Calver Restaurant Guide

This well-known Peak District property has been run by Max & Susan Fischer since 1988 and is currently managed by their son Neil, who is credited in reports with keeping standards at least as high under his parents. Watch this space as there are plans to open a champagne bar on the terrace this summer.

This swish country house hotel, in one of the Peak District’s most picturesque villages, is transforming before visitors’ eyes as part of an ongoing, £1.1 million makeover. As we went to press, the more casual ‘Garden Room’ had already been reborn, with chef Adam Harper (ex-of the acclaimed nearby Fischer’s) overseeing a new menu with impeccable local sourcing such as Chatsworth beef; this, the more formal fine diner, will follow suit, but meanwhile won praise this year – well “on its way to a Michelin star” by some accounts. All reports acclaim the “brilliant food and ambience in all areas” and it’s also tipped for afternoon tea.

“Great-value French cuisine” has drawn guests for more than 25 years to this family-run venture from Eric & Christiana Piedaniel – both career chefs. It makes a “lovely quiet environment for lunch” just 10 minutes’ drive from historic Chatsworth House.

2022 Review: This “lovely gastropub” on the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth estate gets mostly positive feedback for its “good food and real ales”. There’s sometimes a perception, though, that “it falls short” of its potential: “the cooking was fair, but it could be so nice here”.

2022 Review: A collaboration between Sheffield cook Richard Smith, his restaurateur wife Victoria and the award-winning craft brewers Thornbridge; “creative fish dishes” feature alongside meats – all well-singed on the fancy Bertha indoor charcoal oven – and the “great location” (skirting the Peak District) makes it particularly “good for outdoor eating”.

“This is the restaurant the Peak District has been waiting for” – a “chilled and unfussy” four-year-old, in a former stable block, which Lee Smith (ex-of the acclaimed Samphire on Jersey) opened after a crowdfunding drive. The staff’s “enthusiasm for the place makes for a happy experience, but most of all it’s the modern English cooking done very well in a lovely room… I’m lucky it’s my local”. Some reporters feel we rate it too conservatively, but to go further: more reports please!

“A lovely place, with excellent food, high levels of service, great wine list and a perfect location” – this prettily located Peak District restaurant with rooms occupies a solid, ivy-clad period mansion (complete with walled garden) and is owned by John and Alex Hill, but with a dining room run by Alistair Myers and Tom Lawson who run Rafters in Sheffield (see also).