Chater’s

Just off Saffron Walden's main square, this family-run spot nods to its warehouse origins with high ceilings, polished concrete floors and functional tables and chairs – all nicely softened with candles and linen napkins – and taps into the appetite for a keenly priced, compact menu that’s reliant on good ingredients rather than look-at-me flourishes. Staid and provincial, it isn’t. As one diner reported: ‘It feels like a bit of London coolness on our doorstep.’

Drop in for coffee and cake from 9am, or later on for a simple Italian-style lunch, an aperitivo or a full evening meal. Small plates anchor the offer – the likes of steak tartare with truffle crisps or potatoes jazzed up with the savoury funk of anchovies. Cured chalk stream trout is drizzled with a feisty chilli oil and the satisfying crunch of hazelnuts, while lentils are cooked down to scoopable consistency (with lasagne crisps) and topped with fresh peas and ricotta that balance the earthy savouriness with some springtime zip. If you're really hungry, a dish of homemade pasta sorts that out pronto: slips of fettuccine are dressed with butter and sage, bucatini alla carbonara is luxuriously rich, and the cacio e pepe is ‘heavenly.’ Desserts keep it simple, with tiramisu perhaps lining up next to a seasonal sorbet or a chocolate and almond torta caprese with boozy cherries on the side. 

There is vigorous applause for the Negroni made with red vermouth from the Chater's Vault distillery next door, and a 125ml pour of Noble Rot’s Chin Chin vinho verde is an appealing £7 entry point on the wine list. You could happily stray further, too – perhaps towards a delicious Grüner Veltliner from Austrian natural-wine stars, Martin and Anna Arndorfer. Service is every bit as warm as Chater’s is cool.