HAILED as a protégé of Heston Blumenthal, young chef Chris White has a lot to live up to – judging by his new restaurant in Cheltenham, he is more than up to the challenge.

The 28-year-old was a chef at Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck as well as The Hinds Head in Bray, and his latest venture, The White Spoon, which he opened last month with his partner Purdey Spooner, has already proven successful in its first three weeks.

Before The White Spoon opened, Chris, 28, said: My restaurant will bring a little touch of Heston’s magic to Cheltenham, but serving dishes to savour and enjoy, rather than scientific experiments on the plate.” ‘Dishes to savour’ is certainly an accurate description.

When we visited on Saturday night, the food, from the starters to the desserts, was nothing short of exquisite.

I began with the ox tongue and crispy chicken salad with a hen’s egg ‘bathed’ for an hour in water at 63C (£7) – the optimum temperature for cooking an egg, apparently – while my companion had the rabbit and bacon terrine with rabbit liver mousse, roasted apple and celery (£8.50). Both dishes were faultless, both in taste and presentation.

For the main, I went for the blackened Gloucester beef with potato terrine, pan roasted carrot, king oyster mushroom and onion (£22.50), and my companion plumped for the duck breast with confitt potato, celeriac puree, figs, red wine turnip and pickled ginger (£17.50). Both the beef and duck were tender and full of flavour, while the sides complimented them superbly.

When it came to dessert, we were both drawn to the dark chocolate and cointreau sponge, with white chocolate, honeycomb and a burnt orange sorbet (£8). The combination of the sorbet with the dark and white chocolate was a triumph.

To drink, we chose the Tierra Antica (175ml glass £4.50; 500ml carafe £12.50; bottle £18.00), a flavourful Chilean merlot which worked well with our mains.

As you can see, The White Spoon offers gourmet dining at reasonable prices, and the food and wine could not be faulted.

The location of the restaurant is also fantastic, if a little out of the way. It sits in Well Walk, just off Clarence Street, and there is a danger that you could miss it if you weren’t looking for the place.

But those who do find it are rewarded with a full view of the historic St Mary’s Church and churchyard, and with Cheltenham’s museum and art gallery just yards away, The White Spoon should mop up the ‘cultured crowd’ which is drawn to the town during its many festivals.

Inside, the restaurant is simply yet elegantly decorated, with amber lighting and pictures of Cheltenham scenes, and there is a relaxing atmosphere, largely due to there being just 13 or 14 tables and, as Purdey said, a desire for diners to stay all evening rather than a fast turnover.

With this winning combination of top quality food and tranquillity, and word-of-mouth sure to spread, the first three weeks of success at The White Spoon are clearly just the beginning of a long and successful reign in Cheltenham.

5/5

www.thewhitespoon.co.uk