Wilder
Nailsworth, Gloucestershire
Tucked down a side street in the centre of this exquisitely pretty Gloucestershire market town, chef-patron Matthew Beardshall’s intimate restaurant (with clear 'new Nordic' influences) feels like a real treat. There’s no menu – only the promise of eight meticulously planned and skilfully executed courses with matching wines or homemade soft drinks included in the price. Dinner starts at 7pm for everyone, which makes eating here feel enjoyably communal despite the separate tables. The decor is smart but informal, with shelves of cookbooks and jars of fermenting ingredients on a mantelpiece in the back dining room – ask to sit here if you want to watch the chefs at work. The food is ambitious, exciting and beautifully presented, with liberal use of techniques such as pickling and fermentation to intensify flavour. From canapés of tiny brandy-snap cones filled with chicken liver parfait and topped with cherry compote to desserts such as cranberry and ruby chocolate praline with wasabi/honey ice cream and cranberry curd, expect daring but perfectly balanced combinations. Elsewhere, the humblest ingredients are made to sing: say a palate-cleansing shot of apple kombucha complemented by a bright red slice of glazed dried apple sprinkled with onion seeds or a starter of bitter puntarelle leaves, charred and layered with celeriac three ways: pickled to a piquant sweetness, puréed with butter to a heavenly cream and dried into tiny crunchy crisps. A main course could be exquisitely seasoned roast venison with kale, red wine jus, butternut squash purée and a baby cannelloni. Small glasses of interesting wines from around the world are an excellent match for the food, from Joseph Perrier Champagne to vintage ruby port. Otherwise, kombuchas, cold-brew teas and other creative non-alcoholic concoctions await. Service is friendly, informal, knowledgeable and well-paced, although dining here is a whole-evening experience – you won’t finish your single-origin coffee or your cinnamon fudge and lemon polenta petits fours until at least 10pm.
Dining Information:
Credit card required
Market Street, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire GL6 0BX
01453 835483
