Nailsworth residents are not the only ones who will be sad to see award-winning restaurant Wild Garlic close.

Food critic Jay Rayner, the former Masterchef judge and host of The Kitchen Cabinet on Radio four, once commended the restaurant for “making the world a better place.”

Writing in the Guardian in 2015, Mr Rayner applauded Wild Garlic, which is now to be converted into a B&B.

“It looks on paper like a quiet market-town bistro," wrote Mr Rayner after spending £90 at the restaurant.

“But there’s something rather subversive going on here. The chef, Matthew Beardshall, has spent time in the kitchens of Marcus Wareing, Simon Rogan and Martin Blunos, and is quietly applying the acres of technique acquired there to simple things.”

He praised Mr Beardshall’s pesto for its kick, his bread for tasting "like a house smells when baking has just finished," and the cheese, nut and allium topping for making him feel like "everything will be fine."

It’s no wonder Wild Garlic received a recommendation in the Michelin Guide for 2021.

Mr Rayner, who was the One Show's resident food pundit for seven years, went on to appreciate the chef’s pork belly and black pudding terrine with cider, frisee salad, green apple batons and egg.

“An awful lot of effort has gone into producing such a simple plateful,” wrote the author of Wasted Calories and Ruined Nights.

“Finding a way to soft boil the egg, then breadcrumb and deep-fry it – Beardshall has a rare touch with the deep-fat fryer – so the yolk is still ready for the asparagus tip is a very neat piece of work.”

He called the chef’s ‘beef celebration’ dish “glorious,” and “impeccable,” including “a single piece of salt-baked parsnip that will taste better than any piece of parsnip you have ever tried.”

“They [Wild Garlic] know how to make the world a better place, if only for a couple of hours. And for that they have my love. Or at least two hours of it,” he finished.

Mr Beardshall will continue to share his culinary expertise at Wilder, on Market Street in Nailsworth.