The Walled Garden Restaurant at Lucknam Park Hotel and Spa

Even when the SatNav tells you that you’ve arrived at the gate, take your time.

“The scene is set from the moment you turn into the driveway of the luxury Lucknam Park. A magnificent, mile-long lime- and beech-lined avenue stands like a guard of honour gently guiding guests to the graciously restored Palladian mansion set within 500 acres of glorious parkland…”

And even when a subtle signpost points you in the general direction of the car park, pause for thoughtful reflection and take in your surroundings before you turn left.

“Enveloped within its own classical gardens and paddocks, the relaxed elegance of the quintessential English mansion is perfect for unwinding and escaping from the pressure of life to find balance and reconnection; our 5-star country house hotel is your home away from home…”

Everything it says on the Lucknam Park website says reflects exactly what the Lucknam Park ‘experience’ is: undeniably, extraordinarily beautiful; handsome and historic, and as grown-up seductive as a Bendick’s Mint Fondant. And if you think there couldn’t possibly be yet more to swoon over here, think on: Lucknam Park is also home to superchef Hywel Jones’ eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant – an “innovative culinary experience” that, for most of us, can only be a very special occasion treat.

But in April of this year, Lucknam Park unveiled their brand new Walled Garden Restaurant on the site of the hotel’s former brasserie, set within the walls of the magical, uber-pretty LP estate itself. The new diner is, if you like, Restaurant Hywel Jones’ less formal little sister; while Beyoncé may opt for a full-on Jones Tasting Menu, you’d probably find Solange tucking into a pizza here. A pizza? At Lucknam Park? Yes indeed.

Chilling out in the Walled Garden is an easygoing, accessible experience, in terms of both the adaptable nibble/sharer/small/large plate menu selection and the price point, too – which is amazing, really, when you consider the 5-star environment, overall vibe and the fact that the menu reads like a red carpet who’s who on the British autumn catwalk: walnuts, game, pumpkin, mackerel, pear; brown shrimp and blackberries, wild mushrooms, plums and artichokes – not, you understand, altogether as one outfit, but writ large throughout the collection without foams, feuilletes or dust devils to distract us from the angels in the detail.

While it was just-about-still-warm-enough to linger long(ish) at our courtyard terrace table, we started our garden tour with a triplet of flavour-packed bites from the Nibbles section of the menu: creamy, kedgeree fishcakes, the inherent richness of the filling offset by just the right amount of lemon; neat, super-short horseradish scones topped with velvety pulled brisket in a spicy honey jus; smooth, smoky butter bean hummus with crispy kale and fresh, buttery flatbreads… a tantalising trio indeed.

Oh, we could have stayed put at our table for the whole evening, the scent of rosemary wafting around us on the breeze, the squirrels busily doing their busy thing in and around the verdant hedgerows. Squirrels, however, aren’t as pernickety about cold weather as we are. And anyway, the Walled Garden’s smart, calm, elegantly-lit dining room and bar – all clean-cut natural stone walls, polished wooden floors, lush fronds of foliage and floor-to-ceiling windows – subtly brings the outside in, with a distinct tinge of Scandi-cool adding a fresh, contemporary twist to Lucknam’s quintessential Elegant England theme, with views into the open kitchen beyond the pass further advocating convivial informality. Overall, there’s a smooth, welcoming confidence about the whole operation – and that confidence is not misplaced.

Settled at our table after the thrill of spotting Hywel himself working his magic in the kitchen on the night we visited (be still my beating heart!), our first starter of rich, subtly sweet beetroot cured salmon arrived as a succulent, glistening slab rather than a parsimonious sliver, with horseradish and whisky quickstepping an outstanding dish to stellar heights. Similarly, the Pumpkin / Goats’ Curd / Pear / Pecan put all and only the descriptive ingredients into the spotlight: maple-sweet pumpkin; fresh, tangy goats’ curd; soft pear just ripened to its honey-rich best; buttery-floral pecans – a loud’n’proud celebration of right here, right now, blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em autumn season superstars.

Next stop: venison that exuded a subtle aroma of roasted acorns, cut like butter and tasted like real red meat should really taste: uniquely rich, deeply umami, laden with earthy personality. A whole, fat, pearlescent plaice that slid off the bone at the very mention of the word ‘fork’, liberally scattered with robustly-flavoured brown shrimp that, had I closed my eyes, I would easily have mistaken for nuggets of lobster, with capers negating any need for further seasoning and bubble and squeak bringing playful familiarity to the plate. And on, and on, towards journey’s end: a Sundae dressed up to a Sundae’s best advantage, with apple, salted caramel, pecan and popcorn pushing all those ‘childhood memory’ buttons in the most delightful, grown-up way, and the smoothest ever chocolate mousse that I’ve ever met, partying on with soft, sweet pear and toasty malt ice cream.

By the time the moon rose high in the sky and the call of owls had taken over where the rustle of the busy squirrels set off, a love affair that began 20 years ago, when I was as new to this immaculate pastoral paradise as Hywel Jones was, had been revitalised, refreshed, rebooted.

In opening the doors to the Walled Garden, Lucknam Park has quietly, calmly, elegantly moved with the times. As a very wise man once said (Roman philosopher Caecilius Statius, to be precise) once said, “gardens are planted to benefit another generation”. Today, dinner (or lunch, or drinks, or just coffee) at the epicentre of gardens that were planted over 300 years ago is a thoroughly modern English heritage experience.