Glebe House

Getting to Glebe House is an adventure in its own right. A series of narrowing country lanes leads north from Seaton, diving about patchwork fields and rummaging through copses, before the house itself materialises – a whitewashed Georgian pile poised high on a grassy slope, set within 15 acres of grounds. Interiors are a study in contemporary country house cool (grandfather clocks and kilim rugs, Welsh dressers and colourful objets d’art), creating a place that is eclectic, eccentric and full of fun.

That spirit extends to the kitchen too – a small and faintly domestic space, where guests can perch on a long rustic table and watch Italian techniques being applied to Devon produce (much of it sourced from the kitchen garden). Head chef David Knapman's late-summer set menu began with antipasti of Glebe salumi with sublimely gooey Vacchino cheese, before segueing into a wonderful zesty octopus terrine doused in sauce vierge, served alongside a salad of beets, figs and blackberries. The faintest West Country accent was detectable in a pasta dish of ricotta and Ticklemore cheese agnolotti, though the kitchen saved the best for last in the form of guinea fowl with sweetcorn and girolles, lathered in sherry and tarragon sauce.

'Dolce' might include tarta di riso (Italian rice cake) with poached rhubarb and yoghurt ice cream or an innovative take on a historic ‘Exeter pudding’ (layers of financier, lemon curd and berries), while an Italian-leaning wine list kicks off with bottles from around £30. Glebe House also offers a range of characterful accommodation – both in the main house and in a cabin in the grounds – for those who would rather postpone their return journey along those narrow country lanes.