caramel and rum, plus a side order of banana and maple granola cake. Wine pairings are imaginative to a nicety, offering a Breuer Rheingau Riesling with the scallop, a Turkish Syrah-based blend with the beef, and Liaoning Chinese ice wine with the banana. A table here can be hard to get because Lichfield has taken Upstairs to its heart.

3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence

In a relativity short space of time, Upstairs by Tom Shepherd has achieved a glowing reputation. Locals lapped up the poised, modern British cooking. Getting a booking required a relative degree of stoicism. And then Michelin came knocking, proudly turning the restaurant into Staffordshire’s first and only one star place and cementing its reputation for offering top-quality local dining. As you can probably guess from the name, Tom Shepherd is the chef rattling the pans. The Sutton Coldfield-born chef has a strong pedigree and was previously head chef at Adam’s restaurant in Birmingham, where he retained a Michelin Star and three AA rosettes for two years. He trained at New Hall Hotel in Walmley and went on to work under Michael Wignall at The Latymer and as development chef at Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham, both of which hold two Michelin stars. Housed above his father’s jewellery shop in Lichfield, Shepherd has chosen a brown and grey colour palette for his 36-cover dining room (there’s also a kitchen table located directly in the kitchen for up to four guests) that gives it a warm and relaxed feel. The restaurant offers a single, seven-course tasting menu in the evenings, with a shorter four-course option available at lunchtimes. Shepherd’s focus is on flavour-led, produce driven dishes that embrace the seasons. His time spent in some of the UK’s best kitchens is evident. The cooking is assured but unfussy, with each dish often comprising only two or three elements. And as you would expect, the presentation is impeccable, Shepherd instilling each dish with a refined precision that’s reflected in the taste.