When Colin McGurren took over this beautiful restaurant-with-rooms out in the north Lincolnshire flatlands his aim was to take it into a new era. He inherited a venue with an unassailable reputation for good food, but continues to raise the bar, focusing his cooking on local suppliers as well as home-grown produce from an increasingly productive kitchen garden. ‘People travel great distances to make it here, but the food never does’, says a note on website – a reference to the kitchen’s ‘ten-mile’ ethos when it comes to sourcing. McGurren’s nine-course surprise menu is peppered with enigmatic teasers (‘a pinch of seafood’, ‘braised from the fields’, ‘curiouser and curiouser’ etc), but in practice that might mean mi-cuit of salmon with broccoli five ways and dill, braised beef cheek with aubergine and textures of onion or salt-baked squab with mushroom tea and Parmesan foam. To finish, expect anything from rhubarb, balsamic and strawberry vacherin to Brillat-Savarin cheesecake with grappa sorbet and poached pear. A well-chosen wine list promises glorious sips from around the globe. In short, a top regional destination.