WILSONS, BRISTOL

In a quiet, residential corner of Bristol, Wilsons is an ambitious kitchen producing delicious British food in a smart, sustainable way. Chef Jan Ostle, who owns the restaurant with wife Mary, has worked at The Kensington Arms in Bristol, as well as The Square (under chef Phil Howard), Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, and with Tom Kerridge before opening this site in 2016.

You’ve heard of nose to tail, probably even root to fruit, but how about fin to fin? Work your way through the menu at Wilsons, and you’ll notice a theme – every part of every ingredient is used. An architectural stack of over-caramelised (purposely), crunchy crusted rye bread arrives with whipped turbot roe, brawn made from the turbot head, and a pure, dashi-like turbot bone broth, alongside the usual pat of butter. (The fish later appears again with pretty borage flowers and snails bathed in borage oil.)

Ingredients are hyper seasonal, and refined dishes are designed to shout about it. On our late-summer visit, a rainbow of Isle of Wight tomatoes the size of giant marbles are peeled and come bobbing around in silky dill oil, before being submerged in a delicate elderflower-scented consommé. Another plate heroes Hispi cabbage, which comes stuffed with rich lobster mousse and just-cooked scallops, with homegrown lemon verbena oil, and tiny yellow cabbage flowers. Gooseberry soufflé has a tartness mellowed by smooth sheep’s cheese ice cream, the milk from ewes at nearby Homewood Park. wilsonsrestaurant.co.uk