Bollington, British, Traditional Restaurant Guide

A “lovely location” for a “lovely meal” – chef-patron Joseph Rawlins (who braved Gordon Ramsay’s shouty tutelage) and partner Gaëlle Radigon, who oversees the “very friendly” staff, are the masterminds behind the top-class French cuisine at this converted barn in the Cheshire sticks, and where it’s “a bonus to take apéritifs outside in the sunshine” before you dine.

You step into history at this Manchester institution, founded in 1868 and with a menu of Victorian chop house classics (steak ’n’ kidney, Barnsley chop…), a “great wine list and good ale, too” – you can also rub shoulders at the bar with L.S. Lowry, who dropped in every day for lunch during his lifetime and is now a permanent fixture in the form of a life-size statue cast in bronze by Preston-based artist Peter Hodgkinson. Top Menu Tip – you have to try the corned beef hash.

Open in 2023 in the former premises of a pre-Victorian bank, this local two-year-old received a boost in July 2025 from The Times’s Giles Coren, who was strong-armed into a visit by former Tory minister Edwina Currie, now a colleague of his at Times Radio, to test her insistence that Derbyshire is “the fine dining capital of the civilised world”. The review detailed some “well-balanced and tasty” dishes all at “single digit price[s not seen] on a menu since before lockdown”. Our feedback is too thin for a rating but backs up Edwina’s enthusiasm.

Now landed in Knutsford town centre since 2022, this wine-bar restaurant originated in North London before relocating initially to the village of Audlem, thence here. Chef Chris cooks with sustainable and sometimes foraged ingredients while his partner, Laura, serves wines from small independent producers. Too limited freedback for a full rating, but one local fan says it’s “a small, friendly restaurant serving excellent food”.